2 Messages
Help with camera alerts
Looking for any suggestions or tips to help calibrate an overly sensitive camera doorbell. I've reached out for help from SimpliSafe via the chat and it's like pulling teeth to get any help. I get almost a hundred alerts a day and it's driving me insane. I obviously want to receive alerts if a person is at or nearby my doorway, but I don't need an alert every time the wind blows.
What I have tried:
- adjusting the sensitivity of the camera - there are just as many alerts on low as there are on medium and high
- toggling the motion detection type from 'all motion' to 'people only' - it does not seem to be able to differentiate between people and any other movement - cars, bugs, a flag, wind, etc
- blacking out the absolutely unnecessary zones on the Activity Zone panel - there's only so many of these I can black out and still have coverage of the door and walkway
- the camera is brand new because after chatting with SimpliSafe for hours and going through their generic cut and paste replies to try and troubleshoot, they sent a replacement. The new camera is just as selective as the old camera.
captain11
Captain
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6.2K Messages
9 months ago
@JessB123 First, for some hope, I have two outdoor cameras, one facing west and another east, that are working fine, but need to add in heavy rain or snow, I do get more alerts. That aside, I do have some suggestions:
Before we start, some elements/conditions to look out for tree shadows and outdoor lighting (streetlamps, neighbor's porch lights, etc) can cause issues) Suggestion 1: Slightly change the angle/direction of your camera. Test it for 24 hours to see if alerts decrease. If not, try again with a different direction/angle. Note: Does not have to be a huge change in either angle or direction to get the wanted notification reduction. Suggestion 2. After speaking with level 1 support I asked for and was contacted by a product specialist. His tip: Use the motion field selection tool and block out all border sections. This worked significantly to improve the # of alerts to drop. 3rd suggestion: Check to see if your outdoor cameras are on firmware 1.20. If not, call SS and ask them to push it to you. Again, start-up time greatly improved, and # of alerts way down.
I do hope one or more of these suggestions help. Please post your outcome here if you get a chance, and of course, good luck.
(edited)
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emily_s
Community Admin
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3.4K Messages
9 months ago
Hi @JessB123,
As Captain11 suggested, it may help to slightly adjust the angle of your Video Doorbell so certain triggers (like a busy road or a tree) aren't in frame. The Video Doorbell comes with a Vertical Angle Bracket that can adjust the angle of your doorbell up or down by 10 degrees.
If you do not have the Vertical Angle Bracket, reach out to our Support team and they can ship you an Angle Kit. The Angle Kit will also come with a Horizontal Angle Bracket that will adjust the angle of the doorbell by 15 degrees to the left or right.
Our engineering team is also looking into an issue where the Video Doorbell may be responding to too much motion.
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