If you're looking for a webcam that doubles up as a webcam, image capturing device and even a security camera, then you should take a look at CamUniversal.

What's really interesting about this app is that it includes a network server so that you can send images and viewing information from one PC to another which makes it an ideal monitoring device. There is a built-in motion detector which allows you to select which areas of the video are tested for motion, when, where and how. In this way, it allows you to target a specific part of your house or home without worrying about the consequences. The program also features video recording functions, picture capturing, external program execution, log file creation, sound playing, FTP transfer, email sending and there is also a scheduler. You can upload the images to an FTP server, a webpage or use a company LAN to distribute the images. Probably the only major problem is setting-up the software to work with your webcam - it doesn't seem particularly friendly with all webcams and you may not be able to get it up and running at the first attempt.

A useful webcam tool that doubles up as a security camera but may cause some problems during setup.

Download CamUniversal 3.5 in Softonic

Move Action is designed to allows your webcam to detects motion and set it up as a security camera.

This can be used to trigger a blocking mechanism on your PC or signal an alarm. Alarms can either be sent via e-mail or even text to warn you of intruders. The PC blocking function works by blocking your PC and requiring a password to access it again. It can also save webcam shots in JPG format and then send them submit them by mail or transfer them by FTP, play a sound file or run external applications. However, as impressive as this is, the most intriguing feature of this program is that it can compare two images captured at different intervals. This way you can monitor a site without having to look at the videos on the camera constantly. This saves you sitting there for hours on end monitoring and is great if you need to use evidence to prosecute or charge someone.

A great little program for those concerned with security although the configuration is rather complicated.

Download Move Action 2.5 in Softonic

Your webcam can be much more than just a communication device - it can help protect your property while you are away.

Webcam Monitor provides you with email notification along with a photo directly into your mailbox as soon as a motion or noise intrusion is detected by your webcam. You can customize alerts so that you can even receive video and audio recordings, snapshots with date and time, alarms and SMS notifications. In addition, you can automatically upload recorded video, audio, and snaps to an FTP server of your choice. It goes far beyond just monitoring small areas though - you can also monitor large areas using multiple cameras with recording sessions set to start and end at any time of the day.

All movement and any monitored activity is recorded in an event log for quick reference later. On the other hand, if you want your security cam images to be broadcasted live on the internet, you can set up a web site where the images are constantly updated by WebCam Monitor. In addition, limited enhancement is possible as you can digitally zoom any camera up to 200 and configure one or several cameras to focus on one particular area.

Webcam Monitor can turn your webcam into a powerful security monitoring device that you can control from any location.

Download Webcam Monitor 5.05 in Softonic

H264 WebCam is a 8-channel h264 remote video camera surveillance software for Windows. It has advanced video motion detection algorithm, various alert functions including Email, FTP, and sound.

It can handle up to 8-channels video input and 8-channels of audio input, captures images up to 30 frames per second from USB and analog cameras, TV boards, capture cards etc. It uses H264 video encoder and MP3 audio encoder etc, high quality video and audio effect with a low bandwidth, record file format may be AVI or MPEG or others.

The files can be played with Windows Media Player or Real Player. Manual video recording is available, along with scheduled recordings or motion-triggered recording. JPEG image snapshots can be made from video images, and detailed log files and help files are available. Other features include secure Login with a valid user ID and password from Net, automatically restore Net connection. This software has features of both digital video recorder and digital video server, and can work as a stand-alone product or be used to build a powerful surveillance network.

Download H264 WebCam 2.38 in Softonic

If you need some basic surveillance for your home or small business but can't afford a professional system, Secure Cam may be the right choice.

As I said, it's a fairly basic system but it may work for you if you don't need advanced features. Secure Cam is also very easy to use: simply run it after plugging in your camera and you're ready to go. One tip: to open the program's settings menu, double click on the camera image – after spending a while looking for it, I'm still wondering why they didn't add a standard Settings menu.

This configuration menu allows you to select the motion detection threshold and set the program to take pictures whenever there's movement in front of the camera. You can also overlay a text on the image as a watermark, and flip or rotate the image.

Secure Camera works pretty well and takes pictures in the right moment. Also, it includes a special viewer where you can review all the captured images frame by frame. On the downside, it doesn't feature the possibility to capture video or warn you in any way (e-mail, text message) every time it detects movement.

Secure Cam is a basic surveillance system with which you can keep an eye on your home or office with the help of your webcam.

Download Secure Cam 1.0 in Softonic

UWatchIt is designed as a platform to control several security cameras at the same time on a single screen. In addition to collecting the image of the cameras, if the cameras support it, it can even detect movement which automatically triggers the recording mode. If necessary, the program can be configured to send a message via e-mail or the latest transmittable images to an FTP server.

UWatchIt has four operating modes - real-time vision, vision and continuous recording. Vision and recording are designed for when it detects movement, and vision and recording sequences are used to edit video before the recording has been completed. This program allows any organisation to set up their own security system with minimal fuss. It's particularly useful for shop owners or home owners who want peace of mind while they are away.

This is a superb monitoring program that allows anyone to take security into their own hands.

Download uWatchIt 5.0 in Softonic

Turning your PC into a home surveillance device is not as difficult as you might imagine with webcams so readily available nowadays.

Cam Wizard makes it possible to set up multiple web cameras as a CCTV audio/video surveillance system with motion detection in a just a few clicks. The program captures motion footage in video and audio is captured as a compressed WMV movie. It would have been nice to be able to choose which format the footage is saved in as I'm not a big WMV fan but still, it's workable and you can always convert it later.

The program gives you the option of sending any captured footage as an email attachment and most importantly, features a built in SMTP client which means it doesn't require any user interaction with outlook express etc. No messy e-mail configuration to carry out - just leave it running in your system tray and your work is done.

Alternatively, for large amounts of footage that may not fit in an e-mail, you can instruct Cam Wizard to upload footage to an FTP server which gives you the advantage of being able to view a webcam that's behind a firewall - great for keeping an eye on your property while you are at work. Viewing itself couldn't be easier either - the program supplies you with a static URL address that you can use to access your cam page from any location.

You've got it all here for a total security solution so make the best of your webcams with Cam Wizard.

Download Cam Wizard 8.01 in Softonic

With grabMotion you can detect movement, for example at home when you're at work or vice versa.

Features:

• Send e-mails attachement with image
• Send SMS alarm thru a gateway
• Save image on Hard Disk
• Sound alarm
• Answer to e-mail request by sending an email image attachement
• Easy tuning dectector (WYSIWYG)
• Schedule the detector activities for each day of the week
• Status bar on image top & bottom

Download grabMotion 1.0 in Softonic

SurveillizCam Lite is a light version of SurveillizCam and is a real free digital video surveillance software. It turns your PC and capture devices, such as USB webcam or video capture card, into a video surveillance system. It monitor your home and office by stably detecting motion and logging surveillance video into AVI.

Surveillizcam allows you to mask unstable areas in a channel for motion detection, which makes the detection more stable and reliable. Whenever there is abnormal motion in your place of monitoring, you will be notified via sound alarm or live video, and you can also configure the system to automatically record the motion video into AVI. All logged video can be played back with Windows Media Player or SurveillizCam's video management and playback system.

Download SurveillizCam Lite 1.16.1 in Softonic

Webcam Surveyor is complete software that combines video surveillance and video capture tools. With this software you can record all video activity, work as a motion detector, and program alerts to be trigged by events (send a e-mail or upload images to FTP site when detects a movement).

This makes it possible for you to remotely observe whatever activity your camera captures. The built-in file browser allows you to easily organize captured images and video clips. Webcam Surveyor supports video and audio codec's like: MJpeg, DivX, Mpeg-4 and MPEG Layer 3 (MP3), WMAudio Encoder (WMA). With Webcam Surveyor you can capture sequence of images with an interval of time of a second to 59 hours.

Features:

• Ease of use and compatibility
• Digital zoom - view cams with digital zoom
• Capture video/audio - recording movies on your HDD
• Capture image sequence - capture sequence of images with an interval of time of a second to 59 hours
• Motion detection - alert you immediately when activity is detected
• Email Alert - send a message with snapshots if motion detected
• FTP Alert - upload images on you FTP site if motion detected
• Other alerts - if motion is detected you can predefine other alerts like: run program, play sound, open url and capture image sequence
• Built-in file browser with all shell extension - easily organizing captured images and video clips
• Security - the password protection prevents anyone else trying to restore the Webcam Surveyor without your permission
• Supports output image formats: JPEG, PNG (Portable Network Graphics) and BMP (Windows Bitmaps)
• Adjustable image resolution
• Adjustable frame rate
• Adjustable compression quality
• Motion sensitivity adjusting
• Auto Start - Webcam Surveyor is ready to run when windows starts

Download Webcam Surveyor 1.7.0 in Softonic

go1984 turns your PC into a video surveillance system that is comparable with any of the more expensive systems currently on the market. View your hall door, your warehouse or your summer home. Keep an eye on what's happening in your absence.

The app contains a variety of professional video monitoring tools such as:

• Live-Monitoring
• Recording (timer controlled, motion triggered or permanent)
• Controlling of PTZ cameras
• Alarm function (acoustic, via e-mail or voice-call via ISDN)
• Remote control via network or internet
• Scheduler for automatic recording

Download go1984 3.7.2.5 in Softonic

Surveillance Scan II is a free webcam surveillance app, with motion detection. It also offers support forJPEG.

Download Surveillance Scan II in Softonic

HSSVSS turns your web cam or cameras into an instant video and motion detecting surveillance system. It produces time stamped security Images of targeted zones.

HSSVSS is the orignal surveillance software for your webcam it enables your computer to operate as a security system. HSSVSS has an extensive set of features and is not a 30 day trial, it has no limitations on the length of the surveillance. Use the software for any length of time.

The software monitors video and capture images by using motion detection. HSSVSS monitors movement in the defined target zone and takes a picture of anything that moves in that area. Pictures of any suspicious activity are saved as JPEG images which reduce storage overheads.

HSSVSS is designed for use with USB cameras. Although you can only monitor two cameras at once you can actually have as many cameras as your hardware will support and switch between these. Useful hardware additions such as a USB hub and USB Active extension cable will extend the physical distance between your camera's and computer.

Download HssVss 1.0 in Softonic

SurveillizCam turns your USB webcam or capture card into a digital remote camera surveillance system. It can monitor your home and office by stably detecting motion and logging surveillance video into AVI with MPEG1 or MPEG4 codecs for up to 16 channels simultaneously. You are notified of abnormal motion in your place of monitoring via sound alarm or live videos over Internet. You can also create schedules to automatically record video, detect motion and launch network functions. All logged video can be played back with Windows Media Player or SurveillizCam's video management and playback system.

This software also features with central surveillance (SpyCenter) and remote surveillance (SpyEverywhere) programs. Hundreds SurveillizCam instances can connect and send live surveillance video to one SpyCenter which would be located at a central monitoring office. On the other hand, SpyEverywhere lets you connect to and see live surveillance video of your SurveillizCam via Internet. Surveillicam has other powerful function such as disk space recycle, full screen viewing, password lock, client management, etc.

Download SurveillizCam 1.16.1 in Softonic

BabyWatch is something that every parent should have installed - an easy way of monitoring your child when they are out of your sight.

As the developers say, the program is sophisticated but user-friendly and works by issuing spoken messages as to whether the baby is asleep or awake. How does it do this? By using your webcam as a monitoring tool. According to the developers, it can even detect whether the baby has stopped breathing or stopped moving although we would not like to verify this as guaranteed since it is such a serious claim to make. Once setup, the program works by monitoring the change of pixels so it triggers an alert in the program as soon as something happens with your child. However, it's obviously really annoying to be sent an alert when the child simply turns or moves in it's sleep so the program can be adjusted to sensitivity according to the movements of your baby. If the webcam includes a microphone, you can also hear whether the baby is crying, laughing, coughing, mumbling, etc.

This is a highly sophisticated tool that I'm sure every parent will find useful although it's obviously best to use it with caution rather than a fail-safe mechanism for monitoring your child.

Download BabyWatch 2.0 in Softonic

Use your PC to capture and compare images from a video camera at intervals you define. If movement is detected, you can start a number of optional activities such as playing a sound, sending an e-mail, and launching a program or an HTML protocol. Images can be saved in BMP or JPEG format, and you can set the time interval between image captures.

Download SupervisionCam 3.05.5 in Softonic

Biromsoft WebCam is a software for capturing pictures from your web camera and placing them on internet. Local Picture Server enables everyone to see your pictures from your camera right after starting WebCam just by typing your IP-address in the browser. A picture can be saved on local disc or uploaded to a web server via FTP on the fly. The program can be used as a motion detector, capturing images or recording video each time it sences any motion. Additional features include text, time and picture stamp, cool themes and more.

Download Biromsoft WebCam 4.0 in Softonic

A feature-rich software application that works with off-the-shelf web cameras and camcorders to provide a monitoring solution with video and audio recording capabilities. Eyecopia helps you create a simple monitoring system with hardware that you may already have in your home.

A webcam, computer and internet connection are all you need to get started. Once connected, Eyecopia will monitor multiple cameras for you and create events. Events are the video files, and associated information, that are created by the program when motion is detected by a monitored camera. If available, Eyecopia will record audio to these files as well.

Eyecopia will then send event notifications to your cellular phone, email, or other networked computers using Eyecopia Remote to let you know. Users have intuitive and flexible control of how, when, and where these notifications are sent.

Eyecopia excels at allowing you to interact and manage these events at your own convenience, in very simple and efficient ways. You'll love features such as Eyecopia's unique categorization capabilities and the ability to add sticky notes to events.

Download Eyecopia 2.0.7 in Softonic

CamSurveillance supports you on the way to a secure home or company. Up to 50 Network Cameras ( IP addressable cameras ) with motion detection are simultaneous possible! There are a lot of settings available for the video window, the motion detector and the action at motion detection. CamSurveillance supports you on the way to a secure company. Adjust up to 50 IP addressable network cameras with motion detection and run them simultaneous. The cameras could exist within your companies LAN or you select the ones from the Internet which you like. Watch only the camera video in a video window on top of your desktop or adjust the motion detector and observe what's going on.

Download CamSurveillance 1.6 in Softonic

VIDIS Lite is a remote video surveillance application using a PC running the Windows operating system and a webcam, digital camera or camcorder connected to the PC through a video capture card or an USB port. A permanent Internet connection (cable, DSL, ...) is needed for full functionality.

Download Vidis Lite 1.3 in Softonic