Alarm.com cameras can record video clips, which are then uploaded to the Cloud and accessible via the Alarm.com Website and app. Each video service package has two major components: monthly upload limit and storage limit. Each clip is treated the same regardless of its length, recording resolution, and quality.
Overview
Monthly upload limit
This is the number of new clips that users can upload per calendar month.
If a user’s account reaches its upload limit, all non-alarm recording rules are paused and cannot be resumed until the first day of the following month.
Monthly uploads
Every time a camera recording is triggered, it uploads to Alarm.com. Each clip taken by the camera (i.e., motion detection, alarm recording, manual clip request) counts as a clip upload on the service package. Users receive a predetermined number of monthly uploads based on the selected service package/add-on, and this limit resets on the first of every month.
-
Users cannot delete recordings to free up more upload space because the upload has already taken place.
-
Users can set up notifications to assist in monitoring their monthly upload usage (Notifications > System Event)
If an account reaches its monthly upload limit
After an account’s video clip upload limit is reached, the account recording rules are paused with the exception of the alarm-triggered rules. The recording rules can be resumed manually on the first day of the following month or immediately after the account’s service package is upgraded to include additional video clip online storage.
Note : Recording rules are not automatically resumed at the beginning of the month and must be manually resumed. Alarm-triggered recording rules remain active even if the upload limit is reached.
Online Storage
This is the number of uploaded clips the account can store online at any given time. If there is no space left, clips are deleted automatically oldest first as new clips get uploaded.
This is how many total clips Alarm.com stores on the account for all video devices on the customer’s account.
If an account reaches its online storage limit
When an account’s video clip storage is full, video clips continue to upload unless the recording rule is paused.
If a video clip is uploaded to an account with full online storage, the system overwrites the oldest unprotected video clip to make room for the newest clip. It is not necessary to free up online storage by deleting clips but it is possible to delete clips manually.
Example : If a user has a service package that allows 1,000 uploads and they upload 500 clips in January and 500 clips in February, their online storage is full. Each time a new clip is recorded at this point, the oldest clip (in this case, starting from January) is overwritten unless it is protected.
If the online storage/monthly upload limit is too low
Increase the online storage/monthly upload limit
Extra video storage is available in expansion packs, which allow the user to have more cameras and provides additional clips of online storage and monthly uploads per video expansion. Surety customers can add additional video add ons via the System Manager feature of their Surety account.
Decrease the number of clip uploads
Careful camera placement and recording rule configuration reduces unwanted recordings and optimizes the use of online storage capacity. If Video Analytics is an option, it is recommended as it produces fewer unwanted recordings.
Alternatively, Stream Video Recorders (SVRs) provide 24/7 recording that can either partially or fully replace the need to upload video clips at all
How to Protect Clips
To protect clips using the Alarm.com Website:
- Log into the Alarm.com Website.
- Click Video .
- Click Saved Video Clips .
- Click to select the video clips to be protected.
- Click Lock Icon
Note : The search function can only return a finite number of clips at a time, and the newest clips appear first. If the older clips in a date range are missing, try a narrower range.
To protect clips using the Customer app:
- Log into the Customer app.
- Tap Menu Icon
- Tap Video .
- Tap Saved .
- Tap to select the video clips to be protected.
- Tap Lock Icon