False Person Alerts on Nest Doorbell

[TamaraBD]

Hello,

Our Nest Doorbell just recently started sending us Person alerts constantly.  When the light changes, when a car drives by, ANY kind of movement or perceived movement.  It is very frustrating and  I have searched this message board for solutions.  No luck.

The Apps are up to date and our phones are Apple, mine is a 13 Pro Max & my husband has an 11 Pro Max.

Any insight is helpful. 

[Mike15]

I have exactly the same issue. I have 1 activity zone setup. It is set to alert for persons only. Outside the zone it is setup for no notifications at all. The microphone is turned off. I get over 800 alerts daily. Any motion whatsoever it gives an alert. It's really frustrating. I've reset the zone and alert types but it just alerts on the slightest movement.

[GordBall]

I have exactly the same problem.  False alerts from headlights is making my Nest doorbell unusable.  Should I rip it out and replace it with something that does work.  

Question .. does anyone from Google ever respond with a solution to these issues?  Do they even read this?   

[janthadeus]

Hi GordBall,

Thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear that. No worries, we'll get this sorted. When did the issue start? Do you have an Android or iPhone? Were there any changes to your WiFi network? Has your Nest Hello doorbell been moved recently? Also, are there any Activity Zones set up for the camera?

Your camera simply uses software to look for changes in color and lighting. There are a few things that can trigger unwanted alerts or false positives, here are common triggers to name a few:

• Changes in the light level
• Shadow moving across the frame. For example, if a cloud moves in front of the sun.
• Trees or bushes swaying near the customer’s important areas.
• Headlights or flashing entering the field of view.

Going over the steps here might help:

1. Open the Nest app.
2. On the app home screen, tap Settings.
3. Select Notifications.
4. Select the preferred camera to change alert settings for.

• Try to also disable specific events or change the positioning of the camera to avoid unnecessary or unwanted alerts.

Let me know how it goes.

Thanks,

JT

[GordBall]

Thank-you for your prompt response. Much appreciated. 

Answers to your questions as follows:

• iPhone
• No changes to WiFi
• Nest doorbell has not been moved since install a few years ago.
• Activity zones are not set.  We live at the end of a street.  So when activity zones were tried, it did not make any difference to the way the Nest was picking up headlights as a person.  
• No clouds, trees, or bushes.  Problem is with headlights. 

Your note says that "Your camera simply uses software to look for changes in color and lighting."  I would have thought that Nest's AI that does the facial recognition (for example for people you know) would be able to differentiate a person from headlights? 

I don't want to turn notifications for persons off completely.  Is there not some way to adjust sensitivity or something for the headlights?  

[janthadeus]

Hi there,

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for following up. There's no option to adjust the sensitivity of the headlights. Try turning off the notifications for other motions.

Try the steps here:

1. Open the Google Home app.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Select Notifications.
4. Choose the item they want to change > tap the Toggle to turn the notification on or off.

Let me know how it goes.

Thanks,

JT

[janthadeus]

Hi there,

It's me again. I want to make sure you're all good — how did the steps go?
 

Best,

JT

[janthadeus]

Hey there,

I just wanted to jump in here to make sure that you saw my response. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours.

Regards,

JT