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After-hours building alerts for keyholders

After-hours alert automation watches door, motion and leak sensors while the building is closed. It texts and calls the keyholders in order through Twilio until one of them accepts, and logs every attempt.

An example of how the studio would build it. No live services are connected.

From a sensor at night to a keyholder who knows.

  1. Step 01

    Building closed

    The building is marked closed by schedule or by the last person out, which turns on after-hours alerts.

  2. Step 02

    Sensor triggered

    A door opens, a leak sensor gets wet or a connected Ring device reports motion at an entrance.

  3. Step 03

    Event checked

    Ignore events while staff have marked the building open, and combine several events from the same area into one alert.

  4. Step 04

    Keyholder called

    Text the first keyholder with what happened, then call them through Twilio and ask them to press a key to accept.

  5. Step 05

    Next keyholder tried

    If nobody accepts within a few minutes, move to the next keyholder, logging every attempt.

The result

Problems at night reach someone who can act, not an empty inbox.

The workflow never contacts the police or opens or locks any door: a keyholder decides what to do. An alert stays open until a person accepts it, so it can’t be lost between calls.

Before we connect it.

Where this is useful

Useful for shops, workshops, warehouses and small offices without a monitored alarm, or that want leaks and doors left open covered too. A sensible first version handles water leaks and one entrance with a single keyholder, then adds motion and a rota of keyholders.

What we need to connect

  1. 01SmartThings sensors for doors, motion and leaks, plus a supported way for your Ring devices to share events where you want them included.
  2. 02A Twilio number for texts and calls, and a list of keyholders in order, each of whom has agreed to be called at night.
  3. 03Your closing schedule, how staff mark the building open or closed and what each keyholder is expected to do.

What needs careful handling

Ring events can only be used where your devices share them through an integration Ring supports, so the alerts are designed to work from the SmartThings sensors alone. Cameras that capture people at entrances or on the street fall under data protection rules, so recordings stay in Ring and are viewed only by the keyholder handling an alert. Staff working late or cleaners arriving early would cause false alerts, so the building can be marked open from a phone and regular visits can be added to the schedule.

Questions people ask.

Is this the same as a monitored alarm?

No. A monitored alarm has a staffed response centre and may be required by your insurer. This suits buildings without one, or covers things an alarm often doesn’t, such as leaks and doors left open at closing.

What if the internet is down when something happens?

The hub can’t send alerts without a connection, so a mobile data backup for the router is worth having. A watcher outside the building can also alert the keyholder if the hub stops checking in.

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