SimpliSafe Zones Guide: Customizing Zones

simplisafe alarm sign in front of a housesimplisafe alarm sign in front of a house

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The smart home security market is highly competitive, as companies seek to promote their customers’ safety and security. However, an often overlooked aspect of security is the accuracy of the information you receive from your devices. To address this issue, SimpliSafe currently allows users to customize monitored zones so your alarm system can better cater to your needs.

SimpliSafe Zones gives users the ability to designate which areas are monitored or ignored to decrease the number of false alarms triggered by the SimpliSafe alarm system. The zones can be enabled and customized through the SimpliSafe app.

Motion zones are primarily utilized by the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell. With these customizable activity zones, users can ensure that their home is accurately monitored; this also allows for a broader range of customizability, so you only see what’s important. In the remainder of this article, we’ll provide an in-depth guide to SimpliSafe Zones and how to customize them for your home.

How Do Zones Work with Motion Detection?

SimpliSafe security devices rely on advanced motion-detecting technology to ensure that your home is being accurately monitored.

In addition to advanced motion detection analysis and PIR sensors, the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell, in particular, allows users to customize and designate what areas are being observed. This allows for a reduction in false alarms, so the notifications you receive are authentic.

Video and Advanced Motion Analytics

The SimpliSafe Video Doorbell utilizes two separate AI sensors that work in conjunction to detect motion more accurately.

  • One sensor (which will be discussed in more detail in the next section) uses passive infrared technology, which detects changes in heat signatures of objects in a designated area.
  • The second sensor uses advanced motion analytics to differentiate between a person and movement from another object (like animals or passing cars).

(Source: SimpliSafe)

Passive Infrared Sensor (PIR)

The other AI sensor on the video doorbell uses passive infrared technology to decrease the number of “false alarms” that you receive from your device. This technology can detect changes in the heat signatures (like those of humans and pets or animals) of a surrounding environment (or “activity zone” in this case).

PIR sensors contain a type of pyroelectric material which detects infrared radiation by generating electricity. In other words, when a change in the monitored infrared radiation occurs (e.g., when an object with a heat signature enters a monitored zone), the alarm will trigger, notifying the user of potentially unauthorized movement.

Note: Motion detectors, like the Video Doorbell, that use combined sensors will only trigger when both sensors are triggered.

For example, since the PIR sensors use less energy, it will be triggered first. Once the PIR sensor is activated, the Video and Motion detectors will verify if it is a “true” alarm. This is an added layer of accuracy that significantly reduces the number of false alarms your device detects.

SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Motion Zones

Now that we have a better understanding of the sensor monitoring technology that SimpliSafe uses, let’s take a more in-depth look at the specifics regarding motion zones.

Field of View

The SimpliSafe Video Doorbell has a 120° field of view, which indicates the area the camera can physically see. With the larger field of view, homeowners can see a broader range of activities in their surrounding neighborhoods. Additionally, a greater field of view allows the Video Doorbell camera to detect a bigger range of movement in your environment.

Motion Detection Zone

In addition to a 120° field of view, the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell also has a 90° motion detection zone (left to right, downward, and straight ahead). A motion detection zone is a specific area within the camera’s field of view. If motion occurs within the 90° zone, your system will trigger a notification.

Enabling and Customizing Zones

SimpliSafe makes it easy to enable and customize your monitored zones directly from their associated app. Here are a few quick steps to get started turning on and customizing your Video Doorbell’s zones:

  1. Open the SimpliSafe App and click on the Menu.
  2. Select “Cameras”
  3. Next, select the gear icon in the top right corner to access the settings.
  4. Choose which camera you would like to edit. (You can also edit the Video Verification settings during this step.)
  5. This will present you with a list of motion settings you can customize, including motion sensitivity, night vs. day settings, activity zones, and more.

(Source: SimpliSafe)

Once you access your “Motion Detection” settings, you will see your doorbell’s video feed with a grid overlay. Once you are at this step, designating your activity zones is just a matter of clicking the boxes where motion detection is not needed. The device will automatically ignore those areas. (Source: SimpliSafe)

Note: The Activity Zones work best during the day and cannot function properly in the dark. However, SimpliSafe now has an added setting to change the camera’s daytime and nighttime sensitivity for greater customization.

In Summary

With a steady increase in smart home security devices’ availability, a deciding factor could boil down to an alarm system’s accuracy. The ability to customize and enable different activity zones makes the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell a strong contender to provide accurate and consistent notifications catered specifically to the user.

The customization doesn’t stop here; SimpliSafe also allows you to customize different modes. Check out this article to learn more!

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