Smart video surveillance is a IOT-based application as it uses Internet for various purposes. The proposed system intimates about the presence of any person in the premises, also providing more security by recording the activity of that person. While leaving the premises, user activates the system by entering password. System working starts with detection of motion refining to human detection followed by counting human in the room and human presence also gets notified to neighbor by turning on alarm. In addition, notification about the same is send to user through SMS and e-mail. The proposed system’s hardware implementation is supported by Raspberry Pi and Arduino board; on the other hand, software is given by OpenCV (for video surveillance) and GSM module (for SMS alert and e-mail notification). Apart from security aspect, system is intelligent enough to optimize power consumption wastage if user forgets to switch off any electronic appliances by customizing coding with specific appliances. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017.