To invest in a webcam or not??

Lauragoesmad

Hi Folks.
As some of you may know I have been home boarding dogs and cats for the last year and a half. I am thinking of getting a webcam into the dogs/cats room for owners to log on to while they are on holidays. Generally the dogs aren't in there during the day as they are out with me on their walks or in the garden, but the cats are there fulltime. Is it a service that people here would be interested in? All feedback is welcomed.:)

donegal1

If I made use of such a boarding service I'd definitely like being able to see my cats.

Clare Bear

I think it's a great idea Laura, would give the owners a lot of reassurance if they could see how their animal is while they're away from them.

biko

Brilliant idea! Cheap and easy to set up and adds a lot of value to the service.

ISDW

The cattery that I've used locally doesn't have a webcam, but they do take photos regularly and post them on the website, and I loved being able to see them all doing well.

I had thought about a webcam for the kennels, and was advised to consider security, it would be okay if you gave the owners a password, so that only they could log into that area. There are some very unscrupulous people out there, and if someone saw that you had some valuable dogs on your property, they may pay you a visit:eek:

Hellrazer

A kennel I used in the past had a webcam.Its a great idea.

Lauragoesmad

ISDW wrote: »

The cattery that I've used locally doesn't have a webcam, but they do take photos regularly and post them on the website, and I loved being able to see them all doing well.

I had thought about a webcam for the kennels, and was advised to consider security, it would be okay if you gave the owners a password, so that only they could log into that area. There are some very unscrupulous people out there, and if someone saw that you had some valuable dogs on your property, they may pay you a visit:eek:

I have already thought about this. I would have to set up my own website and give owners temporary passwords to view the cam. I only take one owners pets at a time so it would only be open to the owners whose pets were there at that time. I don't want any of the dog or cat stealers to see who's staying with me.

It seems like people would be interested. It will mean adding €1 extra a night
to get it set up though. Do you think people would be happy to pay the extra?

Thanks for all the replies.:)

tpotter

I agree, this is something very neat you can offer the pet owners. I think it adds a lot of value to your service and is something the animal owners will really appreciate.

My mother actually boarded her dog at a place like that once and it was very cool/comforting to be able to see her dog playing with the other dogs from 1000K miles away.

I have already thought about this. I would have to set up my own website and give owners temporary passwords to view the cam.

While setting up your website is definitely a good idea, most webcams have a built in web interface.

This means, at least at first, you could probably get by without having an actual website. You would, however, want to link the camera to a domain name (like mydogsitting.com), because otherwise they would have to put your IP address in. Sorry if it is too technical, let me know if you have any questions, because it really is a cool idea and I can't imagine people minding paying an extra €1.

As a side note, I actually set up a webcam to watch my dog when at work, but all she does is sleep...

Lauragoesmad

My brother knows all about computer jargon so he'l be helping me with it. He's the brainy one! I have bought the camera but just need to get it set up safely. To run my own website with a domain for a cam could cost upwards of €250 a year though.:(
Lots of money that Laura doesnee have.
Ah, I'll figure something out though.:)

tpotter

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

My brother knows all about computer jargon so he'l be helping me with it. He's the brainy one! I have bought the camera but just need to get it set up safely. To run my own website with a domain for a cam could cost upwards of €250 a year though.:(
Lots of money that Laura doesnee have.
Ah, I'll figure something out though.:)

That seems a tad high, at least double of what I would expect you to be paying.

I would do some checking around and consider using shared hosting, which since you will only, at least at first, have a few people using your site at once, should work fine.

Lauragoesmad

tpotter wrote: »

That seems a tad high, at least double of what I would expect you to be paying.

I would do some checking around and consider using shared hosting, which since you will only, at least at first, have a few people using your site at once, should work fine.

But with shared hosting, does that mean that anyone can see it?

tpotter

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

But with shared hosting, does that mean that anyone can see it?

Not really. Shared hosting is when a company puts a lot of different web sites on a single web server. It is possible to see what other sites are hosted on the server, but you would have to go out of your way to do this.

If you are adding a password, then it shouldn't be an issue and once you actually buy a domain name people will probably be able to see your site anyway, at least eventually.

The advantage it offers is that shared hosting is a lot cheaper then renting/buying your own server, which seems like it would be overkill given your situation.

However, you would want to do some research on the companies offering it, because the flip side to shared hosting is that some providers oversell their services. Like if you owned a theatre with 100 seats and sold 150 tickets, hoping everyone wouldn't show up.

Bluefrog

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

My brother knows all about computer jargon so he'l be helping me with it. He's the brainy one! I have bought the camera but just need to get it set up safely. To run my own website with a domain for a cam could cost upwards of €250 a year though.:(
Lots of money that Laura doesnee have.
Ah, I'll figure something out though.:)

On the hosting - that's way more than it should cost - all you will need is a domain name (€24.99 for a .ie one or about $9 for a .com, a shared hosting account with someone like www.blackknight.com (from €60 annually) and a little tech expertise to set things up - a nice project for your brother to get his teeth into.

On the traffic issue, for only one or two owners logging on at a time and frequently updated pics (say once every 5 secs, rather than streaming video) exceeding traffic limits really shouldn't be a concern.

I use the service from Orb.com to watch my own two on cam when I'm out (streaming video) - can even do it from my phone and I would imagine quite a few people would like to do this though admittedly there are others who think I'm nuts Mine usually sleep too but I have seen watched them play and even stick their noses into the camera! No matter what they're up to, it's nice to know that they're alright.

ncmc

Laura, great idea, It would give me such peace of mind to be able to see my dog when I am away, I am such a worrier, I always think something has happened her :rolleyes:. I would def pay €1 extra p.n. for this.

biko

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

It seems like people would be interested. It will mean adding €1 extra a night to get it set up though. Do you think people would be happy to pay the extra?

That depends on how you spend on the camera, connection and development of the webpage but one euro extra per night seems fine. I'd pay it.

Once the development costs are paid you can lower the price again to be more competitive.
Ask in Web Development forum if someone might do the page setup for a bargain.

Lauragoesmad

Magnus wrote: »

That depends on how you spend on the camera, connection and development of the webpage but one euro extra per night seems fine. I'd pay it.

Once the development costs are paid you can lower the price again to be more competitive.
Ask in Web Development forum if someone might do the page setup for a bargain.

TBH, I'm not in it for the money. If I was, I wouldn't be doing it at all. Because I only take one owners dogs or cats at a time, I can only make so much money. And I don't need to be competitive. I have already had to take ads down as I was having to turn away business. People seem to like the idea that their animals will be getting all my attention. I do charge more than kennels but for one to one attention, most people think its worth it.

I'll have a chat with my bro tonite. The quotes I got for a .ie were €79 just for the name and then its an extra €165 for a site that can properly stream a webcam in realtime. Not pic by pic.

Bluefrog

Well she did mention her brother maybe doing it but it would also make a nice little project for a web developer/designer starting out as long as they could log into it themselves so they get something worthwhile back in their portfolio.

Skillie

its a great idea and one we've planned using down the line when we get out kennels up and running. as an owner i'd pay for it.

Bluefrog

Register365.ie are doing .ie domain names for €24.99. You don't have to host with the company you get the domain off. If you're going down the streaming video route, even the basic shared hosting plan with Blackknight would give you 100GB bandwidth per month for around €50 annually - for €90 you'd get double that - can't really see that you'd need more unless you get some real cam addicts that pull video from your site 24/7. You can have a fair use policy which people agree to when they request the service and you can cut them off if they abuse it easily enough if you have them passworded.

liah

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

My brother knows all about computer jargon so he'l be helping me with it. He's the brainy one! I have bought the camera but just need to get it set up safely. To run my own website with a domain for a cam could cost upwards of €250 a year though.:(
Lots of money that Laura doesnee have.
Ah, I'll figure something out though.:)

Do it with the right place and you can get it for about... $10 a year.. So like, seven euro? I forget the exchange rate these days.

The only reason you would ever pay two hundred and fifty euro is if you're ridiculously gullible and easily ripped off.

I have my hosting (I do web design) for 10/year, and that includes domain name (plus another one free) and bandwidth/space that increases by 16gb per month. Bandwidth and space start at 250gb.

Make sure you shop around PROPERLY, because it's very easy to find deals.

electron

hi i know this is an old topic but just wanted to ask you how you're getting on, and just to add my 2 cents: you could offer the webcam thing as an extra service, ie break down the charges for the customer: if they want a password to log on, they pay the 1 euro extra. if not, fine by you. that way the customer will feel they're in control also if you do this, you won't appear as a more expensive place compared to other minders/kennels/catteries.
anyways, i think your idea is brilliant - and i for one would be rather glad to pay.

edit: ah ok, i noticed now that you only take one owner's pets at a time... in that case breaking down the charges may seem cynical alright :P
yet, it would probably work very well for a full scale kennel/cattery...

nearly

you don't need a .ie domain name... google can tell if you host in ireland with an irish host.

use a .com - come up with a unique name. it's about € 7 per year

and hosting is about €35/year

i use http://blacknight.ie/ and have had great service. I won't say anything about other hosting mentioned here, heh, but trust me, Blacknight has been the best.