Audible WARNING Message on Camera Speaker When Motion is Detected

[kent141]

We are using the Arlo Pro system to protect and monitor an unoccupied house on a large piece of property with several outdoor storage buildings. Its siren only runs on the base station inside the house, but is not able to be heard outside at any of the entry points to the premises. We are also 2 hours away from the property, so responding to a serious alert takes time. Obviously we have taken all the other steps possible to secure the premises, but that does not necessarily protect it, especially if nobody is there. Since there are so many cheap fake security cameras on the market, I don’t think that the mere presence of signs or cameras is a sufficient deterrent. The idea of a security system is not to notify you that you have been victimized, but rather to prevent it from occurring in the first place. An audible warning coming from the cameras themselves would provide such a deterrent. Your Pro model cameras already have 2-way audio capability, which allows the system owner to announce something through the camera speakers but only when they are actively monitoring the system, and then only by using whatever microphone is provided by their computer. The system does NOT have the ability to “automatically” deliver a pre-recorded warning announcement through the cameras the instant that they detect motion. This feature would let intruders know that someone is really watching, which would make the system much more effective. We wish we could automatically play a user created MP3 format message such as "Warning video property surveillance recording has been activated and security personnel have been notified" through the camera speakers as soon as they are triggered. It seems that such a feature could easily be enabled by writing a downloadable firmware update that either adds such a recording playback feature to the base station, or by giving the base station permission to access a media player on the system owner’s computer instead of the PC's microphone.

[KoryB]

Great idea! The audio file wouldn't take up much memory to store plus would give the perception of the system being professionally monitored.

[AncientGeek]

This could be helpful.  I had one couple drive past our signs and fake video cameras that clearly communicated our surveillance of the premises.  I was alerted and found they had climbed a ladder up to our porch which was under construction and had no stairs.  When I spoke to them through a NestCam I had on the porch they headed off the porch and back down the ladder.

[kent141]

I wrote earlier requesting that Arlo add a feature to their sound-capable security cameras that verbally warns intruders that they are under surveillance, whereby scaring them off BEFORE they get a chance to do anything undesirable. Well, in the meantime, I came up with a temporary solution. We purchased a cheap motion activated announcer that plays a short user-made MP3 message. The device is called a Mini PIR Motion Activated Audio Player
and you can get it at Amazon.com. It runs on batteries and has about a 15 foot detection range. It claims to NOT be weather-proof, but we fabricated a cover to keep it dry. You only get a total of 2 Mb worth of play-back time per incident on the internal flash memory, but that was enough for the following message to play twice per triggering: “WARNING! You have entered a restricted area protected by Arlo security systems. Audio video surveillance recording has been activated. Security personnel have been notified.” We used the MS Sam computer voice for this message. It’s too soon to rate this new device, but I will post a follow-up later.

In the meantime, I guess I’m cashing in my 10 Kudos, as I have a new problem now, and I’m asking the Arlo community for help on this one. A variety of feral cats from the neighborhood are now exploring the property in our absence, and frequently triggering the cameras which are now sending us numerous false alarms. HOW CAN WE GET RID OF THE DARN CATS? They are strutting around the place like they own it, and trigger the cameras at all hours 24/7! We looked into electronic ultrasonic animal repellers, but even though they claim to repel cats, user reviews say otherwise. I seem to recall hearing about an outdoor motion detector that emits a series of loud vicious dog sounds when triggered, but we can’t seem to find such a device ANYWHERE. It needs to be WIRELESS, suitable for “outdoor” use, and it needs to do nothing other than bark and growl when it detects motion within its detection range. Does anyone out there know where I can get such a thing? Does anyone out there know of another sure-fire way to repel cats?

[Hula_Rock]

Idea is for Arlo PRO and Arlo GO:

Insead of the Siren alert option, use a speech alert.  e.g. "You are now being recorded", or "Please step away from the vehicle".  Audio Files can be stored on SD card.

[RamdeenLeela]

Hello, I would like to suggest a feature for audio to be played when motion. For example the camera detects motion then an audio recording plays and says “smile for the camera you’re being recorded” or something similar to let folks know the camera is active

[Avatar76]

Yep would love this, we have a problem with birds activating the Arlo Pro cameras motion sensors so something like hawk noises as an mp3 playing would be great too.

It could just be stored on the base station memory sticks / mass storage device 🙂

[Avatar76]

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kent141 wrote:

HOW CAN WE GET RID OF THE DARN CATS?

Here you go champ 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbkLjjlMV8

[Dellepude]

My Arlo Q has audio two ways, and I am able to manually enter the live feed at any time and speak through the Arlo Q microphone.

However, I would like to suggest to include a feature in the Arlo Q app with an option to automatically play a pre-recorded audio clip when motion/audio detection is triggered, to scare away intruders. Like a continious alarm sound or a human voice yelling "who's there?", "I have called the police" etc.

It could be a audio clip recorded on the phone/tablet and/or it could be a WAV or MP3 file uploaded through the PC internet browser. Storage-wise it could be uploaded to a part of the online storage space where the video is also kept, and then played back from there by Arlo Q.

Ideally it should be possible to upload more than one clip and then have the option to have Arlo Q play them either subsequently or randomly upon motion/audio detection (this is to cater for the situation where multiple detections occur within a short time, where an intruder walks in and out of the camera range several times).

[JianTan]

i installed arlo pro2 camera system to my house to as security monitor. if the camera can make a sound, either a beep or a pre-recorded voice, when it detects a person is approaching, that will be great. it can warn people immediately that they are monitored. this can be very easy to add this very useful function to the software! my neighbor's security system has this function: when somebody walks on his driveway towards garage, a light in his garden is flashing and a sound is playing. 

[Quarius7]

Motion-detecting cameras should also be able to create a chime noise inside of the home. To alert potential Danger. Not only should it alert with a loud chime but it should also tell which camera is being alerted. For an example the chime should make a loud sound and then it should say back door. Although the cell phones have some of this ability it may not work as good. For instance sometimes the cellphones are not always near you. Also you may have lost your cell phone. Also cell phone sound notifications aren't near as loud as a chime for the home can be. And sometimes when you are sleep sound notifications on the cell phone are just too hard to hear. Also you may have turn down your notification sound because you were at a public setting but when you get home you forget to turn the volume back up. Using the camera as a motion detecting technology I believe would also enhance your chances, of gaining new customers. Especially those customers who only used motion-detecting technology. As far as I know, there is no company that has a motion detector that tells the homeowner which part of the house is being infiltrated.