Camera alerts that matter: offline cameras, disk health and quiet hours

People mute their camera app within a week. Too many alerts about nothing teach you to ignore the one that matters.

The three worth always keeping

1. Camera offline. If a camera is down, nothing is recording from it. You want to know the same day.
2. Disk warning. A DVR that cannot write stops recording, usually without telling anyone.
3. Tamper or cover. A camera pointed at a wall is a camera that has been dealt with.

The ones to tune

• Motion. Fine in an empty shop at night. Useless in a busy street. Use zones and arm only when nobody should be there.
• Person and vehicle. Better than raw motion where available. LunaCam’s person and vehicle detection is rolling out next.

Arming: Home, Away, Disarm

Set what each mode alerts on. Away at night for the shop. Home for the house in the evening, with the garden cameras only. Disarm in the morning. Schedules switch it for you, and quiet hours stop non-urgent alerts.

A picture with every alert

An alert that says “Motion at Back gate” makes you open the app. One that arrives with a snapshot lets you decide in a second.

For operators

An alarm queue adds priority, assignment and a checklist beside each alarm, and escalates when nobody acknowledges within five minutes. See Alerts and Alarms, and for public cameras read running public cameras in a municipality.

Questions people ask

Why do I get so many motion alerts?

Motion fires on shadows, insects and lights. Use zones and an Away schedule, and rely on person detection where available.

What is the most useful alert?

A camera going offline, and a failing disk. Both tell you footage will be missing before you need it.

Can I stop alerts at night?

Yes. Set quiet hours, and arm Home or Away on a schedule.