Outdoor Camera Confusion

@traci.money according to a post by Johnny M (Simplisafe moderator) about a week ago, yes you can use it without the base station for live streaming. With a plan (4.95 per month) you can also have recordings saved to the cloud. How you do it, sorry, can't help you there as I have a full system, but do have all 3 of their cameras (outdoor cam, doorbell pro and simplicam (indoor). I do suggest you call support now, they are open until 12 midnight eastern.  Please post your outcome here.

@Johnny M, could not find this topic and information in the help center.

Yeah, sounds like a call-in is a good idea. Far as I've ever understood the base station has nothing to do with the cameras.

Is it safe to presume you have WiFi and are trying to connect the camera to the proper SSID and band?

Hi folks,

The SimpliCam Indoor Camera (which can be fitted with an Outdoor Kit), and the Video Doorbell Pro, can both be used as standalone units, and can be set up with Camera-only Recording Plans.

The Wireless Outdoor Camera that we only just launched a few weeks ago requires a Gen 3 SimpliSafe Base Station, because of the tighter integration (the camera connects directly to the Base Station, for rapid response to alarms, and so it can act as a separate siren).

- Johnny M.
SimpliSafe Home Security

The Wireless Outdoor Camera that we only just launched a few weeks ago requires a Gen 3 SimpliSafe Base Station, because of the tighter integration

Please please please put this information on your website, in plain English so that people know this is the case. There are so many questions that pop up here that could be answered with even slightly more focus being given to your online documentation and product information.

There is a button on the outdoor camera page that says "see all features and requirements". If you push that button a list opens and in the requirements section it says SimpliSafe (Gen 3).

https://simplisafe.com/outdoor-security-camera

I don't recall seeing that there before so I'm curious if that was added after launch? Regardless, it's great that it's there.

However, if you go to https://support.simplisafe.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407853364749 there is a far more ambiguous statement under 'requirements'

The SimpliSafe Wireless Outdoor Security Camera is compatible with the Generation 3 SimpliSafe Base Station and Keypad*

I think most people will read that as, "This won't work without a Gen 3 system" but I can see how some people would view the use of 'compatible' to mean something other than 'required'. Regardless, SimpliSafe can remove any doubt whatsoever by changing the text to something like:

The SimpliSafe Wireless Outdoor Security Camera cannot function as a standalone product. You must have a Generation 3 SimpliSafe Base Station and Keypad to install and use the SimpliSafe Wireless Outdoor Security Camera

Thanks everyone for the responses.  Sounds like the rep I originally spoke with was a bit off.  But after discussing further with my hubs this weekend we are going to build a system.  We are out of 2 or 3 weekends a month.