> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.useargus.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# FAQ

> Answers to common ARGUS questions.

Quick answers to the questions customers ask most. If you don't see what you need
here, [contact support](/help/support) and we'll help.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What does ARGUS do?" icon="shield-halved">
    ARGUS turns the security cameras you already have into an always-on, AI-powered
    watch over your store. It analyzes your live video around the clock, flags
    risky activity the moment it happens, and alerts the right people by SMS and
    email — so you don't have to watch the dashboard or comb through hours of
    footage. For the full picture, see
    [How ARGUS works](/get-started/how-argus-works).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I need to buy new cameras?" icon="video">
    No. ARGUS works with the cameras you already have — most modern IP cameras and
    network video recorders (NVRs). A small **ARGUS agent** runs on an always-on
    computer in your store, sees your camera feeds on the local network, and
    streams them to ARGUS for analysis. There's no new hardware to buy. See
    [Add a camera](/cameras/add-a-camera) and
    [Supported hardware](/cameras/supported-hardware).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What triggers an alert?" icon="bell">
    ARGUS alerts you about **high-risk incidents — those scoring 70 or above** on
    its 0–100 risk scale. These are the incidents most likely to be a real threat.
    When one is detected, ARGUS notifies your chosen recipients by **SMS** and
    **email**. Medium and low incidents still appear in your dashboard for review,
    but they don't send alerts. See
    [Risk scores explained](/incidents/risk-scores) and
    [Alerts & notifications](/incidents/alerts-notifications).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How are risk scores calculated?" icon="gauge">
    Every incident gets a risk score from **0 to 100**, grouped into three levels:
    **High (70+)**, **Medium (40–69)**, and **Low (under 40)**. The score blends
    several signals ARGUS observes in the video — such as how a person interacts
    with merchandise and bags, how long they linger, and whether items change or
    disappear. You don't need to tune any of this; ARGUS scores every incident for
    you. Separately, activity that occurs overnight may be given extra attention.
    Details are on [Risk scores explained](/incidents/risk-scores).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if ARGUS flags something that isn't a real threat?" icon="circle-xmark">
    You're always the final call. When you review an incident you can **Mark False
    Positive** (with a quick reason) to dismiss it, **Confirm** it as a real
    threat, or **Escalate** it for further review. Every decision is saved to an
    audit trail, so your record stays accurate over time. See the
    [Incident workflow](/incidents/incident-workflow).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does ARGUS store my video footage?" icon="lock">
    ARGUS is **not a video recorder** and does not replace your DVR or NVR — your
    existing camera system keeps your recordings. ARGUS analyzes your live video to
    spot incidents as they happen, and keeps only **short clips of the incidents it
    flags** so you have context when you review them, not your full recordings.
    Anything ARGUS does keep is **encrypted and processed only to provide your
    loss-prevention and analytics features**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I get help?" icon="life-ring">
    Email us at [support@useargus.co](mailto:support@useargus.co) — we typically
    reply within 24 hours. Including your store name, the camera, and roughly when
    something happened helps us help you faster. See
    [Contact support](/help/support) for what to include and how to reach us.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>