Video Alarms are a powerful new feature that allows you to get alerted anytime motion is detected on your cameras. Set up a schedule to automatically arm your cameras when your business is closed or choose to have cameras trigger alarms 24 hours a day in sensitive areas like back offices and inventory lockers.
Video Alarms are also available through our mobile apps for Android and iOS. Be sure to check out these guides to learn how to protect your business while on the go.
Important: This guide requires you to be an Admin to complete the setup.
1. Automatically arm and disarm your cameras by creating an alarm schedule.
Select a location and click on the Alarm Settings button in the top right.
Toggle on whichever days you would like to set a schedule for. Use the time pickers to enter the periods of the day when you want your cameras to be ARMED.
To set up an overnight schedule we will need to create two periods for each day.
- One period will cover from midnight (12:00 AM) until you open your doors.
- The other period covers from when you close until the end of the day (11:59 PM).
2. Choose your preferred personal notification method.
Below the location schedule you will find the various notification methods available.
Push notifications are sent to Solink's apps for the web and mobile devices. You will need to allow Solink's apps to send notifications before they will appear.
Email notifications are sent to the email address associated with your user account.
SMS notifications are coming soon! Let us know if you want SMS notifications.
3. Pinpoint the areas that matter most with Motion Zones.
Motion Zones allow you to pick the exact area of a camera that will be used to detect motion. Create or edit motion zones by clicking the button in the alarm section of any camera.
Tip: To avoid excessive alarms, select the smallest zone that covers your desired area. Being precise with the Motion Zones will cut down on excessive alerts from false alarms.
4. Select the cameras that will generate alarms.
Cameras have two alarm modes:
Automatically arm and disarm the camera by selecting Schedule mode. This requires that you created a schedule in step 1.
Get around the clock protection for the most vital areas of your business by selecting Always On mode. Forget about the schedule and get manual control that allows you to temporarily disable alarms by snoozing a location, which we'll cover in step 7.
5. Filter to see your alarm cameras.
Get a quick look at exactly which cameras are set up to generate alarms with the filter at the top. It's easy to see exactly which cameras are set up with Video Alarms.
Look for the labels on the thumbnail images for each camera to know what alarm mode it is in. The labels are color coded when you are subscribed to a location's alarms. The labels for alarms are:
Alarm Scheduled - This camera is following the location schedule and will become armed when the time arrives.
Alarm Armed - This camera is currently monitoring motion activity in the defined Motion Zones and will trigger notifications.
Alarm Snoozed - This camera has been snoozed by an admin and will not generate alarm notifications until unsnoozed.
6. Subscribe to receive notifications.
The final step before receiving alarm notifications is to subscribe yourself to the location. Each user that wishes to get alarm notifications must subscribe to the location. Unsubscribing yourself from a location will not stop others from getting alarm notifications.
7. Manually arming and disarming your alarm cameras with Snooze mode.
Snoozing a location provides an easy way to temporarily disable notifications for all users that are subscribed to the location. When a location is snoozed by an Admin, all subscribers will stop receiving alarm notifications until the location is unsnoozed.
If your business doesn't follow a consistent schedule you can take manual control over arming and disarming the video alarm system by snoozing a location with cameras that are set to always on mode.
Setting your alarm cameras to always on mode allows you to pause notifications manually by snoozing the location with Solink's mobile app when you arrive on site. When it's time to lock up for the night, unsnooze the location's alarm and your cameras will return to being armed.
It's that easy!
You just set up video alarms that will protect your business using your existing camera system. We love to hear your feedback and ideas on how we can continue to improve Solink. Send us a chat using our in-app support or email us at support@solink.com.