Reducing Nuisance Alarms – Tech Talk #12

Did you know I program your system to automatically reduce repeat nuisance alarms? I do this to help keep your monthly video alarm activations as low as possible, so you are not back charged for excessive alarms. It’s called “swinger suppression” and it works like this: if the same camera is triggered three times in a 5-minute span of time, the system automatically bypasses that single camera for one hour, then it returns back to normal again. The central station is sent a “Swinger Shutdown Activated” signal when it happens and an hour later a “restore” signal is sent. This feature is NOT turned on for systems with less than three cameras.

Most nuisance triggers are caused by wind driven movement of tarps or plastic covered materials on the job site. This feature helps to keep the number of video alarms at or below the maximum of 30 per month, above which you can be back-charged additional monitoring fees.

It’s important to look at all video clip emails that we send you when your cameras are triggered so you can resolve the problem if there is a wind driven movement situation repeatedly triggering your cameras. The best solution is going to the site and securing or resolving the plastic tarp; tree branch; tall weeds; debris blowing etc., stopping the reason the cameras are being falsely triggered. When a trip to the job site is not practical and you want to put a stop to the excessive alarm signals count, you can call the central station and place just that one offending camera on “Test”, putting a stop to the excessive alarm signals count so you avoid or at least reduce the back-charges. CAUTION: if that camera is triggered by a real intruder while it is on test NO POLICE WILL BE SENT! All the other cameras are still protecting the site and will be handled normally if triggered by the intruder.

Have a technical Videofied question? Email, text or call Jim@RadiusVision.com 206-300-9954.