Alarms tool

Last modified: Friday March 27, 2026.

The Alarms tool allows you to review and manage all alarms and events triggered within Alta Video.

You can switch between alarm and event types by hovering over the Alarms tool icon and selecting the required sub-menu.

Alarms

Alarms are categorized as 'rule alarms', which are responses to specific rules created for detections (such as people, vehicles, or sound), and 'system alarms', which notify you of issues with cameras or Cloud Connectors.

While alarm notifications appear on the Video view and Maps for immediate attention, the Alarms tool provides a comprehensive list for detailed review and verification.

Alarms screen

The Alta Video Alarms tool

Events

Unlike Alarms, which are designed to demand immediate attention via pop-ups in the Video view and Maps tool, events are generally activities that do not require immediate intervention but are recorded for later review and investigation. This tool acts as a central log for security events, anomalies, access control activity, and license plate detections

Alarms screen

The Alta VideoEvents tool

Key features include:

  • Review and playback: View details of security alarms and system issues, including playing back associated video clips and navigating the event timeline,.
  • Search and filter: Quickly locate specific incidents using the search bar or filter results by category, such as alarm name, type, camera, view, or time triggered.
  • Verification: Acknowledge alarms and events by marking them as Valid or False.
  • Mute notifications: Temporarily silence notifications for a specific alarm or multiple alarms for a set period to manage repeated alerts during authorized activities,.
  • Exclude false detections: Directly exclude specific objects from future analytics detections to reduce false alarms, such as a stationary object consistently misidentified as a person.
  • Audio snippets: Listen to and download short audio recordings associated with sound-based rules or anomalies.
  • Event Review: View a comprehensive list of triggered rules that have been configured as "Security Events" rather than "Security Alarms".
  • Video Playback: Hover over an event to access video controls, including the ability to play clips, zoom in for detail, or maximize the footage to see the associated map view.
  • Anomaly Detection: Review unusual behaviors detected by the system’s AI video analytics, such as unexpected movement or activity patterns, after the system has completed its initial learning period.
  • Access Control Activity: If integrated, review access control events, such as "Access denied" or "Forced entry," alongside associated video footage.
  • License Plate Recognition (LPR): View a list of license plates detected by LPR-enabled cameras. You can filter these results to exclude detections with low confidence.
  • License Plate Management: Manage license plate groups by adding vehicles manually, importing via CSV, or adding them directly from a detected event.
  • Share and export: Save important footage by exporting video clips, creating external links to share with third parties, or bookmarking clips for internal review.
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  • Logs and comments: View automated logs regarding alarms and events and add manual comments to document actions taken.