Detecting Sounds
The device analyzes audio from a camera's microphone or the device PC's microphone and runs actions when it hears a sound such as a smoke alarm or breaking glass. Audio is used only for analysis and is not recorded.
- On the add screen, under What to detect, select Sound detected.
- Under Camera, check where to listen. Only cameras that send audio and This PC's microphone are listed. Checking All cameras does not include This PC's microphone; check it separately.
- Click Sounds and check the sounds to detect. If you choose several, hearing any one of them runs the actions.
- Check Confidence (%). The starting value is 70. Actions run when the device's confidence that it heard the sound is at least this value. Enter a number from 1 to 99.
- Set the actions and schedule, click Create, and save.
In the list, the item reads as a sentence with the chosen sound, for example Smoke or fire alarm detected.
| Sound | Notes |
|---|---|
| Smoke or fire alarm | Alarm tones from smoke detectors and fire alarms |
| Glass breaking | Hard to detect when the camera sends G.711 (8 kHz) audio. See Camera audio settings below. |
| Screaming | Tends to score low. If it is not detected, lower the confidence. |
| Dog barking | |
| Baby crying | |
| Gunshot | |
| Speech | People talking |
| Cat meowing |
When actions run and end
Actions run as soon as the sound is heard. They do not run again while the same sound continues; the event ends after 30 seconds without the sound, and the actions run again the next time it is heard. Sound detection has no advanced options for duration.
When a camera is not listed
- While the list is being built, Checking camera audio is shown.
- If no camera sends audio, Only cameras that send audio appear in the list is shown. Check that audio (microphone) is enabled in the camera's settings.
- Only cameras connected by RTSP or ONVIF can provide audio. To use a USB camera's microphone, set it as the device PC's default microphone and use This PC's microphone.
- This PC's microphone uses the device PC's default recording device. Notifications from it have no photo attached.
Camera audio settings
AAC is the recommended audio encoding on the camera. G.711, G.722, G.726, MP2, L16, and Opus also work. At low sample rates such as G.711 (8 kHz), high frequencies are cut off and breaking glass is rarely detected; G.726 at 16 kbps also scores low. G.722.1 is not supported.