Blocked Exit Detection is a premium feature in Solink that allows you to receive a notification whenever an exit door is obstructed at your business.
Many businesses in the U.S. are subject to costly OSHA fines whenever an exit door is obstructed. Blocked Exit Detection allows you to proactively address blocked exits to help reduce safety/health fines.
Check out the following video and article for more information on how to set up and use Blocked Exit Detection:
Note: Blocked Exit Detection is a paid feature and requires assistance from our Support team to configure. Please reach out to our Support team to learn more.
How it Works
After you have configured Blocked Exit Detection (see Configure Blocked Exit detection below), you will receive an email and/or SMS text notification if there is an obstruction in the area you have specified.
The following flow provides a high-level overview of how Blocked Exit Detection works:
Our Artificial Intelligence (AI) model checks the specified exit door for obstructions.
If there is an obstruction, a notification is sent via email/SMS and an event is created:
Note: The criteria that must be met for the creation of an obstruction event is: if an obstruction is present for 10+ minutes and the AI is 80% confident the objects detected are obstructions.
See the following section for information on how to configure a blocked exit motion zone.
Configure Blocked Exit Detection
The first step to configure Blocked Exit Detection is to reach out to our Support team.
Once a member of the team has enabled the feature on your account, you can configure a motion zone on up to three cameras to monitor an exit door for obstructions.
Motion Zone Setup
To configure a Blocked Exit Detection motion zone:
Select a camera from the Video page.
In the video player, select the "gear" icon > Motion Zones.
Select Zone Type: Blocked Exit Alerts:
Highlight the entire exit door and an area up to 3 feet in front of the door. This is ideally the area where you want to receive a notification whenever an object is obstructing the door:
Take note of your camera placement in relation to the door as well, as this can affect the accuracy of Blocked Exit Detection.
Recommended Camera Placement
For optimal results with Blocked Exit Detection, follow the examples provided in the following images to ensure your cameras are placed in ideal locations:
Use cameras with a line of sight squarely facing the door and where shelves or stacked boxes will not obstruct the view of the exit area.
Use cameras with a clear line of sight of the door and where shelves or stacked boxes will not obstruct the view of the exit area.
Avoid using cameras where the line of sight to the door can be obstructed by objects outside of the exit area (e.g., shelves, stacked boxes).
Avoid using cameras where the line of sight is perpendicular to the door making it difficult to distinguish the door.
Set Up Blocked Exit Notifications
To ensure you receive notifications for Blocked Exit Detection whenever an exit is blocked, follow these steps:
Note: Reach out to your Solink Customer Success representative for assistance with these instructions if needed.
Create a Blocked Exit Report
Navigate to the Events page > All tab.
Use the search bar to filter the events to only show Blocked Exit events.
Save the report. When creating the report, use a descriptive name like "Blocked Exits" so it is easy to find.
Create Blocked Exit Widget
On the Dashboard page, select +Widget.
Choose the "Report" widget type.
Under Select Data Set, choose the "Blocked Exits" report you created.
Select the following options in the next steps:
Category: Other
Data Type: Bookmark
Statistic: Count
Locations: Select the desired locations where you want to track blocked exits.
Above the graph on the right side of the widget creator, select Use a rolling time frame to monitor the past seven days of data.
Type a name for the widget in General Widget Settings.
Select Create Widget to create the widget.
Create Blocked Exit Threshold Widget
On the Dashboard page, select the more actions icon (three dots) for the widget you created, then select Create Threshold:
Select Absolute for the Threshold Value.
Set the Absolute value to a number that when exceeded will send you a notification (how many blocked exit events must have occurred to receive a notification).
Select Trigger notification when data is = Above.
Choose how you would like to be notified (e.g., SMS and/or Email).
Select Save to create the threshold widget. You will be notified when there is a blocked exit in the future.
How to Review Blocked Exit Events
To review your Blocked Exit events:
Select the AI tab near the top of the Events page:
Select Blocked Exits near the top-right of the Events page:
Any Blocked Exit events appear on the Events page once you have filtered according to the steps listed above.
Blocked Exit Detection FAQs
Q: How do I receive notifications for blocked exit events?
Q: How many cameras can I run this feature on at each location?
A: Blocked Exit Detection can be run on 3 cameras per location. Attempting to configure more cameras for a single location may introduce performance issues.
Q: Can I control which employees have the ability to modify a blocked exit motion zone?
A: Yes - contact our Support team to assign an additional employee to create/modify motion zones.
Q: Which camera types is this feature compatible with?
A: Nearly all camera types except thermal and 360 cameras are supported.
Q: Can blocked exit checks be scheduled and/or paused during certain times of the day?
A: No, blocked exit events cannot be scheduled - however, they can be delayed for a given period of time after the last obstruction event. Please contact Solink Support to adjust the time between events.
Additional Notes
Please take note of the following caveats regarding Blocked Exit Detection:
Glass and sliding doors are currently not compatible with Blocked Exit Detection.
You can have up to three cameras per location with Blocked Exit Detection.
You can create one blocked exit motion zone per camera.
You currently cannot configure blocked exit motion zones via the Solink Android and iOS apps.