So, I had something happen the other night and it gave me an idea for a possible feature, one that would allow a user to have multiple saved detection zones. ( e.x. zone A. and Zone B.)
so as part of the Rules, you can automate things with your camera. this is a great feature and would be directly applicable to the multiple saved zones as well.
if we could have multiple zones, for now lets say two. we would be able to set up a zone on say just the bottom left of the camera capture frame. we will call this Zone A. and another capturing the entire frame, Zone B
for something like my current set up Zone A would be good for knowing when people are actually approaching my front door and wouldn’t get false alerts every time a car drives by, or someone is walking down the sidewalk. with the 5 minute cool down, this would allow me to capture important things like deliveries, or people that are actually at my door and not miss the a lot of things. for me this particular zone would only be active from 0600- 2100. times of a lot of movement where I live.
and here is where the second zone and corresponding schedule would come in handy. I would have that second zone B activate during the less busy times, like 2100-0600 where if someone is walking down my sidewalk or hanging out in front of my house, I want to know about it.
having the ability to use rules and thus automate it would be a huge time saver for people with multiple cameras. no one really wants to go in and change detection zones every day on one, let alone many cameras.
having these preset zones would be handy for many other reasons too, and i’m sure our community would find some amazing uses for multiple zones. I know I could just do this on my own, but with 12 cameras, I’m not sure I have the focus for that, and no ability to automate it in case I forget…
now let me spin you a tale of what prompted this idea. I currently have a camera in a window monitoring my front porch. this catches people walking up to my door, but nothing else. while out doing a brake job in my garage, at some point a truck pulled up and parked on the street across from my house. he was parked directly in front of a house that has been empty and up for sale for quite a while. I thought it was odd because it was past midnight, it was a nicer truck, and if they were visiting anyone of my neighbors, why wouldn’t they park close to the house they were visiting. I had also never seen this vehicle before…
so being that I was off duty I called a friend that was currently on duty and told him what was up. keep in mind that maybe I’m more hyper vigilant because of my job and having had someone try to break into my house within the last 2 years. So my friend runs the plate and does some work and it turns out the owner of the truck had a personal protection order against him from one of my neighbors and was not supposed to be even on our street. he had been stalking her yet again. he got some fancy new bracelets and a bed for the night, and all this was without major incident.
He hadn’t been inside the truck for as long as I was aware it was parked, so I couldn’t tell my friend what he looked like, what he was wearing, or what direction he had gone.
I know our cameras are not security cameras. and keep in mind I’m not asking for this feature to magically turn them into security cameras. its just nice to know whats going on around the house and not doubt this feature could be used to endless surprise to cut down on false alerts during busy times, and increase the correct alerts at other times. if you are using a camera to capture wildlife in your yard, wouldn’t it be nice to change the zones for a bit so you don’t capture multiple videos of uncle Eddie out mowing the yard