False Alarm! Understanding the Alert Grace Period and Escalation Flow
Overview
MoorMesh is designed to alert you the moment your camera detects motion — but it is also designed to stay quiet when the detection was a false alarm. The grace period is the window of time between your camera firing and your club or harbour being notified. During this window, you are the only person who receives a notification. If you recognise the alert as a false alarm and cancel it, nothing further happens. If you do not cancel within the grace period, the alert escalates automatically.
Understanding this flow is the most important thing you can do to get the most out of MoorMesh and to avoid unnecessary disturbance to your club.
The Full Alert Flow
The following table summarises every stage from camera detection to full escalation:
Stage | What happens | Who is notified |
|---|---|---|
1. Camera detects motion | Your Reolink camera sends an alert email via SMTP2GO | Nobody yet |
2. MoorMesh receives the email | The email is parsed, the camera is identified, and a false-alarm filter runs | Nobody yet |
3. False-alarm filter | Checks time of day, boat status, and event type. If filtered, the alert is silently discarded | Nobody |
4. Grace period begins | Your boat enters pre-alert status. A countdown timer starts (default: 60 seconds) | You only — via Telegram DM and/or email |
5a. You cancel | You tap Cancel within the grace period. Boat returns to normal status | Nobody else notified |
5b. Grace period expires | No cancellation received. Alert escalates automatically | Your club and harbour — via Telegram group and email |
The Grace Period in Detail
The grace period is your personal cancellation window. Its duration is set in your account profile and can be customised between 30 and 120 seconds. The default is 60 seconds.
Why is the minimum 30 seconds? MoorMesh needs enough time to deliver the notification to you and for you to see it and act. A shorter window would result in escalations before you have a realistic chance to cancel.
When the grace period begins, MoorMesh immediately sends you:
A Telegram direct message (if your account is linked) containing the boat name, the type of event detected (motion, person, vehicle, etc.), and a Cancel — it was me! button. Tapping this button cancels the alert instantly, without opening a browser.
An email (if email alerts are enabled on your account) containing the same information and a cancel link. The email is sent to the address on your MoorMesh account.
Both channels carry the same cancel link. You only need to cancel once — via either channel.
How to Cancel a False Alarm
There are three ways to cancel an active pre-alert:
Option 1 — Tap the button in Telegram. This is the fastest method. The Telegram message from the MoorMesh bot contains a single Cancel — it was me! button. Tap it and the alert is dismissed immediately.
Option 2 — Click the link in the email. The pre-alert email contains a cancel link. Clicking it opens a confirmation page in your browser and cancels the alert. Note that email delivery can take a few seconds, so act quickly if your grace period is short.
Option 3 — Cancel from the MoorMesh app. Open the boat's detail page in MoorMesh. If the boat is in pre-alert status, a red Cancel Alert button is shown at the top of the page. Tap it to cancel.
Customising Your Grace Period
You can adjust your personal grace period at any time from your account notification settings.
Navigate to your account settings (click your name in the top-right corner of any MoorMesh page), then open Notification Preferences. The grace period slider allows you to set any value between 30 and 120 seconds. Changes take effect immediately for all future alerts.
Grace period | Best for |
|---|---|
30 seconds | Experienced users who check their phone immediately; minimises the window for a real alert to go unnoticed |
60 seconds (default) | Most users; balances responsiveness with a comfortable cancellation window |
90–120 seconds | Users in areas with intermittent mobile signal, or those who may not see notifications immediately |
The False-Alarm Filter
Before the grace period even begins, MoorMesh runs an automatic false-alarm filter on every inbound event. This filter silently discards events that are very unlikely to be genuine security incidents, reducing the number of notifications you receive.
The filter currently checks the following conditions:
Night-time suppression. If your boat's mooring position is set, MoorMesh calculates local sunrise and sunset times. Events detected during daylight hours in a marina environment are more likely to be false alarms (seagulls, passing boats, reflections). The filter can be configured per boat by your club administrator.
Boat status. If your boat is already in Owner Onboard mode, all alerts are suppressed. This mode is designed for when you are physically on the boat and do not want to trigger notifications for your own movement.
Debounce window. If the same camera fires multiple times within a short window (default: 1 minute), only the first event triggers a notification. Subsequent events within the window increment a counter on the existing event rather than creating new alerts. This prevents a single sustained motion event from generating dozens of notifications.
What Happens When an Alert Escalates
If the grace period expires without cancellation, MoorMesh promotes the boat from pre-alert to alert status and sends notifications to:
Your club's Telegram group — a message is posted to the group associated with your boat's organisation, identifying the boat, the type of event, and the time of detection.
Your harbour's Telegram group — if your boat is associated with a harbour, the harbour group is also notified.
Club and harbour administrators — receive the same information via email.
The escalation is handled by a background job that runs every five seconds, so the delay between grace period expiry and group notification is typically under ten seconds.
Easily Triggering and Cancelling Test Alerts
MoorMesh makes it straightforward to test the full alert flow at any time without disturbing your club. From your boat's detail page, tap Simulate Alert. This fires a real pre-alert notification to you personally (via Telegram and email) and starts the grace period countdown — but the escalation step is suppressed for test alerts, so your club and harbour are never notified regardless of whether you cancel.
This is useful for:
- Verifying that your Telegram and email notifications are working correctly after initial setup
- Familiarising yourself with the cancel flow before you need to use it in a real situation
- Testing after changing your grace period duration to confirm the new timing feels right
To cancel the test alert, use any of the three cancellation methods described above. A confirmation message will confirm the cancellation was received.
Frequently Asked Questions
I missed the Telegram message and the grace period expired. What happens now?
Your club and harbour Telegram groups will have received a notification. There is no way to retroactively cancel an escalated alert, but you can post a follow-up message in the group to let members know it was a false alarm. Future versions of MoorMesh will include an "all-clear" message feature.
I cancelled the alert but I'm still seeing the boat shown as "Alert" in the app.
The boat status updates in real time. If you see a stale status, try refreshing the page. If the status persists, contact your club administrator.
Can I disable alerts entirely while I'm working on the boat?
Yes. Enable Owner Onboard mode from the boat's detail page. This suppresses all alerts until you disable it. Remember to turn it off when you leave the boat.
My grace period is 60 seconds but the alert escalated before I could cancel.
Check that your Telegram account is linked — the Telegram message is typically the fastest channel. Also check that your phone's notification settings allow Telegram to deliver alerts immediately (not silently or in a summary). If you are in an area with poor mobile signal, consider increasing your grace period to 90 or 120 seconds.
Can I change the escalation targets (which groups are notified)?
Escalation targets are set by your club and harbour administrators and are tied to your boat's organisation assignment. Contact your club admin if the wrong group is being notified.
Related Articles
- Getting Started: The MoorMesh Onboarding Wizard
- Linking and unlinking your Telegram account
- Adding additional cameras to a boat
- Managing moorings (club administrators)
Updated on: 28/03/2026
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