A little while ago I was asked to see what I thought of the Cyndr Sentry. During the next few months I became familiar with the device and have grown to become quite fond of the tool. Like most new thing’s the Sentry is one of those devices you don’t consider an essential tool at first. That opinion quickly changed after a week of use. As a deaf person I don’t hear someone coming up behind me or to the door at the office. For that reason I always face the door. This is fine except for when I am working on a lengthily document or studying an excel sheet and doing math in my head. During those moments I am for the most part oblivious to the world. This is where the Sentry shines.

The device is small enough not to be an eye sore but ingenious enough to give me the tools I need to ensure that any time someone is near I know about it. Imagine working on sensitive information and before you know it having someone breathing down your neck. Imagine reading an email that is invoking some less then positive emotions and your colleague walks in on a less then pleasant rant. Now you have a device to warn you that someone is near and does so discretely on your own computer screen. Like I said it doesn’t seem important at first but now let’s imagine it’s a late day and you are still hard at work and the janitor walks in scaring you. With the Cyndr Sentry this won’t happen. Now imagine as a deaf person typically having that type of reaction when you are busy working. I have had my share of “Who the!!! Oh… Hi Bill.” Now with this small device I feel more secure more alert and more aware of my surroundings. That’s what this small tool does that’s the thing that we sometimes forget about when designing technology. Peace of Mind.

Disclaimer: Nathan Gomme was not compensated or paid for this review. This review is not an official endorsement of the Cyndr Sentry by the New Mexico Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Nathan Gomme is not an employee nor is he affiliated with Cyndr, LLC..

About the Cyndr Sentry: The Sentry by Cyndr is an intruder notification device created by four friends to keep personal space personal. Each unit alerts individuals when someone is approaching a workspace- whether it’s a game room or an office cubical. Sentry uses infrared technology to detect persons behind the user, and connects to a computer via USB. When triggered, it activates an alert window and/or sound to notify the user of incoming people. Sentry currently runs on Windows machines, with future iterations porting to additional operating systems.