How Do I Set Up Video Analytics for Alarm.com?

You can set up Video Analytics for Alarm.com by accessing the Alarm.com website and setting up a recording rule. You will need to have Video Analytics enabled on your Alarm.com account by your monitoring company. The Alarm.com Security Camera you are using must support the feature.

Alarm.com Video Analytics is a powerful feature that allows you to set what types of activities will trigger notifications. You can have Alarm.com notify you about certain camera activities, while ignoring less important events. For example, you may want to be notified if a car pulls into your driveway or if a person is lingering outside, but you don't want to be notified about an animal passing by. The Alarm.com Video Analytics feature is highly customizable, and it really allows you to get the most out your security cameras.

Before getting started, you must have a monitoring plan that includes access to Alarm.com for video service. Examples of compatible plans include the Alarm Grid Platinum Plan (Self or Full) and the Alarm Grid Video-Only Plan. You must then have your alarm monitoring company enable the Video Analytics feature on your Alarm.com account. Some monitoring companies may charge extra for this add-on, so make sure to check and find out if there are any added fees. If you are an Alarm Grid customer, then we can add the Video Analytics package at no extra charge. Please note that applying this feature will also increase the clip limits for your Alarm.com account. You can review this FAQ for more information on Alarm.com clip limits.

Lastly, you should be aware that only certain Alarm.com Cameras support the Video Analytics feature. These are typically the newer and more advanced cameras from Alarm.com. If you have older cameras that do not support Video Analytics, then you may consider upgrading to new ones. Just make sure that the cameras you are trying to use support the feature. Also note that some cameras like the ADC-V622 and the ADC-V723 will require calibration before they can be used with this feature. More info on calibration can be found here.

For this FAQ, we will assume that you have an Alarm.com Video Analytics Cameras that is already set up with the Alarm.com platform. We will also assume that the Video Analytics feature has already been enabled on your Alarm.com account by your alarm monitoring company. Complete the following steps to set up Video Analytics for Alarm.com.

1. Login to Alarm.com website. Open a web browser and go to Alarm.com. Login to the website using your credentials. Contact your alarm monitoring company if you need help accessing Alarm.com.

2. Create a recording rule. From the main screen of the Alarm.com website, click on Video on the left-hand side. Choose the option for Recording Rules at the top. Then click the blue Add Rule button on the right side. Select the option Video Analytics. This can also be done from the Alarm.com app, but our examples show this being setup from the website. The steps for setting this up via iOS or Android App are virtually identical.

Then choose the camera you want to set up for Video Analytics. You may get a message stating that your camera's VMD (Video Motion Detection) schedules will be deleted. This is normal. Just click the blue OK button in the lower-right. It will take a few minutes for Alarm.com to prepare for the setup process. Be patient during this time. Once Alarm.com is ready, you will get a message stating that setup was successful. You can click the Close button in the bottom-right to continue.

3. Build the Video Analytics. You will now begin building the detection zones that will be used with the Video Analytics for the camera. There are two (2) types of zones that you can create. A Ground Zone will establish a detection area for the camera, and a person, animal, vehicle, or object entering and remaining in that area will trigger an alert. You can think of a Ground Zone as a detection for someone lingering or something that sticks around and remains in the detection area for a set period of time. A Tripwire establishes an invisible "line" in the camera's detection area. When a person, animal, vehicle, or object crosses that line, an alert will be triggered. Click on the type you want to use to highlight it. Then click the Next button at the bottom.

After choosing the type you will need to choose the Minimum Object Detection Size and whether the camera is being used indoors or outdoors. Make the appropriate selections, and press Next in the lower-right.

You will now finish establishing the trigger area. Make sure the Rule is active in the upper-right corner. You must assign a name for the Rule at the top. In the image, you can move the detection zone and adjust its size so that alerts are only triggered when activity occurs in specified areas. For example, we made our rule so that alerts are only going to be sent out when activity occurs by the door. Note the green box on the right in the example below.

Below the area where you adjust the detection zone, you can click Clear Ground Zone if you want to remove the detection zone and start over. For a Ground Zone you can set how long activity must be detected in the designated area before an alert will be sent. Time intervals ranging from half a second to 120 seconds are selectable. You can also set a minimum delay time between clips to be recorded (between 30 seconds and 15 minutes). Additionally, you can set the Rule to only be in effect at certain times, or you can have it set at all times. You can also choose exemptions for the Rule not to be in effect when the system is Disarmed or Armed Stay. Leaving those boxes unchecked will have the recordings trigger regardless of the system's current arming state. Finally, you can set whether you want the Rule to detect people, vehicles, animals, and/or other objects. Notification options are also available. Click the blue Save button when you have finished.

Once you are finished, Alarm.com will give you the option of sharing videos to help them improve the end user experience. Read through the disclosure, and check the box stating that you have read it. Then choose Don't Share if you want to opt-out, or choose Share Videos if you want to have your videos submitted automatically to Alarm.com. If you decide to share videos, provide a brief description of what footage is expected to be captured. Remember, automatic video sharing can be enabled/disabled at any time.