Cellular security cameras are great for monitoring your property remotely. A notification pops on your phone, and you see somebody lurking around the construction site, the farm or the marina.

This system relies on the data plan you will pick and the number of photo alerts included. But how do you know how many alerts you will need? We listed points to consider when buying your data plan.

Photo count

First, consider how many alerts you expect the security camera to send in a month. Since the data plan works off of a monthly allotment, having a rough estimate based on the 7-day free Elite trial is a good place to start.

Location may come into play. The number of photo alerts may vary if you installed the camera in an empty yard or at a busy security gate. How many times will people or vehicles pass in front of it daily? Also, consider other elements moving in front of the camera, like animals, objects, and weather conditions.

Settings

On top of this first estimation, you must factor in your camera settings preferences in the VOSKER app.

• Delay: The smaller the delay between movement detection, the more the camera will take and send photos. The default delay is 60 seconds.
• Sensitivity: If you set it high, the camera is more sensitive to movement and will send more photos. This feature is interesting for reading gauges, thermometers and other precision monitoring. It is also likelier to send false detections like moving grass or branches. The default setting is medium.
• Capture mode: The V150 and V200 offer different modes, like photo, time-lapse and hybrid. The hybrid mode mixing time-lapse and photo can drastically increase photo alert consumption. By setting the interval to every hour for a time-lapse running for a month, you end up with roughly 720 photos. If you add the monthly estimate of movement detections, the Elite plan, with its unlimited photo alerts, is highly recommended.
• Multishot: It is possible to set the camera to take two (V150) or three (V200) photos in a row. If your camera usually detects 300 movements per month, the multishot mode may double or triple the photo count.

How many alerts are you ready to miss?

The camera saves photos on the memory card when you reach the monthly photo alerts. You will no longer receive any alerts in the app until the photo count is reset in the next monthly cycle or unless you upgrade the plan. It all comes down to your tolerance of missing information.

Test it

A great way to evaluate your needs is to get a monthly Elite plan for your newly installed camera. Test the settings to fit your objectives and monitor the photo count. Once the setup is steady, and you get a good idea of the photo alerts, it is time to pick the best plan and frequency.

Remember: you can save 10% off the monthly fee by purchasing the data plan annually.

Flexible

You may use your security camera at different locations or for different purposes within a year, affecting the number of photo alerts you need. Remember, you can upgrade or downgrade a monthly data plan*. It is also possible to suspend its auto-renewal if you need a break.

You now have all the tools to make the best decisions for your surveillance solution.

*Annual plan can only be upgraded with extra charges.