‎In ability to deactivate fire alarm remotely | SimpliSafe Support Home
 
jonfrye1's profile

Tuesday, December 12th, 2023 2:06 AM

In ability to deactivate fire alarm remotely

In the last month or so, I've had two false fire alarms.  Both were on very humid days and the humidity was the like cause of the false alarm.  My problem is that in both cases I was away from home.  The second time I was out of the state.  In both cases, after checking my cameras to verify the alarm was false, I clicked on the off button in the app.  The app indicated the system was off but the alarm continued.  Restarting the app and clicking off again didn't work.  Telling the representative that called me it was false didn't work.  The system would not let me deactivate remotely.  Having to run home to turn off at the key pad is irritating and extremely inconvenient.  Its impossible when I'm 4000 miles away.  Simply Safe support was unhelpful and wanted to troubleshoot the false alarms.....even though that wasn't really the issue.  Simply Safe!! train your people to listen.  My issue was my inability to deactivate my alarm via the app, not a false activation!  I know what caused the false activation.  My solution for the time being is to have removed all of my smoke detectors.  Simply Safe, I need an answer and a solution to this.  The smoke detectors don't do me any good if they cause more problems than help.   I may have to go back to the traditional smoke detectors that are not tied into the alarm.

Official Solution

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

4 months ago

Hi folks,

Thanks for your feedback. If there is an active Fire type alarm on your system, triggered either by the Smoke Detector, or the 2-in-1 Smoke & CO Detector, the only way to cancel that alarm is through the Keypad. This behavior is designed to conform to the UL-985 Standard.

Unfortunately, there is no way to stop an active fire alarm through the SimpliSafe app, remotely. So we strongly encourage our users to take steps to prevent false alarms in the future. We have a step-by-step guide on the Help Center, and our Support team would be happy help!

(edited)

Community Admin

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3.3K Messages

9 months ago

Hi @jonfrye1, 

Smoke Detector alarms cannot be turned off through the mobile app, it needs to be done using the Keypad. This feature is a safety requirement. If someone was present in the home and the alarm was turned off remotely before they could hear it, that could be an issue.

(edited)

4 Messages

Then I’d like a refund for all of my smoke and carbon dioxide detectors.  They do me no good when I’m out of the state and I’m getting fined by the city for false activations that I cannot turn off.  Furthermore, why is turning it off an option in the app when it doesn’t work?  Wouldn’t your explanation make more sense if the app told you on the main page that a fire alarm can’t be deactivated remotely?  Here’s another idea!  Why does the fire alarm run continuously.  Mine ran for over 30 minutes in both cases.  Any one should be able to get out of the house within the first five minutes of that alarm activating. Why not have an automatic shut off after five minutes?

I feel like your company just stole money from me.  I was really hopeful for these alarms.  I have 7 in total because safety is such a concern for me.  My money is better spent on regular smoke alarms that don’t cost me money in fines by the city.  I want my money back!

Community Admin

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3.3K Messages

@jonfrye1​ If the Smoke Detector continues to sense something that it thinks is smoke, the alarm will continue to sound. I have gone ahead and requested a call from our escalated Support team regarding this. A senior specialist will reach out to you soon to help.

3 Messages

I've experienced the same issue yesterday, and I am unable to remotely disarm or reset the system.  I won't be back at the address for several days.  The sirens have been screeching ever since.  I'm really disappointed that I can't get this resolved remotely.  The monitoring center cannot reset the system, and tech support has provided minimal assistance.  Does the same thing happen with other false alarms?  I might need to seek out another solution as a replacement for this SimpliSafe system.

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@Rcconroy​ if you're not able to access your system through the SimpliSafe app, then perhaps the issue is that your Base Station has lost connection (either to the local WiFi or the cell connection). If so, then unfortunately our Support team wouldn't be able to connect to the system either. The only way to get the system back online is to troubleshoot the system while onsite.

If there's an alarm event, the Base Station will sound for only 4 minutes, and then it will reset and re-arm.

But if the alarm event was caused by a Smoke Detector, a Carbon Monoxide Detector, or a 2-in-1 combo detector, then the alarm may repeat for as long as the smoke or carbon monoxide continues to be detected.

3 Messages

No...  That's not it.  The system was always online.  It just can't be reset remotely once one of these smoke detectors are triggered.  The system does not automatically reset or re-arm.  The sirens continued for four days, while I was away.  For now, I've removed the smoke detectors from the system.  They're unreliable.  

4 Messages

9 months ago

@emily_s 

can you direct me to who I need to talk to about my smoke and co2 sensors.  They don’t work the way I was lead to believe.  I want a refund.  I’m happy to return them.  They don’t do me any good if the run continuously after a false activation.  Ask anyone in this community, no one wants to come running home when they’re out on a date or on a vacation or doing something else because of a false activation, that we can’t deactivate remotely. This so-called safety feature needs to be tweaked and modified. I mean, come on, I get the safety feature of it but why not have an automatic shut off after a set period of time. In both of my cases, it ran for close to 30 minutes before someone else I trusted could get to my house to turn it off. 

725 Messages

@jonfrye1​ 

I'm curious, how exactly are you determining it's a false alarm you can just turn off remotely instead of something you need to investigate?

3 Messages

For me, I have a SimpliSafe camera monitoring the location of the smoke detector.  When the alarm is triggered, each of the cameras record video.  There was no smoke, fire, sparks or anything else that would potentially trigger the smoke detector.  That's why I need to ability to reset my system after false smoke detector alerts.  

2 Messages

Agree this is a terrible feature.  I have a smoke alarm going off right now 3500 miles away and won’t be there for a month.  Neighbors are going to be furious and SimpliSafe does nothing to help.  I can clearly see from multiple indoor cameras there is no smoke, fire, etc.  

Right now I’m trying to hire someone to go into my house and tear down this apparently faulty screeching alarm.  


SimpliSafe you need a solution for this for remote home owners.

2 Messages

4 months ago

I had this issue last week and suitable annoyed my neighbours. One smoke detector was falsely activated that then set off a full system alarm. I was away and got the notification on my phone. The UI appears to allow the user to turn off the alarm remotely, but when you click off it just gives a loading icon. This UI is misleading to the capabilities of the app and must be addressed, even to just remove the off toggle. As an even better feature, the off toggle should work and disable the alarm for a period of time. That way the user can remove the faulty device from the system until such a point where they are physically at the location and can resolve the issue.

I also have some work around questions to see if I can create a solution that prevents this from occuring again.

  1. Can a system have 2 keypads?
  2. Can a smoke detector alarm be disabled using a Key Fob?

Community Admin

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3.3K Messages

@krosinger​ Yes, a system can have multiple Keypads. You can add a second Keypad to your system by following the steps from this guide in our Help Center.

To be compliant with UL985, the Smoke Detector alarm must be turned off using the Keypad. Unfortunately, the Key Fob cannot turn it off.

2 Messages

Given the Smoke Detector alarm cannot be turned off through the app. Please can the UI on the app be updated to make it clear that the Alarm/Off toggle that appears when a smoke alarm is active cannot be used?

4 Messages

4 months ago

I’ve thrown out all of my simply safe fire alarms.  They are awful.  Would never recommend these alarms to anyone.  They false alarm way too often.  Simply Safe tells me I need to take steps to avoid a false alarm.  Apparently they believe it’s my fault.  Explain this…why is it regular alarms like the ones I buy at Home Depot dont false activate?  They’re in the same positions.  Also,  why don’t the simply safe alarms turn off after a period of time.  My normal ones do.  Simply Safe!  Stop making excuses and just fix your alarms.  What you sell now are garbage.

2 Messages

3 months ago

Happened to me just now. 

The alarm can ONLY be turned off via the keypad and NOT the app. If you aren’t in the presence of the keypad you are screwed. 


The fire alarm device did NOT show a low battery before this event (so that was not the cause)

The fire department guy said DUST might cause a false alarm if it builds up and recommends using a can of compressed air to “clean” the built in sensor (which cannot be properly accessed to clean other than through the tiny holes)

2 Messages

Just had this happen to me on home 1900 miles away. I removed the smoke alarm unit from the devices but the app persists telling me there’s been an alarm. Can I rearm the system with this device removed? What has to be typed on the keypad to turn it off??? Just the master code??? There’s less than 60% humidity in the house. Did that trigger it or is it an insect inside it? Wish SS was more forthright with telling us the limitations of these devices. I need help! 

Community Admin

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3.3K Messages

@lee_18​ Unfortunately at this time the alarm can only be stopped by entering your Master PIN on the Keypad; removing the Smoke Detector from your system will not bypass the alarm. After the Master PIN has been entered you will be able to arm and disarm your system again.

Dust or debris buildup over time can trigger false alarms, so we recommend cleaning the device's sensing chamber once a month to prevent any buildup. For more details, check out the Preventing False Alarms From the Smoke Detector article in our Help Center.

2 Messages

This is total horse doodoo. Why is this not told to us UP FRONT when purchasing SS systems? When I’m 1900 miles from my vac home I have no way to touch the panel and just so you know, it’s 2024 and there’s NOBODY WE CAN TRUST to go to our home and access the home let alone the panel. If this is not fixed within the next 6mo I’m gonna scrap two homes worth of this equipment and cancel 2 full price subs. Period. Mic dropped. 

4 Messages

18 days ago

Ahh..the mess. Here's the last they aren't telling you. Until you clear the fire alarm, your burglary system doesn't work as the system accepts only one trigger at a time. Yup. Can't shut off fire, anyone can break in and you'll never know. Now, if they would only stop hiding my comments and tell the truth...

Captain

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6.1K Messages

@Garveyjm​ Good, bad or inbetween, your post will be here as long as the site is up. By policy, and in my 13 plus year experience, unless your post is threatening, uses profanity or has personal identifiable information - none apply here - your post will remain.  And for the record, my 3 CO, six smoke and one combo sensor all are doing fine for years. Location and cleaning every other month does the trick. And I know many others that have the same experience. That all said, there should be a way for a customer, if they choose, to decide if they want to take the sensor offline, remove it and then arm it again. That we are in agreement.

4 Messages

@captain11​ Perhaps there should have been advance notification of this change that occurred and also, perhaps the system should not go dead when one trigger is activated. That's just lazy engineering. Your competitors have multiple triggers which would allow not only burglar protection after a fire alarm but to track an offender traveling throughout the dwelling and direction of travel out if not by the same means as entry.

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