How to Manually Activate the Deterrent Feature

You can manually turn on/off the deterrent feature of a camera from your recorder or Swann Security app (if paired). This is useful if you want to deter someone or something that appears outside of the deterrent schedule or if you want to test whether the deterrent (spotlight / siren / SwannForce ) is working or not.

To enable via schedule and PIR/motion, see Setup Deterrent on V8 Recorders.

Enable Spotlight / Siren / SwannForce via TV/Monitor

Things to prepare:

1. A camera with a built-in deterrent feature. If the camera does not have a deterrent feature, this cannot be enabled.
2. The extension cable that came with the camera. Using older camera cables on a new camera with deterrent features will not allow you to enable deterrent features. It will be greyed out. See Different BNC colors.
3. Access the Main Menu of the recorder via TV/monitor. See What kind of TV or monitor is compatible with my DVR / NVR?
4. Ensure the firmware version of your recorder is updated. See How do I know if my unit's firmware has an update (Swann Security app models)

Steps: 

1. Click on a camera to open the camera toolbar.
   
2. Click on the bulb icon.
3. Select the correct channel you want to enable.
   
4. Enable your preferred deterrent to activate.
   • Siren (available on some units) – enabling this will show a prompt with warning (see image below). You can either:
     • Click on OK to continue which will enable the siren right away. It will stay ON
       depending on the duration on the settings
     • Click Close to cancel.
   • Light – enable this to turn on the spotlights.
   • SwannForce (available on some units) – enable this to activate the SwannForce lights (red and blue).
     • This option was added to separate it from the Siren and Spotlight.
     • If this is not available but the camera has SwannForce lights, then activate Siren instead.
       

Enable Spotlight / Siren / SwannForce via Swann Security app

Things to prepare:

1. Ensure your recorder is paired to your Swann Security account in the Swann Security app. See Pair your Recorder on Swann Security app
2. Then make sure your recorder is connected to the internet. Not having this will not allow you to manually enable or disable deterrent via the app. See Network Setup: What do I need for my DVR/NVR to go online?

Steps

1. Go to Live View and tap on a channel.
2. Enable your preferred deterrent to activate.
   1. Spotlight - Tap the bulb icon to turn on/off the spotlight.
      • Enabled spotlight will show a filled bulb icon.
      • Spotlight (white LED) will turn on/off when tapping this icon
   2. Siren - Tap the bell icon to turn on/off the siren.
      • NOTE: Enabled siren will show like waves on each side of the bell.
      • NOTE: Siren will turn on/off when tapping this icon
      • NOTE: SwannForce LEDs (red/blue; PRO-1080SL and PRO-4KRL) will turn on/off when tapping this
        icon.
   3. 

Note: If the camera deterrent does not turn on or off via manual trigger nor PIR/motion trigger, please call Swann Technical Support and provide the model number of both your recorder and your camera (required). See How to get your Swann product model, P2P or UID, MAC address or ID, Serial Number (S/N), and Software/Firmware (FW) version?