1 Message
Keypad Low Battery/Offline Notification
I tried to communicate this today to the Customer Support Team but they were unaware of how to get my message to the engineers at SimpliSafe. TLDR: When the keypad goes offline (for any reason) there is no notification to the consumer. There is no announcement from the Base Station, no push notification from the app to alert the consumer that their keypad (and panic button) are not functioning.
I found out today, through testing with the IT support customer rep (very helpful guy) that SimpliSafe has not figured out that the Base Station does not ANNOUNCE when the keypad is OFFLINE. I got no warning that my keypad batteries were low...IT says that maybe because the batteries were defective there was no time for a low battery warning.
BUT, funny enough. When you take the new, functioning batteries out of the keypad, the Base Station is none the wiser! There's no announcement that the keypad is offline. There's no WARNING that you don't have access to the keypad before you trip the alarm and have to fumble around with the app to cancel it before the police are summoned. There should be push notifications, alerts from the app, within the app, something!
Because, picture this: you're running into the house someone is chasing you or there's an emergency, you go to use the panic button built into the keypad. Sorry. Keypad offline! Now you're dead. It's a safety issue! The consumer should be as aware of the keypad being offline as if any other entry sensor, etc, is offline. What an oversight! Such an oversight. There's no way ADT or other companies have this flaw in the system. I'm not usually so persistent with making sure a company understands that their product is flawed, but this involves my safety and all of our safety. As a stalking victim this is life and death for me, thus why I am so up in arms.
I'd like the higher ups in SimpliSafe to know that the other half of the brains of the operation (Base Station and keypad) is not communicating when it's offline. Egregious and completely unacceptable.
emily_s
Community Admin
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3.4K Messages
1 year ago
Hi @lindseywilson90,
Thank you for your suggestion. I've gone ahead and converted your question into an idea post and submitted this request to our dev team. Once we get any news, an update will be provided in this thread.
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lance843
1K Messages
1 year ago
Same happened to us awhile ago when the keypad just went blank and when wife came home and opened door it was not beeping and keypad was blank but the base station was still counting down then bam alarm goes off but nowhere in app or anything did it say anything about the keypad was dead or had a brain fart or anything. The batteries were not even dead as all I did was pull them out and put back in and been fine since. This was around Christmas time.
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mrglaw
1 Message
9 months ago
As of February 17, 2024, there is still no notification that the keypad is offline. Just found this out myself as my keypad at my vacation home is offline. No notification received.
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rathbunshop
5 Messages
7 months ago
This just happened to me. I came home from shopping and went to turn off the alarm. My keypad was dead. I couldn't disarm my system. I finally realized that I could disarm it using the iPhone app, but not until after it went into alarm. This is terrible to say the least!! I got no warning that the keypad battery was low from the base station and no warning in the app. If there had been a warning, I would have changed the batteries or at least been aware I needed to disarm the system using my phone.
(edited)
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mikekm2b
1 Message
6 months ago
I can validate the there is no way, other than to go in to Device Settings on the Simplisafe app and scan all of the components, to see that the keypad is offline.
When you scan and your keypad is offline device list will show "offline" in black.
No other indicator except that is presented.
There is no other notification method.
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jenrusby
1 Message
5 months ago
I agree that there should be a low battery indicator on keypad in addition to a low battery alert sent via Push, SMS or email.
However we have 2 keypads and last week we’re waked by a chirping noise and alerts. The second keypad was alerting us as well as sending texts. I know that’s not a solution, but just an FYI.
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tfscudder
1 Message
5 months ago
I just ran into this problem - got home and the batteries were dead in the keypad with the alarm going off. Since that's never happened before I raced to get new batteries and replace them, then cancel the police dispatch. We use our system every day and I never saw any warning on the keypad. My wife is so upset that this could happen to her that she wants us to cancel SimpliSafe and get a different security system. To me this is such basic functionality that this should never happen.
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ldg302
1 Message
5 months ago
I also encountered this problem. The keypad was unresponsive without warning. Others check on my home when away, and they would not be able to disarm the system, without access to the app.
I agree with others that this is a safety issue, rendering the panic button useless as well.
Not to mention false police alarms when you are unable to turn off the system quickly.
This seems like an easy fix, SimpliSafe. There should be a notification of low/dead battery, even if it is considered a "remote".
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betsyk88
1 Message
4 months ago
The low battery for the keypad should be in the application. To my dismay when I arrived home tonight, I could not disarm the system because I needed to replace the batteries. I did have my phone, so I was able to quickly do it from there before it alerted the communication center.
However, if someone has dog walkers, etc.…there would be no way for them to disarm the system. Please add this to the next update to the application.
(edited)
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milliken
3 Messages
2 months ago
My SimpliSafe system is in a house that's often unoccupied for about seven months. If the keypad batteries die, that could be a real problem for the caretaker when he enters the house. He would not be able to cancel the alarm from the keypad.
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milliken
3 Messages
2 months ago
My SimpliSafe system is in a house that's often unoccupied for about seven months. If the keypad batteries die during my absence, the caretaker could not cancel the alarm from the keypad. The only work-around would be for the caretaker to ask me to turn the alarm off using the app or web site.
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bdern
3 Messages
1 month ago
Have had dead batteries several times in our keypad. Only get about 2 months if lucky out of Duracell batteries. No warning just dead when get home and have to quickly get phone app up. Agree should at least get a notification of low battery.
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