Every alarm is three small decisions.
You don't have to learn a big system. Each alarm you create answers three questions, and the app walks you through them in order.
What happened?
A person, vehicle, or package detected. A doorbell ring. A water leak. Your internet dropping. Pick the event you care about, and optionally a schedule so it only counts at certain hours.
Where does it count?
One camera, several, or the whole system. A person at the front door is news; a person walking past a street-facing camera usually isn't. Scope is how you keep alarms quiet and useful.
Who gets told?
Send a notification to the people you choose. Each person controls whether it arrives as a phone push, an email, or both. Alarms can also do physical things, like turning on a floodlight; we set those up for you.
Where Alarm Manager lives
Alarm Manager sits in the left-hand sidebar of your UniFi apps: Protect for camera and sensor alerts, Network for internet and equipment alerts. It works the same way in both.
On a Willful Aftercare monitoring plan? The Network side is already handled. We build and watch the internet and equipment alarms for you, so there's nothing for you to set up there. If you'd like a specific network alert on your own phone, reach out and we'll add it.
- On a computerGo to unifi.ui.com, sign in, open your console, and pick Protect or Network. Alarm Manager is in the sidebar. The bigger screen makes alarm-building easier, so we recommend starting here.
- On your phoneThe Protect app covers day-to-day alert tuning (more in Phone settings). For creating and editing alarms, the browser view is the comfortable path.
Don't see Alarm Manager? Your account may be set up with view-and-notify access, which keeps system settings in our hands so nothing breaks by accident. Call or text us: we'll either build the alarm you want in minutes or open up access so you can.
Create a new alarm
Open Alarm Manager and click Create Alarm. The panel walks you through the three decisions from the top of this page, plus two options worth knowing about.
- Pick the triggerChoose the event: person, vehicle, animal, or package detected; doorbell ring; motion; a sensor tripping; internet or equipment going offline. Smart detections (person, vehicle, package) are far more accurate than plain motion.
- Set a schedule, if offeredMany triggers can run Always or on a Custom schedule. "Person in the driveway" means something different at 2 PM than at 2 AM. Schedules are the single best way to cut noise.
- Choose the scopePick the specific cameras, sensors, or devices this alarm watches. Resist "all cameras" unless you truly mean it; tight scopes keep alerts meaningful.
- Choose the actionPick Notify and select which people get the alert. Phone push is on by default for each person you include; email is a separate toggle.
- Turn on "Ignore Repeated Actions"If the same trigger fires again and again (a busy porch, a windy tree), this setting holds back the repeats so one event doesn't become twenty pings.
- Click CreateThe alarm goes live immediately. Walk in front of the camera and make sure the alert arrives the way you expected.
Change an alarm you already have
Everything about an alarm can be adjusted after the fact. Nothing is locked in, and changes take effect right away.
- Open the alarmIn the Alarm Manager list, click the alarm to open its edit panel. Rename it, swap the trigger, adjust the schedule, or add and remove cameras from the scope.
- Adjust who gets notified, and howIn the alarm list, the My Notifications column shows push and email icons next to each person. Click them to switch either on or off. Each person's setting is their own.
- Retire alarms you've outgrownIf an alarm has stopped earning its keep, turn it off or delete it. A short list of alarms you trust beats a long list you ignore.
Alarms are independent. If two alarms overlap (say, "motion at front door" and "person at front door"), one visitor sets off both and your phone buzzes twice. If you're getting doubles, one of the two alarms probably needs to go.
What changing an alarm never touches
Alarms only control alerts and responses. Your cameras keep recording around the clock no matter what you create, change, or delete here. You can't lose footage by editing an alarm.
Want an alarm to do something physical?
Alarms can also switch on floodlights, sound a horn speaker, spin a PTZ camera to a preset, or work with door access, and they can feed alerts into other systems your business uses. Those setups have more moving parts, so we build and test them for you. Tell us the behavior you want; we'll wire it up.
Phone settings: your alerts, your rules
Notification settings in the Protect app affect your phone only. You can tune yours without changing what anyone else in the house or business receives.
- Check the app's notification settingsIn the Protect app, open Settings, then Notifications. This is where your push alerts are turned on or off and where quiet options live.
- Let the phone itself allow themYour phone's own settings (iPhone: Settings → Notifications → Protect; Android similar) must allow notifications from the Protect app, or nothing arrives no matter what UniFi says.
- Use quiet hours instead of mutingDo Not Disturb inside the Protect app silences alerts for a window you choose, then brings them back. It beats muting the app and forgetting to unmute it.
- Tune per cameraEach camera can have its own notification behavior. Keep the front door chatty and calm down the camera that faces the street.
Too many alerts? Don't mute the app. Muting is how packages get missed and 2 AM visitors go unseen. Tighten the alarm instead: smarter trigger, tighter scope, a schedule, or Ignore Repeated Actions. That's a two-minute fix, and we're happy to do it with you.
Alarms our clients actually keep.
These four earn their spot on almost every system we install. If you'd like any of them, build them from the steps above or ask and we'll set them up.
Person on the property after hours
Trigger: person detected. Scope: exterior cameras. Schedule: 11 PM to 6 AM. Quiet all day, unmissable at night. This is the single most useful alarm on the system.
Package at the door
Trigger: package detected. Scope: front door or delivery-side camera only. You'll know when it lands, and porch pirates get a much smaller window.
Internet went down
Trigger: internet offline, from the Network side. Handy at home; essential for a business, where every offline minute is a card reader that doesn't work. On an Aftercare plan? We already watch this for you.
Water where it shouldn't be
Trigger: leak sensor. Scope: the sensor under the water heater, behind the washer, or in the server closet. The cheapest insurance in the whole system.
Sensors take alarms beyond the cameras
UniFi's SuperLink sensor line pairs with your Protect system over its own long-range wireless link, built to reach basements, attics, crawl spaces, and outbuildings where WiFi struggles. Leak and climate sensors, door and window sensors, motion, and a smoke/CO alarm all feed Alarm Manager, so "water under the water heater" or "the shop door opened at midnight" can hit your phone the same way a camera alert does. Interested? We'll recommend the right sensors and install them.
Good to have answered.
I'm not getting notifications. What do I check first?
Three things, in order. First, the alarm's Notify action has to include you, and your push icon in My Notifications has to be on. Second, the Protect app's own notification settings need push enabled and Do Not Disturb off. Third, your phone's system settings must allow notifications from Protect. Nine times out of ten it's one of those three. Still stuck? Call us.
Can different people get different alerts?
Yes, and they should. Each alarm has its own list of people, and each person controls whether their alerts come by push, email, or both. One person can get everything while another only hears about after-hours events.
Will changing alarms affect what my cameras record?
No. Recording and alerts are separate systems. Your cameras record on the schedule we configured no matter what alarms exist. Alarm Manager only decides what you get told about and what automated responses fire.
What's the difference between Alarm Manager and the app's notification settings?
Alarm Manager decides what events matter and who is on the list, for everyone. The app's notification settings decide how those alerts behave on your phone alone. Think of Alarm Manager as the guest list and your phone settings as your own ringer.