Catch people hanging around (loitering)
Set up an alert when people stay in an area for too long.
By the end you will have a loitering rule that alerts you when people stay in one spot longer than you allow.
What you need
- Access to Silarius Cloud Admin
- Smart AI detection turned on for the camera (an add-on; ask Silarius)
- A camera that sends events, like motion or intrusion
Some cameras let Silarius Cloud read their motion area over ONVIF. For those, only people who touch the motion area are reported.
Step by step
- Open the camera's Analytics tab
In Silarius Cloud Admin, open the camera and click the Analytics tab.
- Add or edit a rule
Click Add Rule. If the camera already has a rule, click Edit.
- Draw the area
Draw a mask over the spot where people shouldn't hang around, like a doorway.
- Pick the trigger
Open Configure Trigger and pick the camera event that starts the check.
- Pick loitering
In the object list, pick Person Loitering (it may show as Advanced Loitering). Person gets picked for you too, since loitering needs it.
- Set how long
In Loitering Duration, type how many seconds someone must stay in the area before you get an alert.
- Set how many people
In Loitering Objects, type how many people must be there at the same time. The default is 1. Use a higher number to catch groups or crowds.
- Set confidence and save
Set the Confidence number. Click Apply changes, then Save.
- Create the alert
Go to the Alerts tab and click Create Sensor Event. Give it a name. Pick Object Detection as the Alert type. Choose when it's active and pick email or phone push messages.
What is loitering?
Loitering means someone hangs around an area for a long time. Think of a person standing by your back door for two minutes. Loitering detection waits until people stay in your area for the time you set. Then it alerts you.
This stops alarms from people who just walk past.
Good to know
- Use shorter times for high-security spots. Use longer times to cut down on harmless alerts.
- You can also send loitering events to another system with a webhook. See Send events to another system (webhooks).
Common questions
Can I use my camera's own loitering feature?
Yes, if it sends events Silarius Cloud can read. Those events have less detail. For example, they don't list the people found.
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