Inactivity Detection Alerts
Inactivity Detection alerts notify users when there is an absence of people or vehicles in a monitored area for longer than a selected threshold. Unlike traditional alerts that trigger when movement occurs, these alerts identify when activity is missing from areas where it is expected, such as security posts, retail aisles, or production lines.
Inactivity alerts are supported for any 2nd-generation and 3rd-generation Verkada cameras, as well as Command Connector cameras with advanced analytics enabled.
Configure Inactivity Alerts
Create Alert > Cameras
On the Command homepage, in the left navigation, click Alerts.
At the top, click New Alert.
On Select Event, choose Camera > Inactivity Detection.
Select a supported motion type: People or Vehicles.
On Cameras:
Choose to receive alerts from Sites or Individual Cameras.
If cameras from 2 or more sites are selected, choose either:
Any site is inactive - By default, the system groups cameras based on the site structure. It monitors each site independently for inactivity and only raises an alert when no people or vehicles are detected across cameras within the same site or subsite. For example, if an alert rule includes 6 sites, the system generates 6 separate alerts, one for each site.
All selected cameras are inactive - Users can ignore the site structure and group all selected cameras together. In this mode, the system triggers an inactivity alert only when none of the selected cameras detect people or vehicles, regardless of site structure.
Click Done to continue.
On Inactivity Zones:
Click Set Up X Camera(s) to draw a freeform polygon to define a custom region for the inactivity zone.
Click Use Full-frame Region to select the camera's full frame and apply the inactivity zone to the entire view.
Any activity detected outside of the specified region of interest will be ignored by the cameras.
On Inactivity Threshold:
Use the dropdown to define the time threshold that triggers an inactivity alert. Available options include 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 1 hour.
Considerations:
If a site or camera remains inactive after an initial alert triggers, the system continues updating the event duration in blocks that match the configured inactivity threshold. For example, with a 15-minute threshold, the event updates at 15, 30, 45 minutes, and so on while inactivity continues.
The system marks inactive sites or cameras with an Ongoing flag. It updates this flag at intervals aligned with the selected inactivity threshold. As a result, users may see a delay where a camera has detected new activity, but the event still shows as Ongoing until the next refresh cycle.
In the Command Events tab, inactivity detection alerts display a carousel of all cameras associated with the alert. Each camera includes a Last Detection video clip, and the carousel automatically sorts cameras by most recent detection, placing the latest activity at the front.
The system distinguishes between "presence" and "activity." If a person or vehicle enters the region of interest but remains static for a prolonged period, the system may classify the area as inactive and trigger an alert.
Click Done, then continue with the alert's active hours.
Create Alert > Active Hours
On Notification Schedule, specify the days and times for the alerts to send notifications. Alerts generate 24/7 by default.
Click Done and continue with the alert notification.
Create Alert > Notification
On Notification, add users individually or assign the alert to a group.
Select the dropdown menu next to a user or group to choose their notification method(s). Recipients can be notified via push, SMS, messaging platform alerts, or email notifications.
Any recipient added to this alert will see it appear under the Shared Alerts section of their Alerts page.
(Optional) By default, you will be an alert recipient. Select the dropdown menu and click Delete to remove yourself.
Click Done and continue with the alert's optional settings, or finish the alert.
Optional settings
Create Alert > Operations
Toggle on Route to Operations to create a ticket from the alert.
(Optional) Select Ticket Instructions to add information to the ticket and click Done.
Click Done and continue to finish the alert.
Create Alert > Device Action
In addition to notifying individuals, you can configure your horn speaker to play when an alert is triggered. These alerts can be text-to-speech or an uploaded MP3 file.
On Device Action, select the horn speaker(s) you want to play your message.
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.
Click Done and continue to finish the alert.
Finish the alert
In the bottom right of the configuration window, click Next.
Enter a descriptive name for the alert.
Click Done to complete the setup.
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