Mobotix False Notifications? How to Reduce False Alerts

Mobotix False Notifications: A Guide to Reducing Unwanted Alerts

Mobotix cameras are renowned for their powerful, decentralised analytics and professional-grade performance. However, if not configured correctly, this high level of sensitivity can lead to a high volume of false notifications, causing alert fatigue and potentially causing you to miss a real event. This expert guide, written in British English, will help you understand the causes of false alarms and show you how to fine-tune your Mobotix camera's settings to make your alerts more meaningful.

Our objective is to empower you to take control of your camera's event logic, ensuring you are only notified when it truly matters.

Who Is This Guide For?

This guide is for Mobotix system administrators and end-users who are receiving too many unwanted notifications for events such as moving shadows, rain, insects, or swaying trees, and want to optimise their system for greater accuracy.

## Common Causes and Symptoms of False Notifications

First, identify the source of your false alerts. Understanding the "what" and "why" is key to effective troubleshooting.

• Alerts from Environmental Factors: You receive notifications triggered by rain, snow, fog, or insects flying close to the lens.
• Lighting Change Triggers: Alerts are generated at sunrise and sunset, or when clouds pass overhead, causing rapid changes in light and shadow.
• Vegetation Movement: Swaying trees, bushes, or flags in the wind are constantly triggering motion detection events.
• Headlight Triggers: You receive a stream of alerts at night from passing vehicle headlights.
• Irrelevant Activity in Frame: Motion is detected in public areas within the camera's view, such as people on a pavement or cars on a road, which are not relevant to your security.
• Reflection or Glare Alerts: Notifications are triggered by reflections in windows or puddles of water.

## Step-by-Step Guide to Optimising Mobotix Event Settings

Mobotix offers several layers of analytics. Following these steps will help you filter out the noise.

### 1. Use ActivitySensor Instead of Basic Video Motion Detection (VMD)

This is the single most effective change you can make. Mobotix's proprietary ActivitySensor is an intelligent, self-learning motion analysis tool designed to filter out the vast majority of common environmental disturbances.

• How to Configure:
  1. Log in to your camera's web interface.
  2. Navigate to Setup Menu > Event Control > Event Settings.
  3. Under Event-Detecting Sensors, select an event profile and change its source from "Video Motion" to "ActivitySensor."
  4. The default settings for ActivitySensor are very effective, but you can adjust the sensitivity (start with a lower value like 5) and direction of movement if needed. It is designed to ignore things that move but do not progress across the scene.

### 2. Define Specific Detection Windows (Video Motion Windows)

Do not analyse the entire scene for motion. Tell the camera exactly where you want it to look.

• How to Configure:
  1. In the Event Settings menu, when you have an event source selected (either VMD or ActivitySensor), there will be an option to define "Video Motion Windows."
  2. Draw one or more boxes to cover only the areas of interest. For example, draw a box over your doorway and driveway, but exclude the public road, the neighbour's garden, and the large tree that sways in the wind.
  3. You can also create "exclusion" windows to specifically ignore motion within a certain part of your main detection window.

### 3. Adjust Sensitivity and Image Size Parameters

If you must use basic VMD, you need to fine-tune its parameters carefully.

• Sensitivity (s%): This determines how much an area must change to be considered motion. Start with a lower value (e.g., 10-15%) and increase it gradually if real events are missed.
• Image Size (c%): This defines what percentage of the image must have changed for an event to be triggered. This is very effective for filtering out small objects like birds or insects. A setting of 5-10% is a good starting point, meaning at least 5% of the total image area must contain motion.

### 4. Utilise Event Logic and Meta Events

For more complex scenarios, you can combine sensors to create a more reliable trigger.

• Example: You could create a meta event that only triggers a notification if ActivitySensor detects motion AND a Microphone event detects a sound level above a certain threshold. This is highly effective for filtering out silent movement like shadows.
• How to Configure:
  1. Go to Setup Menu > Event Control > Meta Events.
  2. Create a new event profile (e.g., "MotionAndSound").
  3. Define the logic, such as (EG_ACT) AND (EG_MIC), where EG_ACT is your ActivitySensor event and EG_MIC is your microphone event.
  4. Use this new meta event as the trigger for your notification profile.

### 5. Set Up Event Debouncing (Hold Time)

This feature prevents a single, prolonged event from generating hundreds of separate notifications.

• How to Configure: In your Action Group Settings, you can define a "Hold Time" or "Delay." Setting a hold time of, for example, 30 seconds means that once an event is triggered and a notification is sent, no new notifications will be sent for at least the next 30 seconds, even if the motion continues.

## Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are some quick answers to common questions about Mobotix alerts.

Q: Why do I get so many false alerts from my Mobotix camera? A: This is usually caused by motion detection settings that are too sensitive, environmental factors like moving shadows or rain, or incorrect configuration of the analytics events.

Q: What is the difference between VMD and ActivitySensor? A: ActivitySensor is Mobotix's advanced video motion detection that is designed to ignore common disturbances like rain, snow, and swaying trees, significantly reducing false alarms compared to basic VMD.

Q: Can I set detection zones to reduce false notifications? A: Yes, by defining specific, smaller detection windows on areas of interest (like a doorway) and excluding areas prone to irrelevant motion (like a public pavement), you can drastically reduce false notifications.