By Shelley Rossetter, Times Staff Writer
Monday, December 20, 2010
The new gate access system for visitors to the Live Oak Preserve community in New Tampa uses remote guards located in Sarasota.
NEW TAMPA — As visitors pull up to the entrance gate at Live Oak Preserve, someone is listening and watching — someone from more than 60 miles away.
The stranger's voice comes over a two-way speaker mounted outside the guard shack: "Live Oak. How can I help you?"
The visitors answer, and a video camera transmits their every move to a building in Sarasota where the person with the voice sits, eyes fixed on a monitor.
Meanwhile, cameras snap pictures of each car's license plate, as computers note the time and date of each arrival. Over by the pool, motion-activated cameras send live feeds if someone enters the area after hours.
It's a new approach to security ...