Motion Sensors
Get the most out of your SimpliSafe system by getting answers to your questions and support for your devices.
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Testing the Motion Sensor Gen 2
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 products are still communicating with the Base Station without any errors.
Placing Your System Into Test Mode
Disarm your system by pressing OFF on the Keypad
Press the Menu button on your Keypad
Enter your Primary PIN
Scroll until Test Mode is highlighted
Use the arrow and tap to the right 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 Motion Sensor Gen 2
To test the Motion Sensor Gen 2, first, press the button on the top of the device. You’ll hear the Base Station announce “Motion Sensor,” confirming that the test was successful.
To test the motion aspect of the Motion Sensor Gen 2, press the button on the top of the device and then leave the room for at least 15 seconds. This will allow the Motion Sensor to scan the room during that time. After the time has lapsed, re-enter the room. You’ll hear the Base Station announce “Motion Sensor” from your motion within the room.
Once you have finished testing the Motion Sensor Gen 2, press the left arrow key on the Keypad’s screen to exit Test Mode.
Troubleshooting the Motion Sensor Gen 2
The first thing you’ll want to identify is if the placement of your Motion Sensor Gen 2 is correct for the room and mounting position. We recommend mounting it 6 feet off the ground in a corner of the room so that you get the full field of view for motion detection. However, you may also place the Motion Sensor Gen 2 on the edge of a flat surface.
You’ll also want to check the Motion Sensitivity settings within the SimpliSafe® Mobile App. Here, you can toggle on or off Pet Mode, which will lessen the sensitivity of the sensor to allow your pets to roam freely within your home or business.
You can adjust this setting at anytime by using these steps:
Open the SimpliSafe® App on your phone or tablet
Choose My System from the bottom navigation bar
Select Device Settings
Tap on your Motion Sensor Gen 2
Under Motion Sensitivity, select Pet Mode
Toggle this On or Off
Be sure to save your selection by choosing Save or Send to Base from the bottom of the app
If you are testing your Motion Sensor and do not hear the Base Station announce “Motion Sensor”, the next 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 Motion Sensor Gen 2's battery is functioning. The Motion Sensor Gen 2 takes a single CR-123A Lithium 3V battery and has a life expectancy of up to 4 years depending on placement and usage.
If you are still unable to hear the Base Station announce “Motion 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 Motion 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.
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Motion Sensor Gen 2
How SimpliSafe® Products Respond During an Alarm
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.
Entry Sensor, Motion Sensor, and Glassbreak Sensor
When your system is in an armed state (Home or Away mode) and one of these sensors is triggered, a countdown will begin unless you have configured Instant Trigger. The Entry Delay default is 30 seconds, but can be adjusted up to 4 minutes in the SimpliSafe® Mobile App. If you do not disarm your system before this entry countdown elapses, the alarm will sound and you will need to cancel the alarm in order to prevent the dispatch of emergency services.
Panic Button
When the button on the Panic Button, Key Fob, or Keypad is pressed for 2 seconds, it sends a notification to the monitoring center* that you require assistance at your location. Your Panic Button can be configured in several ways, which results in different scenarios that play out in the event of an alarm. Under all configurations - except Silent Alarm - you’ll receive an Alarm Text and a phone call to confirm the status of your location.
Please note that alarms triggered by Panic Buttons are not able to be cancelled via Alarm Text or the SimpliSafe® App in order to ensure your safety.
*The Panic Button will only alert the monitoring center of the emergency at your location when subscribed to a professional monitoring plan.
Duress
SimpliSafe® Security Systems are equipped to set up a Duress PIN that you can enter if you are being forced to put in your system information. This PIN type is for emergencies. If you enter the Duress PIN into your Smart Lock’s PIN Pad or Keypad, our monitoring team will request dispatch of emergency services immediately. You will not hear an alarm siren or get a phone call for your safety.
We hope you never have to use this feature, but it’s important to set it up and learn more about it to arm yourself with the knowledge to protect yourself. Please make sure the Duress PIN is uniquely different from your Master PIN to reduce the likelihood of entering it by mistake and receiving dispatch unintentionally.
When you pair your Outdoor Camera Series 2 with a Pro Plus or Pro Monitoring Plan, you’ll get access to SimpliSafe® Active Guard Outdoor Protection. Once you’ve enrolled your camera(s) and armed your system within your monitoring hours (24/7 for Pro Plus subscribers, 8pm-6am local time for Pro subscribers), your cameras will be on the lookout for intruders. When someone who does not match a Familiar Faces profile is seen on camera, our monitoring specialists will choose to engage with the individual through the camera’s two-way audio, and request dispatch to your location as necessary.
Smoke-Related Alarms
When the Smoke Detector or Smoke & CO Detector detects particulates consistent with smoke, or the Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm Listener hears your third-party smoke detector go off, it will sound the alarm to notify you of the potential hazard.
After the alarm has sounded, two things will happen at once, depending on your monitoring plan. The Primary Contact(s) of that location will receive an Alarm Text, and the first Primary Contact will receive a phone call from the monitoring center. Alarm Texts and push notification from the SimpliSafe® Mobile App for life safety events are only to alert you of the hazard, and cannot be used to cancel the alarm, disarm your system, or request dispatch.
Primary Contacts can cancel the alarm or request help from your local fire department for smoke over the phone without the need for your Safe Word. You can also cancel smoke alarms by disarming your system with your PIN at the Keypad.
If you do not answer the phone or cancel the alarm at your Keypad in a timely manner, our monitoring team will automatically request dispatch from your local fire department, who will be dispatched to the location address on file for your SimpliSafe® system.
Carbon Monoxide-Related Alarms
When the Carbon Monoxide Detector detects carbon monoxide, or the Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm Listener hears your third-party carbon monoxide detector go off, it will sound the alarm to notify you of the potential hazard.
After the alarm has sounded, the first Primary Contact will receive an Alarm Text and a phone call from the monitoring center. Alarm Texts and push notifications from the SimpliSafe® Mobile App for life safety events are only to alert you of the hazard, and cannot be used to cancel the alarm or request dispatch.
Note: Due to the serious and potentially life-threatening nature of carbon monoxide poisoning, there is no way to cancel carbon monoxide alarms. If a CO alarm is triggered, we will request dispatch to the location on file for your SimpliSafe® system.
Temperature Sensor
The Temperature Sensor will sound an alarm when it detects that the temperature within your home or business has gone above or below the temperature range that you set. This can help alert you to the potential hazard at hand, such as the potential for freezing pipes, or the cooling within your home no longer working during a heat wave.
When an alarm is triggered you will receive push notifications, Alarm Texts, and an automated phone call. The call is placed to the Primary Contact first, followed by the Secondary Contact in the event the Primary Contact does not answer. We do not request for dispatch to your system’s location for these alarms.
Water Sensor
The Water Sensor will sound an alarm when it detects water in its chamber. This could be the result of a small leak, or something more dangerous like flooding within your home or business.
When an alarm is triggered you will receive push notifications, Alarm Texts, and an automated phone call. The call is placed to the Primary Contact first, followed by the Secondary Contact in the event the Primary Contact does not answer. We do not request dispatch to your system’s location for these alarms.
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.
We encourage you to save the monitoring center number to your phone.
That number is 855-693-4911.
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.
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Product Support
Low Battery Warning for Motion Sensor Gen 2
The Motion Sensor Gen 2 takes a single CR-123A Lithium 3V battery and has a life expectancy of up to 4 years depending on placement and usage.
If you are receiving this error shortly after installing your Motion Sensor Gen 2, this may be related to a firmware issue rather than a low battery within the device.
To troubleshoot this, we recommend confirming that you are running at least version 2.15.8 of the Base Station firmware. You can check what version you’re on by going to:
Open the SimpliSafe® Mobile App on your phone or tablet
Navigate to My System on the bottom navigation bar
Select Base Station Settings
Next to firmware, confirm the version is at a minimum 2.15.8
If the Base Station is on a firmware version lower than 2.15.8 you’ll need to update your system. You can check for updates using the Keypad or on the Overview tab of the SimpliSafe® Mobile App.
Using the Keypad:
Press the Menu Button
Enter your Primary PIN
Scroll to System Settings
Select Check for Updates
Once your system is up to date, you’ll need to power cycle the Motion Sensor Gen 2 by removing a battery from it. To do this, slide the Motion Sensor up and off its’ bracket, then remove the battery for 30 seconds. Then, place the battery back into the device and slide the Motion Sensor back onto its’ bracket.
Next, open the SimpliSafe® Mobile App on your phone or tablet. Navigate to the Overview tab (the home screen) and pull down from the top of the page to refresh the app. This should clear out the low battery warning from the app.
If you are still seeing the Low Battery Warning error within the SimpliSafe® Mobile App, you’ll want to remove and reinstall your Motion Sensor Gen 2.
To remove your Motion Sensor Gen 2:
Open the SimpliSafe® Mobile App on your phone or tablet
Choose My System from the bottom navigation bar
Select Device Settings
Tap on the sensor you wish to remove
Choose ‘Remove Device’
Once you have removed your sensor, you can add it back using our Installation Guide.
Still Receiving a Low Battery Warning After These Steps?
If the low battery warning persists after taking those steps, you’ll want to change the battery within the device. The Motion Sensor Gen 2 takes a single CR-123A Lithium 3V battery. To change your Motion Sensor Gen 2 battery, slide the sensor up and off its bracket. Then, replace the battery and slide it back onto its bracket.
Please note that the low battery warning may take up to 24 hours to clear within the SimpliSafe® Mobile App after changing the batteries.
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Motion Sensor Gen 2
Motion Sensor Gen 2 Offline
If your Motion Sensor Gen 2 is showing as offline on the SimpliSafe® Mobile App, this is an indicator that the battery within the device needs to be replaced.
The Motion Sensor Gen 2 takes a single (1) CR-123A Lithium 3V battery and has a life expectancy of up to 4 years depending on placement and usage.
To replace the battery, slide the sensor up and off its bracket. Then replace the lithium battery and slide the sensor back onto its bracket.
Please note that the error may take up to 24 hours to clear from the SimpliSafe® Mobile App after taking these steps. If you want to bypass that timeframe, there are two steps you can take to remove the error from the SimpliSafe® App.
First, place your system into Test Mode and test the sensor to reestablish a connection.
To place your system into Test Mode:
Using your Keypad go to Menu > Enter your Primary PIN > Test Mode
Press and release the button on the Motion Sensor. The Base Station should announce “Motion Sensor” and the timeline on the SimpliSafe® App should show “Motion Sensor Test”.
If the Test Mode step does not work, it’s possible that your sensor has been offline for too long. The best step would be to remove the sensor from the SimpliSafe® App and then add it back to your system.
To remove your Motion Sensor Gen 2:
Open the SimpliSafe® Mobile App on your phone or tablet
Choose My System from the bottom navigation bar
Select Device Settings
Choose ‘Remove Device’
Once you have removed your sensor, you can add it back using our Installation Guide.
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Motion Sensor Gen 2
Motion Sensor Gen 1 Offline
If your Motion Sensor is showing as offline on the SimpliSafe® Mobile App, this is an indicator that the battery within the device needs to be replaced.
The Motion Sensor takes a single (1) CR-123A Lithium 3V battery and has a life expectancy of up to 5 years depending on placement and usage.
To replace the battery, slide the sensor up and off its bracket. Then replace the lithium battery and slide the sensor back onto its bracket.
Please note that the error may take up to 24 hours to clear from the SimpliSafe® Mobile App after taking these steps. If you want to bypass that timeframe, there are two steps you can take to remove the error from the SimpliSafe® App.
First, place your system into Test Mode and test the sensor to reestablish a connection.
To place your system into Test Mode:
Using your Keypad go to Menu > Enter your Primary PIN > Test Mode
Press and release the button on the Motion Sensor. The Base Station should announce “Motion Sensor” and the timeline on the SimpliSafe® App should show “Motion Sensor Test”.
If the Test Mode step does not work, it’s possible that your sensor has been offline for too long. The best step would be to remove the sensor from the SimpliSafe® App and then add it back to your system.
To remove your Motion Sensor Gen 1:
Open the SimpliSafe® Mobile App on your phone or tablet
Choose My System from the bottom navigation bar
Select Device Settings
Tap on the sensor you wish to remove
Choose ‘Remove Device’
Once you have removed your sensor, you can add it back using our Installation Guide.
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Motion Sensor Gen 1
How To Replace Motion Sensor Gen 1 Battery
The Motion Sensor takes one (1) CR-123A Lithium 3V battery and has a life expectancy of up to 5 years depending on placement and usage.
To change your Motion Sensor battery, slide the sensor up and off its bracket. Then replace the battery and slide it back onto its bracket.
If your sensor is still offline after taking these steps, skip to the section below for troubleshooting steps.
Is your Motion Sensor Gen 1 still offline after replacing the battery?
If the sensor does not come back online after changing the battery, it’s possible that your sensor has been offline for too long. The best step would be to remove the sensor from the SimpliSafe® Mobile App and then add it back to your system.
To remove your Motion Sensor Gen 1:
Open the SimpliSafe® Mobile App on your phone or tablet
Choose My System from the bottom navigation bar
Select Device Settings
Tap on the sensor you wish to remove
Choose ‘Remove Device’
Once you have removed your sensor, you can add it back using our Installation Guide.
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Motion Sensor Gen 1
Enabling Secret Alerts for your SimpliSafe® Sensors
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?
Open the SimpliSafe® Mobile App on your phone or tablet
Choose My System from the bottom navigation bar
Select Device Settings, then tap on your Entry Sensor from the list of available products
Tap into Off, Home, or Away
Select Secret Alert
Choose SAVE in the upper right corner to save your selections before exiting
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.
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Sensors