Configure Camera Alarm Trigger Events for New Alarms
Learn how to configure your camera for alarm trigger events
This article is a guide for New Alarms. Refer to this article if you have classic Alarms. See New Alarms vs Classic Alarms if you are unsure which version of Alarms you have.
Configuration
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > New Alarms.
Select the Alarm site that you want to configure.
In the left navigation, select Partitions > your camera partition.
Under Devices:
In the top right, click Add Camera.
Select the camera(s) to configure and click Next Step.
Click anywhere on the camera feed and select a trigger type:
Detection Area (for person detection or loitering)
Line Crossing
Draw the Detection area or a line
For the Detection Area trigger type, the default setting is loitering for 15 seconds.
To switch from a people trigger to a vehicle trigger, toggle the Look for icon to the car after drawing the line.
Vehicle alarm triggers are only supported with the Line Crossing trigger type.
Click Save Camera(s).
Edit alarm triggers
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > New Alarms.
Select the Alarm site that you want to edit.
In the left navigation, select Partitions > your camera partition.
Under Devices:
Hover over a camera and click > Edit triggers.
Click on the configured detection area or line and make the necessary changes.
Click Save Cameras.
Delete alarm triggers
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > New Alarms.
Select the Alarm site that you want to edit.
In the left navigation, select Partitions > your camera partition.
Under Devices:
Hover over a camera and click > Edit triggers.
Click on the configured detection area or line > .
Click Save Cameras.
Remove a camera as an alarm trigger
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > New Alarms.
Select the Alarm site that you want to edit.
In the left navigation, select Partitions > your camera partition.
Under Devices:
Hover over a camera and click > Remove camera.
Mute a camera alarm trigger
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > New Alarms.
Select the alarm site that you want to configure.
In the left navigation, select Devices > your camera.
On the right, under Device Details, select Mute device for, then choose the duration.
Unmute a camera alarm trigger
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > New Alarms.
Select the alarm site that you want to configure.
In the left navigation, select Devices > your camera.
On the right, under Device Details, select Unmute.
When should a detection occur?
When a Verkada camera detects an object, green bounding boxes appear over the detected object(s). You can see these bounding boxes when scrubbing through a camera’s people and vehicle motion search or when scrubbing through a camera’s historical video.
Detection is determined when the center bottom of a person’s bounding box crosses a line or lies within a loitering region (in most cases, this is a person’s feet).
Alarm triggers
Person detection
Person detection is determined whenever any part of a person’s bounding box intersects with the configured detection area.
You can define up to 4 freeform polygon detection areas per camera for person detection.
PTZ cameras
Full-frame person detection is the only supported trigger for PTZ cameras.
PTZ cameras can support multiple active regions, but use only one active region when configuring a camera as an alarm trigger. Multiple regions can cause the camera to reposition immediately after an alert, making it harder to track subjects.
Set the field of view to cover only restricted areas. Because PTZ cameras use full-frame person detection, avoid including sidewalks, public walkways, or other high-traffic zones.
Loitering detection
Loitering detection allows you to define a region with a freeform polygon and set how long a person must stay in that region before detection occurs.
Loitering detection can be set for 10s, 15s, 30s, 1 min, or 2min.
How it works
Once the person’s trigger point intersects the loitering region, the timer begins.
If the trigger point remains in this region for the configured time (one minute by default), a detection event occurs.
If the person’s trigger point briefly exits and re-enters the loitering region within 4 seconds, the counter continues.
If the camera loses track of an individual (for example, walking out of frame) or the trigger point is outside the loitering region for more than 4 seconds, the counter resets.
You can define up to 4 freeform polygon detection areas per camera for loitering.
Line Crossing
Line crossing provides more control and granularity in a trigger by allowing you to define a unidirectional or bidirectional line that a person has to cross before detection occurs.
You can define up to 5 lines and select the direction you expect people to cross.
Reduce false alarms
Once the protected area is configured, you can see how many alarms are expected to be raised from the selected camera based on the arm schedule and area to protect in the last week.
The camera should be online and looking at the same FOV for at least one week for accurate alarm prediction.
In Verkada Command, go to All Products > New Alarms.
Select the Alarm site that you want to configure.
In the left navigation, select Partitions > Select a camera partition.
Under Devices:
a. Click Add Camera to add a new camera trigger. b. Hover over a camera and click > Edit triggers to edit an existing camera trigger.
Click Show Examples to view detections from the past week based on the current arm schedule.
Click this arm schedule, and a timeline will appear. A gray curve on the timeline represents past detections. Click on any section of the curve to view the detections and gain insight into what would have triggered the alarm.
Adjust the schedule or trigger settings (area/loitering time/line) as needed to reduce false or excessive alarms. For example, you can increase the loitering duration or refine the Area to Protect to exclude high-traffic areas.
Last updated
Was this helpful?