In lieu of standard alarm motion zones, you can also designate loitering zones to trigger deterrence measures, followed by an alarm if deterrence fails. This can be done on a subset of cameras.
If a person remains in the loitering zone for the Minimum Time you set, the onsite speaker/strobe triggers.
If the person remains in the zone after deterrence, and up to the Maximum Time you set, an alarm is then created in Solink.
For example:
if the Minimum Time is 30 seconds
+the Maximum Time is 60 seconds
= the speaker / strobe triggers after 30 consecutive seconds of the person in the zone. The alarm generates after 60 consecutive seconds of the person in the zone (i.e., they did not leave after the initial deterrence).
Note: Loitering zones are available on Self-Monitored+ and Professionally Monitored subscriptions. Loitering zones are also ony available for outdoor alarm cameras (not indoor).
How to Create a Loitering Zone
To create a loitering zone:
Open the alarm camera you want to create a loitering zone for (see the sections above for information on adding a new alarm camera/configuring an alarm motion zone).
Ensure the camera is an outdoor alarm camera and is tagged accordingly:
Select the dropdown at the bottom of the window > Loitering:
Select the Loitering tab near the top-right of the window:
Select the + Add button to add a new loitering zone:
Click in the camera view to create the loitering zone. Each click creates a point that you can join to another point to create the zone.
Configure the zone on the right side of the window:
Provide a name for the zone.
Set the Minimum Time: Time an object/person must remain in the zone to trigger audio/visual deterrence (onsite speaker and strobe). Set this time long enough to avoid capturing passerby traffic.
Set the Maximum Time: Time an object must remain in the zone to trigger an alarm.
Select Apply to create the loitering zone.
Note: There is a limit on the number of cameras you can configure with Solink's AI features. Please check this article for the most up-to-date information on how many AI cameras you can enable.
Loitering Events (AI Loitering Events)
A loitering event is created whenever an object/person remains in the loitering zone for the Minimum Time.
You can locate these events on the Events page using the following search terms:
contains "Minimum Time"
does not contain "Maximum Time"
Loitering events that only post the Minimum Time but not the Maximum can help indicate whenever onsite deterrence (speaker, strobe) was effective and therefore prevented further escalation to an alarm.
You can even create a widget from the search terms shown above to visually track instances of effective deterrence (see How to Create Loitering Widget for more information).
Loitering: Alarm Events
An alarm event is also created when the Maximum Time is reached and includes a timestamp for both the Minimum and Maximum Time in the alarm event card.
To locate loitering alarm events, search for "loitering" on the Events page:
Loitering: Event Field Definitions
Loitering events can include:
AI Loitering Event (outlined in the section above)
Alarm Loitering Event (outlined in the section above)
See the table below for a complete list of loitering event fields along with respective definitions of these fields:
Event Field | Description | Visibility |
Loitering Opened | Time of initial object detection with the loitering zone, timer for Minimum and Maximum begins at this time | AI Events, Alarm Events |
Loitering Closed | Time the zone is cleared. This will match the duration of the Elapsed Time visible under the AI Loitering Event | AI Events, Alarm Events |
Loitering Minimum Reached | Minimum threshold has been met. For example, if the Minimum was set as 15 seconds, this time stamp would be 15s after Loitering Opened | AI Events, Alarm Events |
Loitering Maximum Reached | Maximum threshold has been met. For example, if the Maximum was set at 60 seconds, this time stamp would be 60s after Loitering Opened. If the tracked object has left the zone, this would not appear in the Event | AI Events, Alarm Events |
Alarm Speaker Broadcast Initiated | Directly follows Loitering Minimum Reached. After the Minimum is reached, the speaker plays a pre-recorded message at this time. Initiated means there were no issues starting the playback. | Alarm Events |
Alarm Speaker Broadcast Complete | Pre-recorded message has stopped playing. The amount of elapsed time between this and "Broadcast Initiated" is dependent on the length of the audio playback and how many times it has been configured to loop. | Alarm Events |
Alarm Speaker Call From | A live call was placed to the speaker during the alarm event. Included, users will see who initiated the call (i.e., username / email) and how long it lasted. | Alarm Events, Audit Events |
Alarm Speaker Broadcast Cancelled: Busy | Pre-recorded message attempted to play. However, it was either already being triggered from a previous event or a live agent is performing a live talk-down. Hence, a new message is not broadcast to prevent interruption or duplication. | Alarm Events |
Warning: Speaker ... Failed to Connect | Speaker had a connection issue. This can either be a speaker where the configuration is not yet complete, or a device offline. If persistent, contact Solink Support to help troubleshoot and get the speaker back online. | Alarm Events, Audit Events |
How to Create Loitering Widget
You can create a widget to track the total number of times an object/person remained in the loitering zone for the Minimum Time, but left the area before the Maximum Time was reached.
To create a loitering widget to track effective deterrence:
On the Events page, use the search bar to apply the following filters ("contains minimum time" and "does not contain Maximum Time").
Select Save Report:
Give the report a name you can easily locate such as "Loitering Zones - Effective Deterrence":
Save the report.
Navigate to the Dashboard page and select the +Widget button.
Leave the widget type as "Report" and select the report you created:
In "Step 2: Choose Data to Display", configure as follows:
Category: Other
Data Type: All Event Types (Count)
Statistic: Count
In "Step 5: General Widget Settings", tag the widget with "Alarms":
Select Create Widget.
Now you can locate the widget via the Dashboard page > Alarms tab to see the total number of times the loitering zone triggered deterrence measures (speaker, strobe) and effectively deterred someone from the area.
Alarm Loitering FAQs
See the following FAQs regarding Alarm Loitering.
How Many Cameras Can I Enable with Alarm Loitering?
There is a limit to the number of cameras you can enable Solink's AI features on. Please see this article for the most up-to-date information.