SwamCam Review | Pool Alarm - 3 Months In

[matthewsunshineflorida]

I had a very hard time finding a pool alarm people were really happy with here so I figured I'd share our overall very positive experience with SwamCam.



Some key takeaways:

• SUPPORT
  • Phenomenal American-based support team that spent a whole lot of time on the phone and via email assisting with install and troubleshooting major to even minor issues. Can't emphasize this one enough - you call and talk to humans, you email and they respond often in minutes. Who else does that these days. Unfortunately they seem to mostly be New Yorkers, but nobody's perfect...
• ACCURACY
  • Once configured with a customized detection zone that avoids elements that seem to commonly trigger it, we have virtually no false alarms as long as the dog is not in the zone.
  • On that note, its "Human Detection AI" is very underwhelming compared to Ring or Nest type performance. Claims like "Featuring advanced child-detection software that alerts you wirelessly as your child is approaching the pool" tended to give me the impression this product was so dialed in that only a small human (or at least a human) would trip it. But if the custom zone is not carefully set to avoid them, it is also set off by our areca palms, the waterfall, balls left in the pool - even hanging lights against the screen that reflect into the pool at dusk/dawn and create certain refraction patterns! We have our zone dialed in to only capture the deck immediately around the pool for these reasons.
  • That said, it's still better and more immediately responsive verses other pool based systems I've seen. I'm sure they also have more liability than Ring missing someone walking in the corner, so Swamcam is probably programmed to be overly cautious.
  • While it's under $40/year, the required customized zone for what seems like basic functionality means we have yet another subscription, but it is what it is.
• RELIABILITY
  • Along with phone alarms and the camera itself sounding off, it has an indoor alarm speaker module that screams louder than my upset toddler (and that's saying something). We really like that a lot because it absolutely gets our attention anywhere in the house or outside.
    • The voice component of it that says "Swamcam armed/disarmed" is also very (honestly too) loud, but the alarm and voice speakers are separated, so a piece of scotch tape over the voice speaker made that an easy fix, thanks to support for the suggestion as it ships without an volume adjustment for certification purposes.
  • It operates 100% locally, so the reaction time is much faster than our Ring doorbell, and it will operate as normal even if the internet is down (you just won't get phone notifications). This is the BIGGEST factor for me - it doesn't rely on network switches, routers, wi-fi, or any other features. If you have power, the alarm WILL sound.
• USABILITY
  • When the alarm sounds, it immediately pushes a screenshot of the suspected person to your push notifications and email (see attachment). This ended up being super helpful while getting the zone just right (or occasionally quickly identifying that the alarm is only the wife or dog walking to the pool).
  • The app can Arm/Disarm it, and it comes with a wireless PIN arm/disarm battery powered keypad that can be put anywhere without needing the phone.
  • You can listen to audio and talk through the camera, which isn't really used now but maybe when our kids are old enough to swim alone together while we watch the screen, we will yell "time to come inside!!"
  • It can be programmed to auto arm the system after a set time of being disarmed, but not based on detected activity. In other words, if you set it to auto arm after 30 minutes but are in the pool for longer than that - it will arm and then immediately sound the alarm. It would make far more sense to allow for "auto arm after xx minutes of inactivity." Not sure if there's a liability or technical reason that can't be done, or if it just hasn't been completed yet - but as soon as that is in place, we will ditch my hacked together solution below:
    • I use Kasa wifi plugs to "Arm" and "Disarm" by just turning on and off the power to it. That allows me to set up push notification reminders to our phones after either 1 hour or you can snooze it until a particular time of day. So when it's a nice day with the baby at daycare, I can turn it off and it won't start sending me reminders again until 4:30pm.
    • Hopefully SwamCam can integrate some kind of push notification reminders rather than just auto arming after a pre-set time - maybe a push alert 5-15 minutes before it rearms asking if you'd like to snooze for a particular length of time?
    • In the meantime, I can also arm it from Alexa by simply turning on and off those plugs.
    • All in all, we ended up not using the keypad whatsoever because I wanted to be able to integrate Tasker reminders. I do keep it there with the PIN visible in case the tablet malfunctions and we have a guest over.

Just wanted to post our experience for anyone searching in the future. With the ubiquitous nature of Ring, this feels like something that should have existed many years ago but it seems like a relatively new field altogether. I definitely wasn't been thrilled with the time it took to get it to consistently eliminate false alarms, but support was excellent in their responsiveness to get me to that point. Also, I just don't really see any viable competitors that can do all of this, so I do think this is absolutely worthwhile for anyone with young kids. Gives us a lot of peace of mind that it will always go off when we need it to.

 

[Newdude]

With the ubiquitous nature of Ring,

Now that you mention it, my Ring Floodlight would totally work for the pool. The only motion it would detect in the backyard would be pets/people versus the cars it picks up in the road. It can be set obnoxiously alert me on my phone which is nearby 24/7 and would be entirely functional albeit not up to code for a pool alarm.

 

[matthewsunshineflorida]

Now that you mention it, my Ring Floodlight would totally work for the pool. The only motion it would detect in the backyard would be pets/people versus the cars it picks up in the road. It can be set obnoxiously alert me on my phone which is nearby 24/7 and would be entirely functional albeit not up to code for a pool alarm.

I strongly considered just adding another Ring camera along this same thought process! But I didn't see a way to set up an "arm/disarm" function with loud indoor/outdoor alarm the way I'd really prefer.

I also frankly expected SwamCam to live up to its claim alerting only for humans whereas even though Ring is great at this, I couldn't find an easy way to integrate a reliable human alert alarm behavior with Ring without hacking together something in Tasker using Auto Notification or something.

Even though it's, in my view, technologically inferior to many human detection algorithms we all have come to use regularly, I just like that this one doesn't rely on our phones but still alarms to them. It doesn't need internet access or even wifi to communicate with the inside alarm. Baby sitters, parents, my brother visiting from out of town - it just WORKS intuitively and locally.

In either case, I just feel like there should be a more mature solution with all of the smart technology we've all had for years now. Not sure if it's a demand issue or liability concerns that this niche is so underdeveloped.

 

[Newdude]

Not sure if it's a demand issue or liability concerns that this niche is so underdeveloped.

I bet anyone who wanted it, already found a way to DIY with Ring, Arlo, Nest, Wyze or a slew of generics.

 

[Newdude]

I just like that this one doesn't rely on our phones but still alarms to them. It doesn't need internet access or even wifi to communicate with the inside alarm. Baby sitters, parents, my brother visiting from out of town - it just WORKS intuitively and locally.

Early morning I rolled over in bed when the good thoughts hit, and thought of a work around for anyone thinking of going this route.

You could purchase a cheap tablet per floor of the house and mount them in central locations. Anyone visiting would hear the alarms or be able to view the feed. There would be a few days securing anything in the yard that triggered it such as towels blowing on the clothesline, but after that, all of our backyards are free of movement 99% of the time and if the ring was triggered, it'd likely be a person/pet.

 

[LaurenFromTexas]

I had a heck of a time finding an alarm people were really happy with here so I figured I'd share our overall very positive experience with SwamCam. Some key takeaways:

• Phenomenal American-based support team that spent a whole lot of time on the phone and via email assisting with install and troubleshooting major to even minor issues. Can't emphasize this one enough.
• Very few false alarms once configured with a customized detection zone that avoids elements that seem to commonly trigger it. They say most pools don't need a customized zone, but ours has too many random things that set it off - so we have yet another subscription, but it is what it is.
• If the custom zone is not carefully set to avoid them, it is also set off by our areca palms, the waterfall, balls left in the pool - even hanging lights against the screen that reflect into the pool at dusk/dawn! We have our zone dialed in to only capture the deck immediately around the pool for these reasons. So its "Human Detection AI" is going to be underwhelming if you're expecting Ring or Nest type performance. Claims like "Featuring advanced child-detection software that alerts you wirelessly as your child is approaching the pool" tended to give me the impression this product was so dialed in that only a small human would trip it. That said, it's better than other pool alternatives I've seen, and I'm sure they have more liability than Ring missing someone walking in the corner, so Swamcam is probably programmed to be overly cautious. There is a sensitivity adjustment that helps, but the only way to almost fully eliminate our problems was a customized detection zone.
• Along with phone alarms, it has an indoor alarm module that screams louder than my upset toddler (and that's saying something). We really like that a lot because it absolutely gets our attention anywhere in the house or outside since the camera goes off too. The voice component of it that says "Swamcam armed/disarmed" is also very (too) loud, but the alarm/voice speakers are separated so a piece of scotch tape over the voice speaker made that an easy fix (thanks to support for the suggestion as it ships without an volume adjustment for certification purposes).
• Comes with a PIN arm/disarm keypad that could be very useful for guests. The keypad can be programmed to auto arm the system after a set time of being disarmed. In other words, if you set it to auto arm after 30 minutes, if you're in the pool for longer than that - it will sound the alarm. It would make more sense to say "auto arm after xx minutes of inactivity." Not sure if there's a liability or technical reason that can't be done, or if it just hasn't been completed yet - but as soon as that is in place, we will ditch my hacked together solution below:

I use SmartLife wifi plugs so that the camera has no power when disarmed because I'm "arming" and "disarming" by just turning on and off a wifi plug. I set up push notification reminders to our phones after either 1 hour or you can snooze it until a particular time of day. So when it's a nice day with the baby at daycare, I can turn it off and it won't start sending me reminders again until 4:30pm. Hopefully SwamCam can integrate some kind of push notification reminders rather than just auto arming after a pre-set time - maybe a push alert 5-15 minutes before it rearms asking if you'd like to snooze for a particular length of time? Since it's in Tasker, I can also arm it from Alexa through AutoVoice, but don't allow disarming for safety. All in all, we ended up not using the keypad whatsoever because I wanted to be able to integrate Tasker reminders. I do keep it there with the PIN visible in case the tablet malfunctions.

Anyway, just wanted to post our experience for anyone searching in the future. With the ubiquitous nature of Ring, this feels like something that should have existed many years ago but it's relatively new. I haven't been thrilled with some of the bugs and quirks to get it to the point of reliability, but support was excellent to get me to that point - and I don't really see any viable competitors that can do all of this, so I do think this is absolutely worthwhile for anyone with young kids. Gives us a lot of peace of mind that it will always go off when we need it to.

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This was a very helpful review for someone who's in the market for a pool security system. Since it's been a while since you posted your review, would you still recommend the SwamCam?

 

[nick.s]

If you have generic IP cams you can leverage Frigate to do person or pet detection. If you have a good shot of the pool area you can create trip wires and zones for motion/object detection.

 

[Newdude]

+1. My Ring driveway floodlight picks up a neighborhood racoon most nights.

 

[matthewsunshineflorida]

This was a very helpful review for someone who's in the market for a pool security system. Since it's been a while since you posted your review, would you still recommend the SwamCam?

Yes, I would strongly recommend it. In fact, I bought one for my parents' house. I'm big into complex home automations so I would be all for using Ring/Frigate or a number of others, but there is one key upside to SwamCam verses that make it better suited to a pool alarm: ONE local device does it all.

A few takeaways from this:

1. It has local VERY loud speakers that don't depend on internet but pair wirelessly directly to the camera (which also has a speaker).
2. It has a local keypad that any guest can use without a smartphone (I keep ours on the wall with the PIN printed on it).
3. It natively arms and disarms instead of just snoozing alerts like Ring or having some kind of software/server based notification adjustment functionality with Frigate.
4. You aren't relying on smartphones, servers, tablets, or algorithms anywhere except in the camera itself.
5. If internet goes down or Ring servers have a blip, you're unaffected.
6. If your local hardware (a switch, a server, etc) goes down, you're unaffected.
7. You don't have any lag because the algorithm is processed locally on the camera. I've had Ring send me alerts 30 seconds after the doorbell has already rang. At that point, my kid could be face down in the water that entire time. What if my phone is on silent? What if something complex doesn't work the way I need it to in that ONE moment.

You could replicate all of the functionality of SwamCam with a series of devices that would be far more flexible and likely with fewer false alarms (like Frigate/Ring notifications to a home server that sends alerts to phones or loud speakers), but I don't think as many people are going to have the abilities to guarantee they made that setup operate perfectly - and for those that do, they've added more possible points of failure that you likely wouldn't know about until the alarm doesn't go off.

Downsides:

1. They SAY the customized zone isn't necessary for 99% of pools, but in order for me to have BASIC functionality, I have to set it up with yet another subscription (just $40/yr but still). I mean the subscription is even required to hit the "emergency" button from within the app that opens your phone app with 911 dialed - THAT is kind of messed up lol. But without the customized zone, my areca palms, balls, basketball goal, dog, squirrels, I mean all kinds of stuff can set it off. I suspect they have it tuned to a very high sensitivity erring on the side of caution - given the purpose of the alarm... but false alarms obviously desensitize you to the real ones so it's KEY to get this nailed down. After a LOT of playing with the zone to basically detect only the area immediately around the pool, we haven't had any false alarms in months - but it's still set to the highest sensitivity and goes off immediately from any angle of entry.
2. It's more expensive than a DIY system yet its algorithm is less accurate than behemoths like Ring or Google.
3. Motion event screenshots ARE sent to the company in JPGs for purposes of tech support and zone adjustments. You'll get these via email as well, which is great to figure out what set it off and adjust your zone. However, it also means when I forget to turn it off and jump in the pool with the suit I was born in, some poor soul in New York might see the motion alert of my big white rear end when reviewing the account if I call for support.
4. Because of the above, it just FEELS like it should be better. I know they're a smaller company, but when you're used to everything being so flexible - it just isn't quite there. Like the auto arm feature is useless in my view, because it doesn't arm after a period of inactivity and instead just turns on after a certain time turning off so that you could set it to 30 minutes and it will sound the alarm in 30 minutes if you're still in the pool lol like come on... 30 minutes of inactivity would make FAR more sense. Or at least some integration with the phone i.e. after 30 minutes throw up an alert on the phone and snooze it for another 30 minutes or arm the pool (or even auto arm if you don't respond in another 30 minutes). Just would like more customization so that the alarm is always on when you need it to be.

Most of my gripes would probably exist with a DIY system anyway - and I've mitigated those by using my own setup just like I'd have to do with DIY (Kasa smart plugs that turn power on/off to arm/disarm using my tablet, and auto re-arm based on time).

All that to say, I looked at our options again when purchasing for mom/dad and I just still think it's the best low hassle system all around. I really do strongly recommend it verses any alternatives I've seen...

 

[RichE]

I would love to hear any updates about how your parents like the SwamCam system at their pool!

My parents also have a pool and my young son spends a lot of time at their house. They are nearly 80, so I have had a hard time setting up safety precautions they can tolerate and remember to use.

Thank you for providing so much information in your reviews and for linking the video!

 

[matthewsunshineflorida]

I think the biggest challenge is probably "remembering to use it" because, unlike us, they are only going to have it on when my daughter (and just found out we have a son on the way!) is at their house. Because its usage is only about once a week, they don't want to have the keypad or a cheap android tablet permanently mounted right next to the back door - so it has been a matter of using post-its for a while to get into the habit of turning it on when they pick her up. I actually just asked them for an update on using it. Maybe I'll see if they'd like an automation that texts them on days they pick her up from daycare to reinforce the habit.

The false alarms are much less of an issue for them because they have a brick wall around the pool and also because the alarm is only on for a few hours at a time whereas mine always seemed to trigger alarms at dawn/dusk or for storm events where palms moved exceptionally more than normal with the wind. That said, I feel like it's not the end of the world if I end up needing to pay $40/yr to change theirs to a "customized zone" as well.

To explain my obsession with this, our long time lawn guy's niece drowned last year because a gate was not latched properly. Those kinds of stories really make me feel that I should do a combination of things to prevent the ONE time it goes wrong, rather than just relying on a single solution. An alarm is a key part of that IMO. Even once they can swim, we'll probably use it for when they have friends over until they're older.

 

[armyguardbrat]

But without the customized zone, my areca palms, balls, basketball goal, dog, squirrels, I mean all kinds of stuff can set it off

you mention that without the customized zone anything including a dog would set it off. How specific can you get when setting these customized zone? We actually are looking at pool cam because we have a newly blind dog, so hoping a camera would help detect if she gets to close to the water or falls into the water.
I spoke with someone from swamcam - they said their algorithm is not set to detect dogs and it would not trigger the alarm. Clearly that’s the not the case, so curious on your thoughts for pet detection in this case??

Thanks

 

[matthewsunshineflorida]

I spoke with someone from swamcam - they said their algorithm is not set to detect dogs and it would not trigger the alarm. Clearly that’s the not the case, so curious on your thoughts for pet detection in this case??

Ironically, this was actually the source of some irritation I had with their marketing. It strongly implies it only detects humans which I was excited about so that my dog wouldn't set it off - but she does VERY consistently.

I don't know if it would catch your dog if it literally took off running into the pool, but if your dog tends to walk and sniff around the pool, it absolutely will go off within 10 seconds every time, in my experience.

Also, if you look at my screenshot in the OG post you can see how precise you are able to make the zone. It DOES detect a little bit outside the lines so you have to do a lot of testing if you have the unique situation I do where I have it so that the dog behind the fence DOESN'T set it off.