What is parking mode?

Parking mode is a feature of some dash cams that allows them to continue recording while your car is parked and turned off. Basic dash cams without a parking mode will turn off while your car’s engine is off, so your car is only monitored while you are driving. 

Choosing a dash cam with a parking mode will help protect your vehicle even when you’re not driving. In parking mode, a dash cam will stay active and continue to detect motion as well as capture video footage. Different dash cams offer different features and levels of protection while in parking mode, so you should consider these capabilities when choosing a dash cam for your vehicle. 

When your car is parked and left unattended, it could be involved in a hit-and-run or a break-in. A dash cam with parking mode gives you the peace of mind of knowing that your vehicle is safe while left unattended and can alert you of any critical events that occur while you are away from your car. Additionally, video footage can be very important when investigating car break-ins and providing evidence to support insurance claims or police reports. 

Raven’s parking mode 

Raven will automatically enter parking mode when your car is turned off. Raven’s sensors and LTE remain active for several days while your car is parked without draining your car’s battery. In parking mode, Raven will continue to alert you and record critical events like parking lot door dings, hit and runs, and break-ins. You can also check in on your parked car using Raven’s Live Streaming feature. 

Raven’s road-facing security LED will stay shining brightly while your vehicle is parked, preventing potential thieves from approaching your car. Raven uses infrared LED light to allow you to see and record high quality video footage while your car is parked at night. This type of light is invisible to the human eye, so Raven remains discreet and only you will know if you are recording a break-in. 

Remote cloud connection

A dash cam with parking mode and cloud connection is particularly beneficial because it provides remote access to video footage while your vehicle is left unattended. Cloud connection is also particularly useful in parking mode if your dash cam itself is stolen, as video footage of the break-in will be stored to the cloud. Unlike with basic dash cameras, Raven’s parking mode with cloud connection means that you do not need to rely on the device’s memory card storage in order to manually access video footage of an event. 

Since Raven is an LTE connected dash cam, it will continue to upload video footage of critical events to the cloud while in parking mode. This allows you to access important footage from wherever you are. If your parked car is hit or involved in a break-in, Raven will record the incident and can be remotely manually requested over the LTE network while it remains available on device memory and provided the Raven is powered. You can then access Raven’s recorded footage of the event immediately from the mobile or web app. 

Low power mode

Dash cams with parking modes will operate at a lower power mode to save energy and allow the device to continue monitoring your vehicle for up to several days while left unattended. The length of time a dash cam will continue to operate in parking mode once your car is parked will depend on many factors such as your car’s battery size, the external temperature, as well as the energy saving capabilities of the device. It’s important to check for power management when choosing a dash cam to ensure that the device will not drain your battery. 

Raven will switch to a lower power mode or a “sentry” mode when your vehicle is parked and continues to monitor your vehicle for several days without your car being started. Raven stays connected by drawing from your car’s battery through the OBD II port to power your dash cam. However, Raven’s lower power consumption in parking mode is not enough to drain your car’s battery. Raven will continue to monitor your car’s battery level while in parking mode and if the voltage does lower to around 11.9V, Raven will send you a notification. 

Security

Dash cams with parking modes provide optimal security for your vehicle as they continue to monitor your vehicle while you are not there to see what is going on around it. A parked car can still be damaged even though you are not driving, especially in busy public areas or parking lots. For example, your parked car could be at risk of door dings or car theft. 

In parking mode, Raven will keep you updated on the security of your vehicle with real-time alerts. Raven will send you a notification immediately if your car is bumped or broken into while parked. The critical event is then recorded and uploaded to the cloud. You can review video footage of what happened to your parked car through the mobile or web app. This video footage is stored to the cloud and can be used later for insurance claims as evidence, so you can know that you will be able to take appropriate action if your vehicle is broken into or damaged.