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Knowledge Base

View live video

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Live video from cameras and video devices can be viewed using the Alarm.com app and Alarm.com customer website.

View live video

Customers can view live video using the Alarm.com app and Alarm.com customer website.

  1. Log in to the Alarm.com app.
  2. Tap Video.
  3. Tap the desired video to start streaming.
  1. Log in to the Alarm.com customer website.
  2. Click Video. The video starts streaming automatically.

Note: Live video from SkyBell Doorbell Cameras can only be viewed using the Alarm.com app.

Live video functionality

Mobile device compatibility

Streaming live video is available on the Alarm.com app. The Alarm.com app is available on iOS and Android.

Note: iPhones and iPads should use the Alarm.com app to display live video. Most mobile browser versions are not able to view live video.

Web browser compatibility on computers

Alarm.com video features are available on the most recent versions of Edge, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome on both Windows and Macintosh computers.

Note: For SkyBell Doorbell Cameras, live video can only be streamed using the Alarm.com app. Saved clips can be viewed using both the Alarm.com customer website and Alarm.com app.

How video devices are listed

Cameras are listed alphabetically in the Alarm.com app and Alarm.com customer website.

Live video stream time out

In addition to the Alarm.com customer website and Alarm.com app, continuous live-streaming video is available through these devices/platforms:

  • Alarm.com video for TV

    Note: When viewing third-party cameras using Alarm.com video for TV, the live stream will time out after 10 minutes regardless of the settings used.

  • SVR playback with an external monitor
  • Qolsys panels
    • IQ Panel 4 and IQ4 Hub on firmware 4.6.1+ only for Two-Way Audio cameras
    • All Qolsys panels for cameras without Two-Way Audio
Important: Alarm.com video for TV setups and Qolsys panels must be connected to the same LAN as the camera with Speed up remote connection initiation disabled on the camera.
Continuously stream live video to the Alarm.com customer website and Alarm.com app

You can stream live video continuously to the Alarm.com customer website and Alarm.com app when you have a compatible camera. 

If the video device is unable to maintain a continuous connection, it will revert to the standard web view with a 3-minute timeout. To confirm the continuous live stream is active, verify Combined-Shape.svg displays when mousing over the live view.

continuous live view combined shape icon.png

For more information about compatible cameras and streaming continuously through the Alarm.com customer website or Alarm.com app, contact your service provider.

Speed Up Remote Connection Initiation

When Speed Up Remote Connection Initiation is enabled, the video loads faster while you are far away from the camera's location. This feature needs to be disabled to continuously stream from the Alarm.com for TV apps, and can be configured using the Alarm.com app or Alarm.com customer website.

  1. Log in to the Alarm.com app.
  2. Tap Video .
  3. Tap Configure.
  4. In Video Devices, tap to select the desired video device.
  5. In Settings, tap Video.
  6. Tap the Speed Up Remote Connection Initiation toggle switch to enable or disable the setting as desired.
  7. Tap Save.
  1. Log in to the Alarm.com customer website.
  2. Click Video.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Using the Video Device dropdown menu, select the desired video device.
  5. Click Live Video.
  6. Click Speed up remote connection initiation to enable or disable the setting as desired..


     
  7. Click Save.

Live video features

Digital zoom

You can digitally zoom in and out on a live video feed using the Alarm.com app and Alarm.com customer website.

Note: Digital zoom is not available on saved clips. 

You can pinch to digitally zoom in/out on a live video feed and pan around when zoomed in, but the camera's video quality and optical zoom level will remain the same.

Note: This feature requires Alarm.com iOS app versions 4.1+ or Android app versions 4.2+.

  1. Log in to the Alarm.com app.
  2. Tap Video.
  3. Tap the desired video.
    • To zoom in, move two of your fingers apart while they are touching the live video feed.
    • To zoom out, move two of your fingers together while they are touching the live video feed.
    • For a quick reset to default zoom, double-tap the video.

You can use the video interface to digitally zoom in/out on a live video feed and pan around when zoomed in, but the camera's video quality and optical zoom level will remain the same.

Note: Some video devices have integrated digital or physical pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) features and use a similar interface that allows you to save and apply preset orientations. For more information about presets and which cameras support them, see Change a pan/tilt camera's position presets.

  1. Log in to the Alarm.com customer website.
  2. Click Video.
  3. Mouse over the desired video, then click Pan tilt video . 
    • To zoom in, click Add.
    • To zoom out, click Minus.
    • To pan, click Details, Down, Collapse, or Up.
    • To reset to default, click icn-target.svg.
    • Alternatively, use the scroll wheel to zoom and click and drag to pan while mousing over the video. 

Note: On the Onboard 24/7 and SVR Timelines, this feature is unavailable when the live feed is paused on the Alarm.com customer website. 

Simultaneous viewers

The number of simultaneous viewers of a video device is determined by the series of the video device.

Note: To determine the series of the video device, read the last two numbers on the camera model (i.e., 723, 523X, 622).

Viewer definition

A viewer is anything that requests streaming video from a video device. A viewer can be a local or remote streaming request. All of the following count as individual viewers:

  • A user streaming live or locally recorded footage from the video device using the Customer Website or Customer app
  • An SVR or CSVR streaming live video from the video device to a local display
  • An SVR or CSVR recording footage from the video device

Simultaneous viewers based on video device series

Camera series Maximum simultaneous viewers
'10 Series  5
'20 Series  10
'21 Series 10
'22 Series 10
'23 Series 5
'24 Series 5
'25 Series 6
'26 Series 4
'36 Series 4
ADC-V729/V729AC/VC729P 5
Pro Series 5
ADC-VDB750 2*
ADC-VDB770 2*
ADC-VDB780B 2*
ADC-VDB755P 5
SkyBell Doorbell Camera (ADC-VDB101/102/105/106/105x/106x) 2
ADC-V515 5

ADC-V516

 5
ADC-V730 5
ADC-VDB775 5

Note: These video devices can support up to 2 viewers, but 1 viewer is the recommended use.

Multi-camera live view and group management for mobile

multi-camera live view feed

Multi-camera live view for mobile allows customers to view up to 4 live streams simultaneously when using the Alarm.com app.

Note: Multi-camera live view is only available on the Alarm.com app through the Video Card. While doorbells can be added to groups and viewed on the Alarm.com customer website together, this will not be seen on the Alarm.com app unless there are other video devices on the customer account.

Multi-camera view layout options

After logging in to the Alarm.com app,  tap Play forwards in the Video card to begin the live streams.

  • To change the live view: 
    • Tap a single camera to view the individual live stream. Tap Grid View to return to the multi-camera live view. 
    • Tap the All Cameras dropdown menu to select the desired camera group through the Video card on the home page and the expanded view.

      multi-camera feed all cameras drop down cropped
       
    • Tap Minimize video to expand or minimize the multi-camera live view.  
    • Swipe left/right to change the cameras and groups in both the expanded and minimized view. 
Video recording

For information about recording video clips, see Take a video recording.

Camera groups

Create and edit camera groups from the Manage Camera Groups page, which includes a preview of each camera. For more information about camera groups, see Create/edit a camera group.

Camera groups allow you to customize the position in which the cameras appear on the Video page.

Toggle high definition

Click icn-video-layout-hd.svg to toggle between high definition and non-HD. High definition offers the best quality resolution, but non-HD allows the user to reduce the quality if bandwidth is a concern.

Search for cameras

Type a name into the camera search bar to find individual cameras. This is ideal for accounts with many cameras.

Note: The search bar only appears when the selected camera group has more than four cameras.

Expand / Full screen

Using the Alarm.com app, view live video in full screen by tapping Video full screen (app).png.

Using the Alarm.com customer website, view live video in full screen by clicking icn-screen-full.svg, view in theater mode by clicking icn-screen-theater.svg, or view expanded live video by clicking icn-video-fullscreen.svg.

Layout options

Note: The live video streams will automatically resize to fit the screen. 

Using the Alarm.com customer website, you can view up to 25 live video streams at a time.

  • Auto.svg is the default live video stream layout. Click Minus or Add to decrease or increase the amount of cameras displayed up to a 5+5 layout. 
  • To arrange live video streams with a preset layout, click Down and select the desired layout.
    • Click view-3+1.svg to arrange streams in a 1+3 layout.
    • Click view-1+5.svg to arrange streams in a 1+5 layout.
    • Click view-1+7.svg to arrange streams in a 1+7 layout.
    • Click view-2+8.svg to arrange streams in a 2+8 layout.
    • Click view-4+2+4.svg to arrange streams in a 4+2+4 layout. 
       
      Note: Live video stream layouts will not display if you do not have enough cameras to fill it. 
  • If you have more than 25 cameras, click Collapse or Detailsto view additional stream pages.

Using the Alarm.com app, the live video streams are arranged in a grid based on screen size.

  • Flick up or down to scroll between streams.
Swipe between live video feeds

Users can swipe between different cameras on the Alarm.com app dashboard and when viewing feeds in landscape.

Note: This feature requires Alarm.com iOS app versions 4.5+ or Android app versions 4.5.1+.

  1. Log in to the Alarm.com app.
  2. On the Video card, swipe left/right between cameras.
  3. Tap Play to play live video.

    Live video card

Two-Way Audio user features

Two-Way Audio is designed so that only one channel (i.e., incoming audio from the camera to the mobile device or outgoing audio from the mobile device to the camera) is used at a time, similar to a two-way radio or walkie-talkie.

Talk or listen

Users can talk through or listen in to their cameras using the Alarm.com app and Alarm.com customer website.

  1. Log in to the Alarm.com app.
  2. Swipe to select the desired video device.
  3. Tap Play .
  4. Press and hold Microphone to speak through the video device.
  5. Release Microphone to listen.
  1. Log in to the Alarm.com app.
  2. Tap Video .
  3. Tap Play  on the desired video device.
  4. Tap Fullscreen.
  5. Press and hold Microphone to speak through the video device. 
  6. Release Microphone to listen.
  1. Log in to the Alarm.com customer website.
  2. Click Video.
  3. Click Live View.
  4. Click and hold Microphone, or press and hold the spacebar. 
  5. Release Microphone to listen.
     
    Note: Two-way Audio is available through the Alarm.com customer website in both Single Camera and Multi-Camera view.
Mute or unmute incoming audio

Audio can be muted and unmuted using the Alarm.com app and Alarm.com customer website.

  1. Log in to the Alarm.com app.
  2. Swipe to select the desired video device.
  3. Tap Play .
  4. Tap sound-mute.svg /  to toggle audio.
  1. Log in to the Alarm.com customer website.
  2. Click Video.
  3. Mouse over the live video for the desired camera.
  4. Tap sound-mute.svg /  to toggle audio.
Configure a camera's microphone and speaker

Enable or disable the microphone and speaker for individual cameras and adjust the speaker's Call Volume using the Alarm.com app and Alarm.com customer website.

  1. Log in to the Alarm.com app.
  2. Tap Video .
  3. Tap Configure.
  4. In Video Devices, select the desired camera.
  5. In Settings, tap Audio.
  6. In Audio Settings:
    • Tap the Microphone / Speaker toggle switch to enable or disable the microphone and speaker for the selected camera. The camera cannot record audio while its microphone and speaker are disabled.
    • In Call Volume, tap or drag the slider to adjust the speaker's volume during Two-Way Audio calls.
  7. Tap Save.
  1. Log in to the Alarm.com customer website.
  2. Click Video.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Using the Video Device dropdown menu, select the desired camera.
  5. Click Video Device Info.
  6. In Device Info:
    • Click to select or deselect Turn off the camera’s microphone and speaker. The camera cannot record audio while the camera's microphone and speaker are disabled.
    • In Call Volume, click or drag the slider to adjust the speaker's volume during Two-Way Audio calls.
  7. Click Save.

 

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