How to Improve Inaccurate Skybell Person Detection
One of the key features of a Skybell video doorbell is its ability to intelligently notify you when a person is at your door, while ignoring less important motion like passing cars or swaying trees. However, when this feature doesn't work as expected, it can lead to a flood of irrelevant notifications or, even worse, missed alerts for actual visitors.
If you're frustrated with your Skybell's person detection performance—whether it's sending you false alarms for squirrels or failing to spot the delivery driver—this guide is for you. We'll explore the common causes of inaccurate detection and provide practical steps to fine-tune your settings for better results.
Common Person Detection Problems
First, let's pinpoint the issue you're experiencing. Most problems fall into one of two categories:
- False Positives: You receive person detection alerts for things that are clearly not people.
- Cars driving down the street.
- Animals like cats, dogs, or squirrels.
- Moving shadows from trees on a windy day.
- Headlight reflections at night.
- False Negatives: The Skybell fails to detect people who are present.
- A delivery driver leaves a package without you ever getting an alert.
- It only detects people when they are very close to the doorbell.
- Detection works during the day but fails in low-light conditions.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Fine-Tuning Your Skybell
Optimising person detection is about finding the right balance between sensitivity and selectivity. Follow these steps to improve your device's accuracy.
1. Adjust the Motion Sensitivity
This is the most impactful setting you can change. A setting that is too high will cause the doorbell to react to every minor change in its field of view.
- How to Change It: Open your Skybell app and navigate to the device settings. You should find a 'Motion Sensitivity' slider or options like 'Low', 'Medium', and 'High'.
- Our Recommendation: Start with the sensitivity set to a medium level. Observe its performance for a day.
- If you are still getting too many false alerts, lower the sensitivity one level.
- If you are missing real events, increase the sensitivity one level.
- Be Patient: It may require a few small adjustments over several days to find the sweet spot for your specific environment.
2. Configure Your Motion Zones
Motion zones are a powerful tool to tell your Skybell exactly where to look for motion and what areas to ignore.
- What It Is: This feature allows you to draw one or more boxes over the camera's view. The Skybell will only trigger an alert if motion occurs inside these boxes.
- How to Use It Effectively:
- Draw a zone that covers your porch, walkway, and the area where a person would stand.
- Crucially, exclude areas that cause false alerts, such as the street, a busy pavement, or a neighbour's garden.
- If you have a tree whose shadow moves across your path, try to make the zone narrow enough to exclude the most active shadows.
3. Check Your Skybell's Positioning and Angle
The physical placement of your doorbell has a huge effect on its analytical abilities.
- Height: The ideal mounting height for a Skybell is typically around 48 inches (or 1.2 metres) from the ground. This gives it a good perspective to see a person's body and face.
- Angle: If your doorbell faces a busy street directly, it will always be prone to detecting cars. Sometimes, using a small angled wedge during installation (often included or sold separately) can tilt the camera's view slightly downwards and away from the street, focusing it more on your doorstep.
- Obstructions: Ensure there are no nearby objects, like a large plant or wall decoration, that could be blowing in the wind and triggering motion alerts.
4. Consider Environmental Factors
Lighting conditions can play a role in detection accuracy.
- Backlight: If the sun is directly behind the person approaching, they may appear as a dark silhouette, which can be harder for the software to identify as a person.
- Night Vision: Ensure the area is adequately lit for night-time detection. While Skybell has infrared night vision, a small porch light can greatly improve the clarity and accuracy of person detection after dark.