Video Analytics best practices
Video Analytics actively monitors the customer's video stream for people, animals, and vehicles. For more information about how to create and customize Video Analytics recording rules, see Configure a Video Analytics rule.
When a Video Analytics rule is set up correctly, it can detect objects moving across a threshold or into an area of interest and ignore objects that are unimportant.
Note: For more information about which video devices support Video Analytics, see Which video devices support Video Analytics?.
Video Analytics camera setup
Using Video Analytics and Privacy Zones together
It is recommended to create Privacy Zones before configuring any Video Analytics rules for the camera. Existing Privacy Zones appear on the Video Analytics configuration page, but existing Ground Zones and Trip Wires do not appear on the Privacy Zone configuration page.
Take note of any existing Video Analytics Ground Zones and Tripwires, and avoid overlapping them with the Privacy Zones.
For more information about Privacy Zones, see Configure Privacy Zones.
Video Analytics rules
Video Analytics recordings
Notifications
When configuring the Notify Recipients section, keep in mind that the camera records all objects it detects even if the customer deselects a specific object type (i.e., a person, animal, vehicle, or other).
Example: The customer only chooses to be notified of recordings of people. If an animal triggers a recording, the recording will be saved, but no notification will be sent to the customer.
For more information about how clips are classified, see How does a Video Analytics clip get classified as Other?.
Accessing saved video clips
Recorded clips designated as Other by the camera are saved to the customer account but hidden by default on the Saved Video page. Verify that Other is selected as a filter on the Saved Video page when searching for Video Analytics recordings that appear to be missing.
To view video clips filtered to Other using the Alarm.com customer website:
- Log into the Alarm.com customer website.
- Click Video.
- Click Saved Video Clips.
- Click Filter.
- Using the Cameras dropdown menu, select the desired video device.
- In Object Detection, click to select Other.
- Click Apply.
To view video clips filtered to Other using the Alarm.com app:
- Log into the Alarm.com app.
- Tap
. - Tap Saved.
- Tap
. - In Show, tap to select the desired date and time.
- In Object Detection, tap to select Other.
- Tap Apply.
View a Usage Report
A Usage Report shows the system's current video storage as well as the amount of video uploaded for the month. Usage Reports can be viewed using the Alarm.com customer website.
To access a video Usage Report:
- Log into the Alarm.com customer website.
- Click Video.
- Click Saved Video Clips.
- Click Usage Report.
- Use the dropdown menus to select the desired filters.
- Using the first dropdown menu, select the desired report, camera, or recording rule.
- Using the second dropdown menu, select the desired time frame.
- Using the third dropdown menu, select the desired type of report (i.e., Bar Graph or Line Graph).
- Mouse over a column or data point on the graph to see more information.