Scout Alarm and Video Storage: An Explainer on Local Saving
If you have a Scout Cam as part of your home security system, you might be looking for a way to save your video recordings to a local device, like a microSD card, a USB drive, or a network-attached storage (NAS) drive. It's a common desire for users who want a physical backup of their footage.
However, it's important to understand that the Scout security system is designed as a cloud-native platform. This means that Scout cameras do not have the hardware (e.g., an SD card slot) or the software capabilities to record video footage locally. All recordings are securely encrypted and uploaded directly to Scout's cloud servers. This guide explains why this system is in place and how you can still save the clips that matter most to you.
The Rationale Behind Scout's Cloud-Based System
The decision to focus exclusively on cloud storage is a deliberate one, centred around providing a more secure and user-friendly experience. Here are the key reasons:
1. Enhanced Security and Redundancy
The primary goal of a security system is to capture and preserve evidence.
- Protection from Tampering: If an intruder breaks in and damages or steals your camera, any footage stored on an internal SD card would be lost forever. With cloud storage, the video is safely off-site the moment it's recorded. An intruder cannot erase it by tampering with the device.
- Data Durability: Cloud servers are professionally maintained and backed up, protecting your recordings from hardware failure, which can happen with local SD cards or hard drives.
2. Universal Accessibility
Cloud storage means your video clips are available to you whenever and wherever you need them. As long as you have an internet connection, you can log into your Scout app on your smartphone and review your event history, check a live feed, or download a clip, whether you're at the office or travelling abroad.
3. System Simplicity
Managing local storage can be complicated. SD cards can fail, become corrupted, or run out of space, requiring you to manually manage and delete old footage. A cloud-based system handles all of this automatically, providing a much simpler, "set it and forget it" experience for the user.
How You Can Save Your Scout Video Clips
While the camera doesn't record locally, Scout provides a straightforward way for you to save permanent copies of any important video clips to your own devices.
- Open the Scout Alarm App: Navigate to the timeline or event history section where your recorded clips are displayed.
- Select the Clip: Find the specific motion event you want to save and open it for viewing.
- Find the Download/Share Option: While playing the clip, you will see an icon, typically a download arrow or a share symbol (this can vary slightly between iOS and Android).
- Save the Video: Tapping this icon will give you the option to save the video file directly to your phone or tablet's local storage (e.g., your Photos or Gallery app).
Once the video is saved to your phone, it is your own copy to keep. You can then transfer it to your computer, back it up to your personal cloud storage, or share it with family or law enforcement as needed.
So, while Scout is fundamentally a cloud-based system, it still gives you the essential ability to download and locally store the video clips that are most important to you.