Glassbreak Sensor

Test Mode is a great way to test the connection between your Base Station and other SimpliSafe® products. We recommend periodically placing your system into Test Mode to ensure that your devices are still communicating with the Base Station without any errors. 

Placing Your System Into Test Mode

1. Disarm your system by pressing OFF on the Keypad

2. Press the Menu button on your Keypad

3. Enter your Master PIN

4. Scroll until Test Mode is highlighted

5. Use the right arrow key to enter Test Mode

You’ll know you are in Test Mode when you see a circle on the Keypad appear with the text, “Test each device by pressing its button”.

Note: If you subscribe to monitoring, you will receive an automated call from the monitoring center asking you to confirm you placed your system into Test Mode. If you do not answer – no worries! A voicemail will be left to alert you to the system test, and it will not result in a request for dispatch.

Testing the Glassbreak Sensor

To test the Glassbreak Sensor, first, press the button on the top of the Glassbreak Sensor. This will lower the sensor’s sensitivity so that it can be triggered by just the sound of a hand clap. Walk to the window or glass door that you want the sensor to watch over and clap your hands once. If successful, the Base Station will announce, “Glassbreak Sensor”.

We recommend trying the clap test at different spots in the room to ensure that your Glassbreak Sensor is in the best spot.

Once you are done testing your Glassbreak Sensor, press the left arrow key on your Keypad’s screen to exit Test Mode.

Troubleshooting the Glassbreak Sensor

If you are testing your Glassbreak Sensor and do not hear the Base Station announce, “Glassbreak Sensor”, the first thing you’ll want to do is confirm you can hear the Base Station from the location you’re testing in. You can adjust the Base Station’s volume under the Base Station Settings menu, by selecting Voice Prompts.

As a next step, you’ll want to confirm that the Glassbreak Sensor's battery is functioning. The Glassbreak Sensor takes a single Duracell CR-123A Lithium 3V battery and has a life expectancy of up to 3 years, depending on placement and usage.

If you are still unable to hear the Base Station announce “Glassbreak Sensor”, it’s possible that there could be an issue with the location of the Base Station, or there is Radio Frequency (RF) interference at play.

Other electronic devices within your home may communicate on similar frequencies, resulting in wireless interference between your SimpliSafe® devices. Because of this, we recommend keeping your Base Station and Glassbreak Sensor at least 3-5 feet away from the following devices:

• Wi-Fi Routers

• Large TVs

• Weather Stations

• Large Appliances (especially in the kitchen and laundry rooms)

• Baby monitors

• Remote Controlled Garage Door Openers

• LED Lights or Christmas Lights

This above list is to give you an idea of what devices may cause interference within your home, and is in no means an exhaustive list of all devices. There may be other devices that output RF or Wi-Fi signals that could impede the connection between your Base Station and SimpliSafe® devices.

​​​SimpliSafe’s® Professional Monitoring protects your home or business across many types of alarms. Depending on your monitoring plan and alarm type, when an alarm is triggered, you’ll be notified through App Push Notifications or Alarm Text Messages. You’ll also be able to interact with our in-app Alarm Screen to cancel alarms or request help from emergency responders. 

Alarm types are divided into four categories:

• Burglary (Entry, Motion, Glassbreak, Panic Button, Duress)

• SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection Alarms (Pro, Pro Plus plans only)

• Life Safety (Fire and Carbon Monoxide)

• Environmental (Water and Temperature Alerts)

If the system is disarmed within a few moments of the initial alarm signal, this will be considered a false alarm by our monitoring center. That means you will not receive a phone call, as we assume you are safe, and emergency services will not be requested to your location. 

Alarm Texts

Beyond disarming at the keypad, you also have the option to cancel the alarm or request dispatch of emergency services by Alarm Text. If you respond to the text with a C during the grace period, you won’t receive a call from our monitoring center. 

You can also disarm your system via Alarm Texts after burglary alarms by replying back with “Disarm now” to the disarm text prompt. This is not case sensitive, so replying back with “disarm now” will also work. Disarming your system via Alarm Texts is a great way to ensure that subsequent alarms don’t occur while you work to get back to your home or business.

Alarm Texts for life safety events are only to alert you of the hazard, and cannot be used to cancel the alarm or request dispatch.

SimpliSafe® Mobile App

If you have alarm Push Notifications turned on, you will get a notification during an alarm that will take you to our Alarm Screen feature in the SimpliSafe® app where you can cancel your alarm (depending on the alarm type) or request help with the touch of a button. 

If the alarm is not cancelled by any of the above methods within the grace period, the Primary Contacts will receive a call from our monitoring center. During this call you will be required to provide your Safe Word to the agent you speak with to cancel the alarm. 

Please note: providing the wrong Safe Word, or no Safe Word, will result in a request for dispatch. You won’t be told you got it wrong to protect anyone who may be under duress. Additionally, missing the phone calls to your Primary Contacts will also result in a request for emergency services to the location that your system is registered to. 

Carbon Monoxide Alarms Exception

Due to the potentially life threatening nature of carbon monoxide events, you are unable to cancel these alarms through any method and emergency services will be requested to your location.

Critical Alerts and Do Not Disturb Settings

Once saved to your phone, you’ll also want to allow us access to bypass Do Not Disturb and Silent Profiles. This allows for Critical Alarm Notifications to get through to you, regardless of your phone’s volume or profile status.

You can navigate each section below to learn more about how our products respond during these key alarm moments.

Related Articles

• ​Understanding and Preventing False Alarms​

• ​What Happens During an Alarm?​

• ​What to do After a Real or False Alarm Event

What are Secret Alerts?

Secret Alerts* are private notifications sent to you by specific sensors you designate to be on a special “alert-only” setting. Sensors on this setting won’t trigger a system alarm or chime to the Base Station, but send a discreet notification directly to you instead. All of your SimpliSafe® cameras will also film a short recording so you have footage of what tripped the sensor.

Requirements

• A supported residential or business monitoring subscription:

  • Pro Plus

  • Pro

  • Core

  • Self-Monitoring with Camera Recordings

• At least one of the following SimpliSafe® Sensors

  • Entry Sensor

  • Motion Sensor (Gen 1 or Gen 2)

  • Glassbreak Sensor

How do I Enable Secret Alerts?

1. Open the SimpliSafe® Mobile App on your phone or tablet

2. Choose My System from the bottom navigation bar

3. Select Device Settings, then tap on your Entry Sensor from the list of available products

4. Tap into Off, Home, or Away

5. Select Secret Alert

6. Choose SAVE in the upper right corner to save your selections before exiting

7. Repeat for each mode or sensor, as necessary

To ensure that you are notified whenever a sensor triggers a Secret Alert, make sure that you have push notifications enabled. 

There may be a point where you need to rename a device for your SimpliSafe® System. Renaming it can be done easily through the SimpliSafe® Mobile App, but you can also rename a product using your Keypad. The following will walk you through these steps for each platform so you can pick whichever one is easiest for you.

• SimpliSafe® Mobile App

• SimpliSafe® Online Account

• Keypad

SimpliSafe® Mobile App:

1. Open the SimpliSafe® Mobile App on your phone or tablet

2. Select My System from the navigation bar at the bottom of the app screen

3. Choose Device Settings

4. Choose the device you would like to modify

5. Tap arrow next to the name of your sensor

6. Choose a prepopulated name from the list of available names, or scroll down and choose Custom Name to enter your own name

7. Be sure to tap on SAVE in the upper right corner to save your selections

*Note, Custom Names for the Entry Sensor are not supported by Sensor Name Announcement

SimpliSafe® Account Online

1. Login to your SimpliSafe® Online Account using the browser of your choice

2. Choose Devices from the left-hand navigation menu

3. Click on the product you wish to edit, then a pop-up will appear to the right of your browser

4. Select the pencil icon next to your devices name

5. Enter the new name you wish to use in the field

6. Select the check mark when done

7. Be sure to click on Save Changes from the bottom of the pop-up before exiting to save your selection

*Note, Custom Names for the Entry Sensor are not supported by Sensor Name Announcement. To confirm which names are available, please use the SimpliSafe® Mobile App to rename your sensor.

Keypad:

1. Press Menu

2. Enter your Master PIN

3. Choose Devices and then Open to enter the Devices menu

4. Scroll down to select the product you wish to modify

5. Press the screen to the right to choose rename

6. Choose one of the preset names from the list using the rocker, or select Other at the end of the list to enter a Custom Name*

*Note, Custom Names for Entry Sensor are not supported by Sensor Name Announcement.

The Keypad uses ABC mode for typing. In this mode, you'll cycle through the corresponding characters (numbers, symbols, punctuation, letters) using the keys numbered 0-9 on your Keypad.

​

*For the '1' key, more characters will appear after 10 presses and in this specific order:

) * + , - . / : ; < = > ? @ [ \ ] ^ _ ' { | } ~

Installing SimpliSafe® sensors takes less than a minute! In most cases, sensors can be mounted on walls by using the adhesive strips on the back of each device. However, there are some situations where the sensor may not adhere to the wall effectively, like:

• Brick surfaces: the surface can be rough in texture and hard to clean thoroughly 

• Hot and humid conditions: humidity can weaken the adhesive strips

• Cold conditions: a cold wall can cause the adhesive to fail

• Dirty surfaces: the adhesives stick best on clean surfaces

For the best results, we suggest making sure that the area you’re adhering the sensor to has been thoroughly cleaned and dried. We recommend wiping the area down with an alcohol-based cleaning product to make sure it’s clear of any dust or dirt. 

Once the area is thoroughly dry, simply peel the paper backing off the adhesives and press the sensor firmly to the wall for 30 seconds.

If you have a sensor that has fallen off a wall, be sure to test the sensor to confirm that it is still working properly and was not damaged.

Alternatively, SimpliSafe® sensors can also be screw-mounted using the included mounting bracket. See our How do I Install my Sensors by Screw-Mounting article for more information.