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Thursday, November 2nd, 2023 2:46 PM

Investigating

Outdoor Camera siren continues after alarm is canceled

The Wireless Outdoor Camera has a built-in siren that can trigger to relay the alarm from the security system inside the home. Users have previously reported that after an alarm event occurs, and after disarming to disable that alarm, they are still hearing the Outdoor Camera’s siren continue to sound.

Unfortunately, after working with some of the users in this thread, and investigating internally, we have not been able to replicate the issue. If this issue is happening for you, please let us know in this thread and we’ll reopen the investigation.

In the meantime, I would suggest making sure that your Base Station is up to date with the latest firmware version, and try moving it closer to the side of the house where the Outdoor Camera is located. Both would help with improving the link to the Outdoor Camera - and that might help resolve the issue above as well.

11 Messages

2 years ago

Background:

I mistakenly triggered a false alarm by closing a window when the alarm was on.  Evidently instead of the motion sensor detecting "closed" (which shouldn't trigger alarm) it instead saw "closed/open/closed" which triggered the alarm.  This is a separate issue which I need to resolve.  Most likely by adjusting the positioning of the sensor components.

Question:

Once I turned the alarm off, the base unit siren stopped but several of the outdoor cameras continued to emit the siren sound for several minutes.  I was just on one side of the house so I don't know if all the cameras sirens were active.  It being 5am I was most concerned with stopping the noise.  I could not find a way to do this via app etc., so I had no choice but to wait it out.  Over several minutes the siren noise diminished an eventually stopped altogether.  It was similar to a capacitor being depleted of electricity.

Has anyone else encountered this situation and if so did they discover a way to remedy it?

Thanks in advance!

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Outdoor camera siren continues once alarm is turned off

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Hi @312lavela ,

It sounds like there might be some interference getting in the way of the signal. So the cameras are getting the signal to start the sirens, but not the signal to stop. Eventually, by default, the sirens will stop on their own after 4 minutes.

Do you happen to have brick, adobe, or other dense material in the walls of your home? Otherwise, we might be able to move the Base Station to a different spot, where communication might be easier.

11 Messages

Thanks for your reply Davey.

Interference sounds like a possibility but I would think it works both ways.  That is, I'd see a past history of the cameras were having difficulty retaining connection to the base unit.

I have good signal/connections to all the cameras with the exception of one which has a good connection but repeatedly goes off line for some unknown reason and needs to be reset too often.

Base unit is within 30' of the two cameras I know were emitting the siren after the alarm was disabled.  Moving the base unit closer would mean moving it into the kitchen (not likely) and even further away from other cameras on the other side of the house.  That is to say, the base unit is closer to these two cameras than to any others with the exception of one indoor camera.

Typical home construction for California.  Wood frame stucco with minimal brick facades in the front of it.  Exterior/interior walls not as thin as a bamboo hut but closer than most.  These are "outdoor" cameras after all.

I have know idea how to test your interference theory practically.  It would be good to somehow test without having the alarm go off.

11 Messages

I mistakenly, once again, triggered the alarm this morning by opening a window before disabling the alarm.  And once again even though I unarmed the alarm seconds after it was triggered, the outside camera sirens continued doing what sirens do for the entire 4 minutes before shutting off.

I guess I could disable the sirens on the cameras to solve the problem, but this seems like an overstep.

The problem is the "duration" the siren emits noise.  For 10-15 seconds, your neighbors assume you inadvertently set off the alarm.  A full 4 minutes wakes everybody and is worth a look out the window to see what's up.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!  

2 Messages

Happened to me too! Really annoying!

4 Messages

Mine did the same thing today. Accidental triggered the alarm, shut it off, but my outdoor camera continued to blast the siren. The only way I could get it to stop was to view the live feed from the camera, and then I turned off the siren for the outdoor camera (through the app). 

there’s got to be a better way for the siren to stop when the system has been disarmed 

5 Messages

5 months ago

During practice mode yesterday (02-17-2024), we triggered an alarm to test sensors, etc. We were able to turn the alarm off and the base station siren stopped. We received an almost immediate call from monitoring,  which I was impressed with. Monitoring was Not going to dispatch since we were in practice mode but I did acknowledge I understood this. However the 2 Camera Sirens did not stop. They went on for what seemed like forever. I checked my wifi download/upload speeds at each camera location with Ookla speed test and they were both great. I ran the camera internal connection test and they both tested good. 

So I changed the siren duration to 30 seconds and tested again,  same scenario the base station siren stopped when I canceled the alarm but both cameras the Sirens continued to sound for a long time.  

Next test I brought both cameras inside the house within 3 feet of the base station and 10 feet of the wifi  Router.Same exact scenario,  camera Sirens would not stop.

I called technical support and they had me to do several more test with the same outcome.  Their only fix was to turn the camera Sirens off which takes away part of your deterrent. 

Hopefully there is a fix for this issue. 

1 Message

4 months ago

I just had this situation a few minutes ago. The one other time this happened, I activated the camera and then closed it - that turned the alarm off. In this instance, the alarm would stop with the camera was active (in the app). As soon as I closed the camera, the alarm returned. I took the battery out, waited a few moments, and then put it back in place to solve this. This turned the alarm off, but it certainly is not a solution to the problem.

5 Messages

@timpritchett​ 

Yes. It's a little annoying. For now I have the sirens turned off..as not annoying my neighbors if I'm not home to turn them off in the event they were to start and not stop..Hopefully a fix will be coming. 

5 Messages

4 months ago

Yes. It's a little annoying. For now I have the sirens turned off..as not annoying my neighbors if I'm not home to turn them off in the event they were to start and not stop..Hopefully a fix will be coming. 

16 Messages

4 months ago

I saw a new firmware come across yesterday, maybe we're lucky and it will address this. 

5 Messages

@weathertom​ 

Really did you notice an update was available on your keypad?...

16 Messages

I saw it in the app, but it would have been on the keypad. 

3 Messages

4 months ago

I installed my new system today. While in practice mode I activated the alarm. When I entered my code on the keypad, the base unit alarm stopped but the camera alarm outside did not. The camera alarm is right outside the room where the base unit is located. The house is wood and stucco/plaster. I even removed the camera from the mounting and brought it inside the house- still it did not stop for the full 4 minutes. All available system updates have been installed. Just letting you know as this seems to have been a recurring problem. Thanks! 

1 Message

3 months ago

Is there a fix yet to this problem? We have triggered the alarm numerous times accidentally. We have tried to cancel the alarm through the phone app, with the Key fob and still, the cameras continue to sound the siren. Very frustrating!

Community Admin

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3K Messages

@stevemagz​ Our engineering team is still looking into this issue. I've added your case details to their ticket to help their investigation.

3 Messages

3 months ago

It just happened to us. We had to remove the battery before it would turn off. 

3 Messages

@moriahbrucern​ we are both nurses that work 12hr shifts and our cat has set off the alarm midday in the past. Extremely annoying to both us, our neighbors, and law enforcement. 

(edited)

983 Messages

3 months ago

Knock on wood we have not had that happen, about a month ago my son set the alarm off and all 5 outdoor cameras siren went off but soon as the alarm was turn off the camera turned off. I will keep an eye and ear out for this.

1 Message

2 months ago

Same thing just happened to me. Accidentally triggered the alarm by opening a door. I immediately shut the alarm off from my phone but the camera sirens kept going off. Went to the keypad and rearmed the alarm and then shut it back off, still didn’t turn the siren on the camera off. Dug the key fob out a drawer and hit off and for some reason that finally turned the siren off.

2 Messages

2 months ago

This has been happening to us for 2 years - ever since we installed our system. One of our cameras is slower to load, suggesting it might have a poorer signal/internet connection. That said, it has NO problem getting the signal to start alarming, but never seems to get the signal to stop alarming. Even if I re-arm the system, and disarm the system multiple times. You would think one of those signals would get to the camera and tell it to shut of the siren. The only reprieve I've found is actually looking at that camera's feed through the app. But, the second I close that camera's feed, the siren starts up again. It's very annoying and I'm 100% it's a software bug. We have also had this happen on a different outdoor camera, but much less frequently. I've been reporting this for 2 years and zero feedback or resolution from the Simplisafe team. Really reduces overall confidence in the quality and capabilities of a system that is supposed to be relied on in our most vulnerable states. Do better. 

1 Message

2 months ago

May 7, 2024 - I helped a friend set up their new SimpliSafe system yesterday. All new updates were installed during the setup. When testing the system we intentionally triggered an alarm, which also triggered the siren on the 2 outdoor cameras. The sirens did not silence when the alarm was acknowledged and continued for approximately 4 minutes before turning off.

16 Messages

Is there no one at SimpliSafe monitoring this forum? 

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5.6K Messages

@weathertom​ we're here, and we're continuing to track cases for our engineering team. We'll update this thread when we have more info.

2 Messages

@davey_d​ This has been going on for well over a year...I would think the engineering team has all they need to put in a fix. Again, the camera seems to get other messages just fine - seems to a be a bug with the disarm/clear alarm message. 

983 Messages

2 months ago

Hhmm, makes me want to set mine off to see if any of my outdoor cameras do this but don't want to purposely set it off and take a person away from monitoring that could help a real emergency. 

2 Messages

1 month ago

Just happened to us same as described above in test mode. 

16 Messages

1 month ago

I don't know if it was luck or a recent firmware update, but I accidentally set the alarm off three days ago, and the sirens stopped sounding when I cancelled the alarm.

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