How to Stop False Alerts on Your Heimvision Security Camera
A constant barrage of notifications for unimportant events can make you tune out your security system, which is the last thing you want. If you're getting Heimvision false alerts from swaying trees, passing traffic, or even your own pets, it's time to fine-tune your settings. This guide will show you how to get smarter, more accurate alerts.
1. Utilise Smart Detection Features (AI and Humanoid Detection)
Many modern Heimvision cameras come with intelligent detection features designed specifically to combat false alerts. This should be your first step.
- Find AI Settings: Open the Heimvision app, select your camera, and go into its Settings. Look for an option labelled 'Smart Detection', 'AI Detection', or 'Humanoid Detection'.
- Enable It: Turn this feature on. When active, the camera's onboard processor will analyse motion events and only trigger a notification when it identifies the shape of a person. This is the single most effective way to filter out alerts from animals, vehicles, and other moving objects.
2. Adjust Motion Detection Sensitivity
If your camera model doesn't have AI detection, or if you're still getting too many alerts, adjusting the sensitivity is key.
- In the camera's settings within the Heimvision app, find the 'Motion Detection Sensitivity'.
- The default is often 'Medium' or 'High'.
- Lower the sensitivity one step at a time. After each adjustment, monitor the alerts for a few hours to see if there's an improvement. The goal is to filter out minor environmental movements while still catching genuine events.
3. Set Up Custom Activity Zones
Activity zones are essential for telling your camera exactly where to look for motion. You can use them to ignore problematic areas.
- Access Activity Zones: In the motion detection settings, look for 'Activity Zone' or 'Motion Zone'.
- Draw Your Zones: This will allow you to draw one or more boxes over the camera's view. Draw these boxes around the specific areas you care about, such as your front door, driveway, or garden gate.
- Exclude High-Traffic Areas: Crucially, do not draw a box over areas that cause false alerts, like the public street, your neighbour's property, or that bush that sways in the wind. All motion outside the zones you create will be ignored.
4. Optimise Camera Placement
Think about what your camera can see and whether its position is contributing to the problem.
- Angle it Down: Pointing the camera slightly downwards to focus on your property and reduce the amount of sky or distant traffic it can see can help.
- Avoid Environmental Triggers: Try to position the camera so that rustling trees, flags, or areas with dramatic shadow changes are out of the main view.
- Clean the Lens: Cobwebs and insects are a major cause of false alerts, especially at night when they are attracted to the camera's infrared lights. Regularly wipe the camera's housing to keep it clear.
By enabling smart detection features and carefully configuring your sensitivity and activity zones, you can drastically reduce the number of false alerts from your Heimvision camera, making your security system much more effective and less intrusive.