The main draw of the Smart Alarm Indoor Camera is how it folds into SimpliSafe's Fast Protect professional monitoring with 24/7 live guard protection. With this feature, agents at SimpliSafe's monitoring center can check your camera's live feed during an alarm to keep tabs on what's happening in your home. The agents can even speak with people using two-way audio to deter an intruder, offer assistance to your family, or help cancel a false alarm using a safe word.
While this sounds similar to the video verification feature of other SimpliSafe cameras, the main difference is live guard protection's ongoing communication and access to your cameras. Video verification lacks the interactive element altogether—it relies on agents checking static video recordings instead of a live feed before sending help. Significantly, live guard protection and video verification are critical tools for reducing false alarms, which can result in fines for unnecessary emergency responses.
Ring offers what appears to be a similar service with Virtual Security Guard, but it costs four times more than SimpliSafe's option—you pay for a Ring Protect Pro plan ($50 per month) and Virtual Security Guard ($80 per month). The extreme price difference works in SimpliSafe's favor. While we're sure that other home security companies offer similar services, we still have more research to conduct on the subject.