Smart Outdoor Camera: how the siren can be triggered (TIME SENSITIVE)
I've been trying to get 4 followup questions answered about all the ways the siren can be triggered. I submitted questions (via email) on November 18, and received helpful replies, but have not received a reply about the 4 remaining questions for 7 days, and need to get the answers by 1pm Pacific time today (12/1) so I can make a decision about a possible purchase of one of the two Smart Outdoor Camera versions, before the Black Friday sale ends.
You (a Netatmo employee) wrote:
"The siren can only be triggered in two ways:
1. Automatically via the Netatmo Security App when motion is detected that matches the detection rules you have activated (e.g., person detection).
2. Manually directly via the Netatmo Security App.
The siren is not triggered by environmental conditions, animals, or other random movements, only by the methods mentioned above."
You say the siren can be triggered by an activated detection rule, such as a person being detected, by not by environmental conditions (which I assume would be things like wind causing tree or shrub branches to move a lot), animals, or random movements. You also say a person can activate the siren, but because you wrote: "(e.g., person detection)," the "e.g." part indicates there are other conditions that could activate it.
Perhaps you meant the siren can be triggered 'Automatically via the Netatmo Security App when motion is detected that matches the detection rule(s) you have activated for people being detected only.'
I'm not at all trying to argue about words; I'm simply trying to understand under what conditions a detection rule the siren can be automatically triggered.
1) Are people the only kind of objects / conditions that can be programmed to automatically trigger the alarm?
2) I assume such a rule would be further constrained by the area of detection that is set up by the user, but I wanted to confirm. In my situation, I would be installing the camera on a side of the house that is parallel with the street, and I would have it angled at about 45° sideways to just capture a main portion of our driveway, and movement detection of, say, people / dogs walking on our side of the road. I believe I could further constrain the are of detection through the app. Is that correct?
3) Regarding the following, is it the case that the Smart Outdoor Camera's siren can be programmed to be automatically triggered by an indoor intrusion detected by a (separate) Smart Indoor Camera; or was the information about the Smart Indoor Camera being placed in that web page about the Smart Outdoor Camera's help page? I'm not complaining if the latter is true; I'm just tying to fully understand the automatic triggering scenarios. (I don't have an indoor camera, nor have any current plans to buy one, but it would be good to know for future possibilities.)
Smart Outdoor Camera with and without Siren
Help article: "Can the siren be triggered automatically?"
"Outdoors, there can be any type of situation where the camera cannot distinguish whether it is an intruder or a well-meaning person (the mailman bringing the mail, your neighbor who wants to say hello or even your children coming home from school). In reality, only you know how to make this distinction with precision!"
With the Smart Indoor Camera
The 105dB-siren trigger can be automatic for indoor-only intrusions using the Smart Indoor Camera or Smart Door & Window Sensors. You can configure it from your Home + Security app.
Without the Smart Indoor Camera
4) The following sentence, from that same web page, states triggering the direct can (only) be done by manual action, which is in conflict with what you wrote about being able to have it programmed to go off when people are detected. Could you please confirm which is true?
"Triggering the 105dB siren thus requires manual action by the user to avoid unwanted triggering as much as possible because with each false alarm, in addition to annoying your neighbors, your security system loses credibility.
We understand that you may not be available at all times to monitor the comings and goings in front of your house, which is why we have made this necessary verification step as easy as possible:"
I've spent quite a bit of time reading through the help articles, and hope you understand my only goal is to make a decision on whether to go with the siren or non siren version. If I did opt for the siren version, I would most likely not program it automatically for siren detection, because I don't want any false alarms. I would only trigger it manually.
The (English) help articles have a lot of French rather than English, which makes it difficult to get a clear picture (I reported this on the community forum a month ago, and Giada said she passed my feedback on to the relevant team).
Commenti
12 commenti
I’ve had a quick read of your question and hope it’s not too late to answer .
The siren can be set to go off in specific detection modes eg human car or animal - there is also “ other” eg movements from leaves etc which it will ignore . You must be careful as it doesn’t always distinguish magpie bird markings easily and can mislabel it as ‘ human ‘ and might set the siren off accidentally
You can programme the areas to record or ignore
The other option is to set the siren off manually when you have detected a trigger - eg if you see someone climbing a wall or up to mischief- you have the opportunity to set off the siren manually.
The indoor cam doesn’t have a siren but you can purchase a siren which when paired and sited in close proximity to the cam can activate .
(There is also a new cam model of which I know nothing about )
I didn’t think you could buy any outdoor non siren versions as they are only refurbished?
My previous response is awaiting approval so you might find a quicker answer on red …
Go for the siren but don’t necessarily set it as active - I think you can only get refurbished older non siren models ?
pattie7459, thank you very much for your help! (unfortunately I read it after the sale ended).
"The siren can be set to go off in specific detection modes eg human car or animal - there is also “ other” eg movements from leaves etc which it will ignore."
That may very well be true; the Netatmo help article I quoted indirectly (but clearly) implies that it cannot be triggered automatically (and the article explains why that is). The Netatmo employee emailed me that it can be activated automatically "(e.g., person detection)", but I never got a reply to my followup question as to what other 'things'—"e.g., person" means there are other things other than humans that can activate it. The employee did state "The siren is not triggered by environmental conditions, animals, or other random movements".
You wrote: "The indoor cam doesn’t have a siren but you can purchase a siren which when paired and sited in close proximity to the cam can activate." The same help article states: "With the Smart Indoor Camera The 105dB-siren trigger can be automatic for indoor-only intrusions using the Smart Indoor Camera or Smart Door & Window Sensors." Since that text is in the Smart Outdoor Camera's help page, that implies activation of a Smart Indoor Camera can trigger the siren on the Outdoor camera, otherwise why would that text be in the Smart Outdoor Camera page? I never got an answer to that.
The rest of what you wrote (configuring detection areas, etc.) is useful as well.
Hi Bob7
Yes the outdoor camera can be set to trigger only when a 'person' is detected , however because it can misidentify a bird ( or a sudden change of light e.g. sunset ) as a 'person' , this will also set the alarm off inadvertently which is not ideal .
Other times the indoor cam misidentifies a 'person' is when the light changes at dawn or dusk and there may be a reflection on a table edge or tv screen which looks like an 'eye' - I believe this is the issue with the magpie markings but one can help train the cam for accuracy .
The alarm siren sensor is a separate device you can buy for the welcome indoor cam ( and possibly works with outdoor floodlight ) however it must be in close proximity to work but the cable is too short . It can be set off manually after the cam is triggered or set off to make random noises like barking , music playing etc as well as an alarm .
All these cams can be set to trigger certain actions like 'ignore , record , notify' and set alarm off
After notification you have the opportunity to manually set the alarm off.
Personally I do not have the confidence to leave them programmed to sound a siren alarm but that is my own preference.
I have been happy with my 2 outdoor cameras ( and 1 indoor camera) but one has now gone offline and am trying to rectify this. I do have several blink systems ( just fab) and more recently eu fy floodlight security siren cams also good if you have a sunny wall.
Another great thing about the outdoor/ indoor cams is that they still record activity even when the wi fi is off as info is sent to the local sd card then uploaded to the cloud later when wi fi restored.
The b link is versatile in that you can stick the cam anywhere and use a door bell as an additional wide angled camera too and none need subs
pattie7459
Thanks for the additional details and nuances. Very helpful.
pattie7
You wrote: "The siren can be set to go off in specific detection modes eg human car or animal - there is also “ other” eg movements from leaves etc which it will ignore . You must be careful as it doesn’t always distinguish magpie bird markings easily and can mislabel it as ‘ human ‘ and might set the siren off accidentally"
Could you please confirm that you have been able to set the Smart Outdoor Camera with Siren to automatically activate the siren (i.e., without using a Smart Indoor Camera to trigger the Smart Outdoor Camera with Siren)? I just received a followup from Netatmo support, and was told:
Hi Bob7
Do you mean can I program the outside cam to set off the siren when it detects a “person “ automatically?
( as well as the manual option)
I would think I should be able to as that is the whole point of the security system . I will check it out when I visit the house sometime in the week .
( Perhaps support was mixing up the standalone siren device as opposed to the floodlight with siren system? ….however I believe there are new devices which may have a siren and camera perhaps ?
My floodlight PRESENCE camera with siren is the device I have - it detects squirrels , local cats and foxes but it gets very confused when the magpie gets close to it !
Yes, that is what I meant.
I don't believe support was mixing things up. They told me the outdoor system's siren can only be triggered manually, or by a detection alert by an indoor system (not automatically by the outdoor system).
Well I’ve just checked google and it confirms what you were told ( unless AI is just copying all of this !)
I will check if that is the case ( a bit daft but maybe they do not have confidence in detection accuracy)
If you are still thinking of a purchase maybe check the eu fy S120 which can set off automatically or on timed delay . Very good recording but haven’t worked out how to alter duration of light activity and a bit of a lag when trying to view recording live …but miles away . No subs needed and a bit plasticky . Other add ons are optional .
I will check this out when I visit . The indoor camera is on the app but was never linked to the siren outdoor light in the set up process . I will set the siren to go off when an intrusion occurs and see how it reacts and get back to you .
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