Verkada has introduced sensor zones to better fit your use cases for events that lead to an email or text alert. This feature allows you to treat a collection of sensors as a single group or virtual sensor.
Sensor zones are designed to ensure that a single trigger source (for example, a student vaping) does not create a duplicate event across multiple devices within the same restroom. Duplication can cause issues if there is an expectation that the devices should be more independent; for example, if you put all Men's and Women's restrooms within a building in the same zone. If there is a vape event raised in the Men's restroom, it means that the zone will not create an event for a separate incident of vaping on any other sensor until the first event is resolved and 10 minutes have passed.
Before you begin
We recommend reviewing these guidelines before you create a sensor zone:
All sensors in the zone must be in the same site or the same subsite.
You can have as many zones per site as you want, with any number of sensors.
Zones have no impact on access-level permissions and are treated differently from subsites.
Sensors do not have to be at the same physical location; however, a sensor can only be a part of one zone. We recommend that sensors in a zone be in the same room or space.
Understand zone alerts
Alerts from zones are similar to alerts from individual sensors, except they also include the zone name in the alert, followed by the name of the first sensor to trigger that alert category.
Note: An ongoing alert prevents the dispatch of any additional alerts from any other devices in the zone for that specific sensor reading only until the zone event has been resolved for at least 10 minutes. For example, if 2 devices detect a temperature alert, the alert is resolved once both devices are no longer alerting on temperature for at least 10 minutes.
Create a sensor zone
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > Air Quality.
On the right, click Sensor Zone (above every site and subsite) to start your configuration.
On Create Sensors Zone:
Give the zone a Name to save it.
Add devices from your site into that zone. You can only group devices from the same site into a zone.
Configure notifications on the Zone Settings page or on the Manage Alerts page. Device events created by a sensor will still notify you independent of zone events. Think of the zone as an additional virtual sensor that the devices within the zone pass events into.
Click Apply.
Recommended. To use a zone effectively, you should have at least 2 devices selected. If you're looking to set up alerts on a per-device level, we recommend using the device-level notifications instead of zone functionality.
Edit a zone
Note: You can still configure the sensor alerts and event triggers at the device level. However, when you want to edit sensor settings and alert thresholds for the selected devices for the zone, at the top of the list, click Settings (gear icon).
Once you create a zone under the Environment tab, you should see the sensors appear in a box with the zone label at the top left. Sensors not in a zone appear as normal.
At the top right, click Edit to reopen the zone settings panel.
Create zone alerts
Choose a path to create your zone alert (all described below):
All paths take you to the Create Alert modal where you can configure the Events, Recipients, Schedule, and Settings. When you're done, you should see a banner at the top of the screen, indicating success or failure.
Zone Settings page
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > Air Quality.
Find a zone and at the top, click Edit. You can also use this path while creating a zone.
Scroll down to Notifications and click Create Alert.
Continue with configuration on the Create Alert modal.
Manage Alerts page
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > Admin.
Under Org Settings, click Manage Alerts.
At the top right, click New Alert.
Continue with configuration on the Create Alert modal.
Create Alert
Once you complete the path above, continue with the following steps:
On Create Alert > Events:
Select the alarm trigger (in this case, Air Quality).
Select at least 1 event and 1 site, device, or sensor zone.
Click Next.
On Recipients:
Select to subscribe Command users and groups to sensor alerts.
Click Next.
On Schedule:
Edit the schedule to change when alerts are detected (the default is 24/7).
Click Next.
On Settings:
Enter an alert name.
In the Editors field, enter a name, email, or group. By default, Org Admins and Alert Owners are editors for an alert.
Optional. Enter an alert description that's unique for your alert.
Click Done.
View zone alerts
Choose a path to view your zone alerts (all described below):
All paths take you to the Alerts page where you can view your Zone Events.
Air Quality home page
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > Air Quality.
Find a zone under the Summary section.
At the top right, click Zone Alerts.
You are automatically redirected to the Alerts page with alerts filtered down to your selected zone.
Alerts page
In Command, on the left panel, click the Alerts (bell) icon.
In the search bar, click sensor zone to select a zone.
Click the zone to view that zone's alerts.
This filters the Alerts page to Device Events, where events are prefiltered for your selected zone.
Modify sensor zone alerts
Create, edit, or mute sensor zone alerts:
On Edit Sensors Zone, click the kebab (3 vertical dots) icon on the zone alert you want to modify.
Follow the configuration steps in Create Alert.
Click Done > Apply when you've completed your modifications.
Learn more
Air Quality Sensors (product overview)
Air Quality Sensors (user guide)
Visit the Verkada Training Center for bite-sized video tutorials on how to accomplish role-based tasks in Command.
Need more help? Contact Verkada Support