About schedules

A schedule is a type of entity that defines a set of time constraints that can be applied to a multitude of situations in the system. Each time constraint is defined by a date coverage (daily, weekly, ordinal, or specific) and a time coverage (all day, fixed range, daytime, and nighttime).

Each time constraint is characterized by a date coverage (date pattern or specific dates covered by the schedule) and a time coverage (time periods that apply during a 24-hour day).

When the Security Center Directory is installed, the Always schedule is created by default. This schedule has a 24/7 coverage. It cannot be renamed, modified, or deleted, and has the lowest priority in terms of schedule conflict resolution.

Time zones for schedules

The time of day for a schedule is based on the local time zone set in each individual context where it is applied. For example, if the schedule is used to set continuous video recording from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., whether the video unit is in Tokyo or London, the recording occurs on schedule according to the local time. This is because every video unit has a time zone setting to control video settings and recordings relative to the unit’s local time.

When a schedule is applied to an entity that has no time zone settings, such as the logon schedule for a user, the local time is taken from the server hosting the Directory role.

Schedule conflicts

You might have a scheduling conflict when two overlapping schedules are applied to the same function. For example, if two schedules are applied to the recording of the same camera.

Security Center can resolve some of these conflicts by giving priority to the most specific (or restrictive) schedule. The specificity of a schedule is determined by its date coverage option.

The following lists the date coverage options in decreasing order of priority:

Specific (Runs only once. Highest priority)
Ordinal (Repeats on a monthly or yearly basis)
Weekly (Repeats every week)
Daily (Repeats every day)
Always (The default schedule. Has the lowest priority)

IMPORTANT: When two overlapping schedules with the same priority level are applied to the same function, you have an unresolved conflict. If the two schedule were applied to an entity, an Entity warning occurs, and the entity with the conflicting configuration is displayed in yellow in the entity browser.