Cameras

From the moment we developed intruder intervention, ensuring our customers’ privacy remains secure has been a top priority. We’ve taken several steps in this regard.

Monitoring agents do not have access to live camera streams outside of alarm events. Temporary access is only granted when an alarm signal reaches the monitoring center. Canceling the alarm remotely by disarming the system, responding with “C” to an alarm text, or canceling the alarm via app within the false alarm grace period, or by providing a Safe Word over the phone or through the camera) will end the agent's live video access.

Any time an agent streams live during an alarm event, the Status LED of that camera will blink Amber instead of Blue, giving persons in the home the ability to simply glance at a camera and know if an agent is viewing that camera live.

At the beginning of an alarm, when the agent opens the Video Verification app for that location and gains access to your camera(s), you’ll receive an event on your timeline indicating and documenting this access. When an agent streams live from the camera(s), the entire duration of their stream is recorded. You’ll receive a timeline event with each recording, so you’ll be able to see what our agents saw, heard, and if they activated 2-way audio, what they said. If they activate 2-way audio, you’ll also receive a push notification and timeline event indicating this. During this period, the agent will have access to a short video clip(s) from any recordings made by any camera on your system caused by this alarm event. Finally, when an agent’s access to your camera(s) ends (either because you canceled the alarm, or the 20-minute window expired), you’ll receive an event on your timeline. 

To get these benefits and more, sign up for residential or business Pro Plus, Pro, or Core monitoring and opt into Video Verification and intruder intervention via the SimpliSafe® Mobile App!

Video Verification gives monitoring agents access to limited recordings of the alarm in the moments that follow the event triggering. These recordings may include critical evidence that can lead to priority dispatch for faster emergency response*. 

Intruder intervention offers an additional layer of protection on top of video recordings. It allows agents to help stop crime in real-time by giving them access to a live video feed and 2-way audio communications so they can see and speak with a person in your home during an alarm.

*vs. non-verified SimpliSafe® alarms.

SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection builds upon our existing professional monitoring services and is included as part of four new plans: Pro and Pro Plus for residential and business monitoring subscribers. All while being designed to prevent crime before it happens.

With SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection, there are four plan options available, Pro Plus and Pro Plus Business for 24/7 coverage and Pro and Pro Business for coverage from 8pm-6am local time. You must have at least one Outdoor Camera Series 2 in order to use this service. Once the Outdoor Camera Series 2 is activated with SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection, you can also enable your Video Doorbell Pro to keep a lookout for potential threats. This service supports a maximum of 3 cameras, one of which must always be an Outdoor Camera Series 2.

How do you use SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection? When you arm your system to home or away mode, you enable your outdoor cameras to automatically alert our professional monitoring agents when a potential threat is detected outside of your home or business. 

When this happens, our expert monitoring agents can see and speak directly to potential intruders using real-time two-way audio and a live feed, while also enabling the camera's siren and spotlight to deter crimes in progress. All of this happens while your outdoor cameras are capturing video evidence of what’s happening.

If necessary, agents will reach out to the Primary Contact for this location and request dispatch of the appropriate emergency authorities to alert them to the alarm event happening.

*SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection is designed for use with an Outdoor Camera Series 2, outside of your home or business. For indoor protection, consider purchasing a Smart Alarm Indoor Camera and enabling Intruder Intervention for agent intervention during burglary/intrusion alarms.

Once you have signed up for SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection as your new monthly subscription, there are a few steps you need to take to enable the service for your property.

There are two ways to enroll your cameras in SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection. The first is during the setup of your Outdoor Security Camera Series 2. The second is to enroll after setup using either the tile on the Overview tab or under Camera Settings.

Before proceeding, ensure that you are ready for SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection and meet the requirements for service. Specifically, you can only have 3 cameras total enrolled. One of them can be a Video Doorbell Pro so long as you also have at least one Outdoor Camera Series 2 enrolled. You will also need to have your Outdoor Security Camera Series 2 connected to a continuous power source using the outdoor power cable. If you do not have the Outdoor Camera Series 2 connected to power using the outdoor power cable, its enrollment in SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection will fail. 

Enrolling During Outdoor Security Camera Series 2 Installation

After you have installed your Outdoor Security Camera Series 2, the app will prompt you to begin the enrollment process for your camera into SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection.

If you choose “Enroll Camera”, the app will save your selection and exit the setup flow. You may choose “Done” to return to the SimpliSafe® Mobile App or ‘Customize Settings’ to change the settings for your Outdoor Camera Series 2.

Enrolling After Installation

If you choose “Skip Enrollment” during the camera installation process, you’ll have the option to come back to this later. The app will prompt you to enroll from the Overview tab, or you can manually enroll cameras under My System > Camera Settings > Outdoor Protection.

From the Overview Tab

From the Overview Tab in the SimpliSafe® Mobile App, you may have a prompt to Finish Setup to enroll in SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection. To get started, tap on “Finish Setup” then toggle the cameras you want to use SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection. You can choose up to 3 cameras, and one of them can even be a Video Doorbell Pro once at least one Outdoor Security Camera Series 2 is enrolled!

Manually Enrolling Using Camera Settings

You may also enroll manually under the Camera Settings within the SimpliSafe® Mobile App.

1. Choose My System from the bottom navigation bar

2. Select Camera Settings​

3. Tap on Outdoor Protection

4. Toggle on the cameras that you want to be enrolled by SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection

1. Please note that you will need at least 1 Outdoor Security Camera Series 2 enrolled if you want to use Video Doorbell Pro with this service

5. Select Save in the upper right corner of the app to save your selections

Please note: users granted access to your system through our Additional User Access functionality cannot enroll cameras into SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection. Only owners on the account have that capability.

SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection is compatible with the Outdoor Security Camera Series 2, as well as Video Doorbell Pro. While Video Doorbell Pro is compatible with this service, it is not intended to be the sole camera for this service. 

You can enable up to 3 cameras for Active Guard Outdoor Protection, one of which must be the Outdoor Security Camera Series 2 connected to a continuous power source (i.e. the Outdoor Camera Power Cable). Having the Outdoor Camera Series 2 connected to a continuous power source allows it to enter Performance Mode, leading to faster response and detection.

Once you enroll your camera into SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection, the Mic & Audio setting will be toggled on, along with the spotlight. Your siren setting will also be removed from the camera settings page for Outdoor Camera Series 2 cameras that are enrolled in SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection. These features are a necessity for agent intervention when responding to alarm events at your location, therefore you will not be able to modify them while SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection is enabled for that camera.

Your Outdoor Security Camera Series 2 will also come with a sticker to affix to your SimpliSafe® branded yard signs. To comply with state and federal laws, we recommend that you use the sticker to adequately display that your security cameras may be collecting audio or video data as a part of SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection. If you need to replace your yard signs or purchase a new one, you can visit our online store and select Gen 3, then scroll to the bottom of the page to locate them. You may also contact our support team directly to purchase yard signs for your property.

Finally, SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection is only available for residential use - not commercial use.

Familiar Faces are a way for professional monitoring agents to know who should be allowed on your property. For example, you may want to create a familiar face for an in-law, a neighbor, or maybe a dog walker. Our expert monitoring agents are trained to use familiar faces to identify a match when the system is armed and SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection is active, and will only engage with unknown individuals. You will still receive notifications when people who match a familiar face are on your property.

Before creating a familiar face, you are required to have explicit consent from each person. If you create a familiar face for a minor, you must obtain consent from their parent or guardian. If someone revokes their consent, it is your responsibility to honor that request and delete their familiar face from within the SimpliSafe® Mobile App.

Familiar Faces profiles should be for a singular person and utilize their real name. Do not create generic profiles, such as “Delivery Driver” or “Babysitter” and use different photos of different people. You can find more tips for uploading photos to Familiar Faces on our Help Center.

Familiar faces and Automatic Face Matching are available where permitted by law. Automatic Face Matching is unavailable to customers in Illinois, Texas, and (Portland) Oregon.

Related Articles

• How to Create, Delete, or Modify Familiar Faces within the SimpliSafe® Mobile App​

• ​Tips for Uploading Photos to the Familiar Faces Feature

Common Activity Event, Person on Property, and Emergency Event are new terms used within the SimpliSafe® Mobile App when SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection is enabled. This is to let you know what occurred on your cameras after our system and expert monitoring agents have verified your events.

A Common Activity Event is an outdoor monitored event that contains everyday motion. Everyday motion could include passersby, vehicles, animals, weather, moving trees, etc.

A Person on Property Event is an outdoor monitored event type where an agent has seen a person on your property. While the event is occurring, you’ll see a timeline event labeled “Agent Verifying”. Agents will use your saved familiar faces to identify who is allowed to be on your property. If an agent is not able to identify a lingering person on your property, they will attempt to engage with the individual via two-way communication or when necessary, use deterrence methods on your outdoor camera(s) such as sounding the siren and flashing the spotlight. Once the agent has been able to assess an event, they’ll send a push notification and/or email to you with details about the event. The timeline event within the SimpliSafe® Mobile App will also inform you of the agent's actions with an “Agent Handled” status. 

An Emergency Event is an event that is urgent in nature (such as suspicious activity, medical emergency, or violence/burglary). If our expert monitoring agents report an Emergency Event on your property, you’ll immediately be notified via push notifications and Alarm Texts. Depending on what is observed, our highly trained team of security specialists will either escalate and request dispatch or call your primary contact to determine the next steps.

You can learn more about what happens during an alarm on our Help Center.