12 Messages
Major Issue - Visibility of 72 Hour test is non existent
When first unboxing and setting the devices up it was fully disclosed that the system will be on a test/non production monitoring plan in order to get acquainted with the new system.
After taking a break and finishing setup in the afternoon( and test live) I noticed that in no place Website or Mobile App does the account continue to notify you that you are in a 72 hour non production plan.
There are several Key issues here:
I called customer service:
The person did not know if the user could or should be able to continue to be told the system is not in production but did indicate they can see that it is not yet active.
The agent did not know if any email or notification would occur after the 72 hours indicating the system is live
The agent didn't seem to understand or indicate they would provide feedback on this issue
ISSUES
Outside of first setup there is NO visibility of active monitoring status, in fact on the website and mobile app my account states the the monitoring is active and does not state anything else.
account # location plan monitoring status hide location on dashboard
00***** Home
Interactive Monitoring
Active --
This is not even a day old system and from the users perspective the monitoring is "ACTIVE". There are many reasons why this is bad. If the user wants to test and revisits the install after the very initial part they get confused as to the status as I did. There are many other issues with this visibility problem that I think are obvious and common sense.
So far I am disappointed in this very basic problem of account status day 1 and the agents lack of interest in this actually being a problem.
Sure maybe SS sends a notification when it goes active on their side and maybe they dont... how do I know.
This is a large liability issues for both the user and the company, and quite frankly this type of issue seems like it would have been noticed and hashed out years ago.
I was told that sometimes SS sends out a survey and to note this issue on it... How about "Yeah I can see this being confusing I am going to let my manager know this is certainly something that can be improved:"
After taking a break and finishing setup in the afternoon( and test live) I noticed that in no place Website or Mobile App does the account continue to notify you that you are in a 72 hour non production plan.
There are several Key issues here:
I called customer service:
The person did not know if the user could or should be able to continue to be told the system is not in production but did indicate they can see that it is not yet active.
The agent did not know if any email or notification would occur after the 72 hours indicating the system is live
The agent didn't seem to understand or indicate they would provide feedback on this issue
ISSUES
Outside of first setup there is NO visibility of active monitoring status, in fact on the website and mobile app my account states the the monitoring is active and does not state anything else.
account # location plan monitoring status hide location on dashboard
00***** Home
Interactive Monitoring
Active --
This is not even a day old system and from the users perspective the monitoring is "ACTIVE". There are many reasons why this is bad. If the user wants to test and revisits the install after the very initial part they get confused as to the status as I did. There are many other issues with this visibility problem that I think are obvious and common sense.
So far I am disappointed in this very basic problem of account status day 1 and the agents lack of interest in this actually being a problem.
Sure maybe SS sends a notification when it goes active on their side and maybe they dont... how do I know.
This is a large liability issues for both the user and the company, and quite frankly this type of issue seems like it would have been noticed and hashed out years ago.
I was told that sometimes SS sends out a survey and to note this issue on it... How about "Yeah I can see this being confusing I am going to let my manager know this is certainly something that can be improved:"
davey_d
Community Admin
•
5.6K Messages
3 years ago
Thanks so much for your feedback. First I do want to confirm that as well as the initial email that let you know that the 72-hour Practice Period has begun, you will indeed get another email that confirms that the Practice Period has ended and your Monitoring Service is fully active.
Our representative over the phone should have also been able to tell you if your Monitoring Plan was still in that Practice Period, and even the exact time when it will end.
A more explicit indicator, maybe in the app, would certainly be useful for many users. I do suspect that like many other design decisions that our dev team has made about the system, it comes down to security - like if an intruder could get access to your app or online account, they'd know right away how long your home would be vulnerable! I've already reached out to our dev team for more info, and forwarded the suggestion, of course.
But one more thing to keep in mind is that the 72-Hour Practice Period applies only to the 24/7 dispatch. All other functions for your service should now be active. For example, if you have Interactive Monitoring, you can already set up Smart Alerts to get SMS and emails for alarm activity, and of course you'd already have full access to the app. So even in this initial period, you can already start using your system.
- Johnny M.
SimpliSafe Home Security
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davey_d
Community Admin
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5.6K Messages
3 years ago
You absolutely should not have gotten that 8pm email. Normally our website would automatically send it to you only if it thinks you haven't activated service yet at all. Did you receive it on the same email address that we have for your account?
Apologies for being unclear. This would only be my own guess as to the reasoning. But as I said, I did reach out to our engineers about your feedback.
The "Active" status that you see on your online account pertains to the whole of the service - that is, including the app, notifications, Timeline event log, cellular backup communication, etc.
The thing that is currently in "Practice Mode" is the Dispatch part of the service. Our Monitoring center requires that we give you a bit of time to get to know your system and test out alarms before going fully active, as a way to prevent false alarms (which could, in some cases, be costly!). We always recommend that you leave Practice Mode on for at least 24 hours, but you're probably past that now. So you as Shiherlis mentions, you can request that Practice Mode be ended early. We'll just need to do that over the phone at 800-548-9508.
- Johnny M.
SimpliSafe Home Security
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davey_d
Community Admin
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5.6K Messages
3 years ago
I absolutely understand and agree with you. That's why I've been in conversation with our dev team to find out more. Speaking of, I can confirm that we're already considering options like you mentioned. If you ever need to activate another system in the future, you might see it!
- Johnny M.
SimpliSafe Home Security
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captain11
Captain
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6K Messages
3 years ago
For me, when I started with SS in 2012 I installed my SS2 system next to my old ADT system, tested for a few hours and then called SS support and directed the agent to put me on active monitoring. I held on the line until the agent returned and confirmed it was in place.
Soon as I hung up I set the alarm to home and opened a door with an instant on configuration. The monitoring company in place at that time instantly called, gave my safe word and moved on.
This should have not been necessary, but its how I do things, or at least try. A very big fan of the Reagan saying "Trust but verify".
On a positive note, SS monitoring has been nothing short of excellent over the years and provide exemplary service.
Good luck with your new system.
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davey_d
Community Admin
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5.6K Messages
3 years ago
It's important context to know that these email reminders to activate service are automated - no humans are involved in that part. That is, except for in the programming. I suspected that something had gone wrong and the system is somehow not detecting active service under anonuser2828's email address.
The most common cause for something like that happening is if you purchased your system under one email address, and then activated it under a different email address. So the system is still expecting an activation under the first one. That's why I asked previously if you're getting the reminders under the same email that we have your Monitoring account under.
I did bring this to our engineering team, and it seems your account was just categorized incorrectly. We've already corrected your profile, so you should not see any further reminders.
The good news is that if you initiated a Test Mode through your Keypad, and you did get a call, then that does confirm that dispatch service is actually activated. You can safely ignore those extra auto-email.
- Johnny M.
SimpliSafe Home Security
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anonuser2828
12 Messages
3 years ago
Let's talk internet. We highly recommend that you connect your new Simplisafe system to your Wi-Fi, if you have it. "
Even more emails that are well past their due date. I shouldn't be getting this if everything has already been set up, working, out of test period etc. SS runs checks, dont send this weeks later if the new user has already got everything set up
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davey_d
Community Admin
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5.6K Messages
3 years ago
This one's a separate thing. Our service currently doesn't have a flag set up to determine if your Base Station is connected by WiFi - the server just knows it's connected. So we just send that email out to everyone that we know has active service.
That's kind of good news - now we know that your account is already being categorized correctly as fully active!
But I'm very glad to hear that you're another step ahead of us.
- Johnny M.
SimpliSafe Home Security
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captain11
Captain
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6K Messages
3 years ago
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