# Camera Status Alerts
Camera status alerts notify you when your camera goes offline or comes back online.
Verkada receives regular heartbeats from every camera to ensure its connection.
* Verkada changes a camera’s status to offline when a heartbeat is not received within 15 minutes.
* Verkada changes a camera’s status to online when a heartbeat is received from an offline camera.
{% hint style="warning" %}
All cameras automatically create camera status events, so you don’t need to configure these events separately.
{% endhint %}
***
## Configure camera status alerts
### Create Alert > Events
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**Log in to Verkada Command.**
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**On the Command homepage, left navigation, click Alerts .**
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**At the top, click New Alert.**
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**On Select Event, choose Camera > Online/Offline.**
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**On Cameras:**
a. Choose to receive alerts from **All Cameras, Sites,** or **Individual Cameras**.\
b. Click **Done** and continue with the alert [recipients](#h_398471d697).
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
### Create Alert > Recipients
{% hint style="warning" %}
To prevent excessive notifications, users are limited to 500 SMS messages per day, per user.
{% endhint %}
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**On Recipients, add users individually or assign the alert to a group.**
{% endstep %}
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**Select the dropdown menu next to a user or group to choose their notification method(s). Recipients can be notified via push, SMS, or email notifications.**
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**(Optional) By default, you will be an alert recipient. Select the dropdown menu and click Delete to remove yourself.**
{% endstep %}
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**Click Done and continue with the alert** [**notification schedule**](#h_2585040e16)**.**
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
{% hint style="warning" %}
Any recipient added to this alert will see it appear under the **Shared Alerts** section of their **Alerts** page.
{% endhint %}
### Create Alert > Notification Schedule
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**On Notification Schedule, specify the days and times for the alerts to send notifications. Alerts generate 24/7 by default.**
{% endstep %}
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**Click Done and continue with the alert** [**device actions**](#h_815fd30487) **or** [**finish the alert**](#h_1868d58f36)**.**
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
### Create Alert > Device Action
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**On Device Action, select the horn speaker(s) you want to play your message.**
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**Select your notification preference (Text to Speech or Audio File).**
a. For **Text to Speech,** enter a message up to 200 characters.\
b. For **Audio File,** drag and drop the file or click **choose a file** to upload your audio clip.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**Click Done and continue with** [**finish the alert**](#h_1868d58f36)**.**
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
### Finish the alert
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**In the bottom right of the configuration window, click Next.**
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{% step %}
**Enter a descriptive name for the alert.**
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**Click Done to complete the setup.**
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
