Action types

All actions in Security Center are associated with a target entity, which is the main entity affected by the action. Additional parameters are indicated in the Description column. All parameters must be configured for an action to be valid.

Action Description
Add bookmark Adds a bookmark to a camera recording.
  • Camera:
    Select the camera.
  • Message:
    Bookmark text.
Arm intrusion detection area Arms an intrusion detection area.
  • Intrusion detection area:
    Select an intrusion detection area.
  • Master:
    Arms all sensors in the selected intrusion detection area. Any sensor can trigger the alarm when activated.
  • Perimeter:
    Arms only the sensors designated to be on the perimeter. Activity on sensors inside the area, such as motion detectors, is ignored.
  • Instant:
    Arms the area immediately.
  • Delay:
    Arms the area after a delay. If you do not specify a duration, the panel default is used.
  • Arming mode:
    • Normal:
      Arms the intrusion detection area normally. Areas with active or troubled sensors remain disarmed.
    • Force:
      If the area is not ready for normal arming, this option forcefully arms the area. Force temporarily ignores active or troubled sensors during the arming sequence. If an ignored sensor ever returns to a normal state while armed, future activity can trigger the alarm.
    • Bypass:
      If the area is not ready for normal arming, this option automatically bypasses active or troubled sensors before arming the area. Sensors remain bypassed while the area is armed. Disarming the area removes the bypass.
Arm zone Arms a virtual zone.
  • Zone:
    Select a virtual zone.
Block and unblock video Blocks or unblocks a camera from other users in the system.
  • Block/Unblock:
    Select whether the action will block or unblock the camera.
  • Camera:
    Select the camera.
  • End:
    Select how long to block the video for:
    • For:
      The video is blocked from users for the selected amount of time.
    • Indefinitely:
      The video is blocked from users until you manually unblock it.
  • User level:
    Select a minimum user level. All users with a level lower than the one you select are blocked from viewing video.
Cancel postpone intrusion detection area arming Cancels the postponed arming of an intrusion detection area.
  • Intrusion detection area:
    Select the intrusion detection area.
Clear tasks Clears the task list in the specified Security Desk monitors.
  • Destination:
    Select one of the following:
    • User:
      All monitors of all Security Desk applications connected with the specified username.
    • Monitor:
      Specific Security Desk monitor identified by a machine name and a monitor ID.
Disarm intrusion detection area Disarms an intrusion detection area.
  • Intrusion detection area:
    Select the intrusion detection area.
Disarm zone Disarms a virtual zone.
  • Zone:
    Select a virtual zone.
Display a camera on an analog monitor Displays a camera in an analog monitor in a canvas tile.
  • Camera:
    Select which camera to display in the analog monitor. The camera must be supported by the analog monitor, and use the same video format.
  • Analog monitor:
    Select an analog monitor to display the camera in.
Display an entity in the Security Desk Displays a list of entities in the Security Desk canvas of selected users, in terms of one entity per tile. This action is ignored if a user does not have a Monitoring task open in Security Desk.
  • Recipients:
    Select the users.
  • Entities:
    List of entities to display. Each entity is displayed in a separate tile.
  • Display options:
    Select one of the following:
    • View in a free tile:
      Only use free tiles.
    • Force display in tiles:
      Display in free tiles first. When there are no more free tiles, use the busy tiles following the tile ID sequence.
Email a report Sends a report (based on a saved reporting task) as an email attachment to a list of users.
  • Report:
    Select a saved public task.
  • Recipients:
    Select the users to the send the report to.
  • Export format:
    Report format, either PDF or Excel.
Email a snapshot Sends a series of snapshots of a video feed as an email attachment to a list of users.
  • Camera:
    Select the camera.
  • Snapshots:
    Select how many seconds before (maximum -300 seconds) or after (maximum 5 seconds) the defined Recurrence time to email the snapshot.
  • Recipients:
    Select the users who will receive the snapshot. An email address must be defined in the user's settings.
  • Export format:
    Available image formats: PNG, GIF, JPEG, or Bitmap.
NOTE: To send snapshots, the Enable thumbnail requests option must be turned on in the Resources tab of the Archiver or Auxiliary Archiver that is managing the camera.
Export report Generates and saves a report specified by a public task.
  • Report:
    Select a public task.
  • What to export:
    • Data:
      Export the data and select the export format (Excel, CSV, PDF).
    • Charts:
      Export any associated charts and select the export format (PNG, JPEG).
  • Orientation:
    (PDF only) Select whether the PDF file should be in portrait or landscape mode.
  • Overwrite existing file:
    Select whether to overwrite a previously saved report in the destination folder. The destination folder is a property of the Report Manager role.
Forgive antipassback violation Forgives an antipassback violation for a cardholder, or cardholder group.
  • Entity:
    Select a cardholder or cardholder group.
Go home Commands the PTZ camera to go to its home position. Not all PTZ cameras support this feature.
  • Camera:
    Select a PTZ camera.
Go to preset Commands the PTZ camera to go to the specified preset position.
  • Camera:
    Select a PTZ camera.
  • Preset:
    Preset position (number) to go to.
Import from file Imports a file and sends the import results to a user.
  • Recipient:
    Select a user.
  • File name:
    Opens the Import tool window, where you can select the file that is used to import the data.
NOTE: If the import completes without error, the source file is deleted. Otherwise it is renamed. This occurs so you can run this action from a scheduled task and never import the same file twice. The same behavior occurs with an E2A.
Override with event recording quality Sets the Boost quality on event recording to ON for the selection camera and applies the custom boost quality recording settings. Selecting this option overrides the general settings for event recording. The effect of this action lasts as long as it is not modified by another action, such as Recording quality as standard configuration, or until the Archiver restarts.
  • Camera:
    Select a camera.
Override with manual recording quality Sets the Boost quality on manual recording to ON for the selection camera and applies the custom boost quality recording settings. Selecting this option overrides the general settings for event recording. The effect of this action lasts as long as it is not modified by another action, such as Recording quality as standard configuration, or until the Archiver restarts.
  • Camera:
    Select a camera.
Play a sound Plays a sound bite in a user or user group’s Security Desk. This action is ignored if the user is not running Security Desk.
  • User, User group:
    Select a user or user group.
  • Sound to play:
    Sound file (.wav) to play. For the user to hear the sound bite, the sound file must be installed on the PC where Security Desk is running. The standard alert sound files that come with the installation are located in C:\Program files\Genetec Security Center 5.8\Audio.
Postpone intrusion detection area arming Postpones the intrusion detection area arming.
  • Arming mode:
    Either Master arm or Perimeter arm.
  • Intrusion detection area:
    Select the intrusion detection area.
  • Postpone for:
    Set how long to postpone the arming for, in seconds.
  • Arming delay:
    Set the arming delay in seconds.
Reboot unit Restarts a unit.
  • Entity:
    Select a video unit or access control unit to restart.
Recording quality as standard configuration Cancels the effect of the Override with manual recording quality and Override with event recording quality actions and restores the standard recording configuration.
  • Camera:
    Select a camera.
Reset area people count Resets the people counter in an area.
  • Area:
    Select an area.
Reset external system Forces the Omnicast™ Federation™ role to reconnect to the remote Omnicast™ system.
  • Role:
    Select an Omnicast™ Federation™ role.
Reset parking zone inventory Resets the parking zone inventory to zero so that the reported parking zone occupancy can be re-initialized.
Run a macro Starts the execution of a macro.
  • Macro:
    Select a macro.
  • Context:
    Specific value settings for the context variables.
Run a pattern Commands the PTZ camera to run the specified pattern.
  • Camera:
    Select a PTZ camera.
  • Pattern:
    Pattern number to run.
Send a message Sends a pop-up message to a user’s Security Desk. This action is ignored if the user is not running Security Desk.
  • Recipients:
    Select a user or user group.
  • Message:
    Text to be to displayed in the pop-up message.
  • Has timeout:
    Select how long the message is shown for.
Send an email Sends an email to users or cardholders. The selected user must have an email address configured, and the mail server must be properly configured for Security Center, or the action is ignored.
  • Recipients:
    Select a user, user group, cardholder, or cardholder group.
  • Message:
    The email text to be sent to the recipient.
Send task Sends and adds a public task to a Security Desk application.
  • Task:
    Select a saved public task to send.
  • Destination:
    Select one of the following:
    • User:
      All Security Desk connected with that user.
    • Monitor:
      Specific Security Desk monitor identified by a machine name and a monitor ID.
Set reader mode Sets the reader mode for accessing doors.
  • Location:
    Select an area, door, or elevator.
  • Reader mode:
    Select whether access is granted using Card and PIN or Card or PIN for the selected area, door, or elevator.

This action only works with door controllers and readers that support this feature.
Set the door maintenance mode Sets the Unlocked for maintenance status of a door to on or off.
  • Door:
    Select a door.
  • Maintenance:
    Desired maintenance mode: on or off.
Set threat level Sets a threat level on your Security Center system, or on specific areas.
  • Area:
    Select which areas to set the threat level on. Can be your entire system, or specific areas.
  • Threat level:
    Select which threat level to set.
Silence buzzer Resets the buzzer output defined for a door. This action sets the Buzzer option to None in the Hardware tab of a door in Config Tool.
  • Door:
    Select a door.
Sound buzzer Sets the Buzzer output defined for a door. The buzzer sound is specified under the Buzzer option in the Hardware tab of a door in Config Tool.
  • Door:
    Select a door.
Start applying video protection Starts protecting upcoming video recordings against deletion. The protection is applied on all video files needed to store the protected video sequence. Because no video file can be partially protected, the actual length of the protected video sequence depends on the granularity of the video files.

When multiple Start applying video protection actions are applied on the same video file, the longest protection period is kept.

  • Camera:
    Select a camera.
  • Keep protected for:
    Duration of the video protection.
    • Specific:
      Sets the protection period in number of days.
    • Infinite:
      The protection can only be removed manually from the Archive storage details task.
  • Protect video for next:
    Duration of the video to protect.
    • Specific:
      Sets the duration in minutes and hours.
    • Infinite:
      All future recordings are protected until the action Stop applying video protection is executed.
Start recording Starts recording on the specified camera. This action is ignored if the camera is not on an active recording schedule. Recordings started by this action cannot be stopped manually by a user.
  • Camera:
    Select a camera.
  • Recording duration:
    Sets the duration of the video recording.
    • Default:
      Sets the duration to follow the value defined in Default manual recording length configured for the camera.
    • Infinite:
      The recording can only be stopped by the Stop recording action.
    • Specific:
      Sets the recording duration in seconds, minutes, and hours.
Start transfer Starts an archive transfer.
  • Transfer group:
    Select a transfer group to begin the transfer for. The transfer can consist of retrieving video recordings from units, duplicating video archives from one Archiver to another Archiver, or backing up archives to a specified location.
Stop applying video protection Stops protecting upcoming video recordings against deletion. This action does not affect the video archives that are already protected.
  • Camera:
    Select a camera.
  • Stop in:
    Sets the video protection to stop Now or in a Specific amount of time in minutes and hours.
Stop recording Stops recording on the specified camera. This action only works if the recording was started by the Start recording action.
  • Camera:
    Select a camera.
  • Stop in:
    Sets the recording to stop Now or in a Specific amount of time in seconds, minutes and hours.
Stop transfer Stops an archive transfer.
  • Transfer group:
    Select a transfer group to stop the transfer for.
Synchronize role Starts a synchronization process on the specified role: Active Directory or Global Cardholder Synchronizer.
  • Role:
    Select a role that needs synchronization.
  • Get image:
    (Active Directory role only) Enable this option if image attributes are to be synchronized as well.
Temporarily override unlock schedules Temporarily locks or unlocks a door for a given period.
  • Door:
    Select a door.
  • Lock mode:
    Select Unlocked or Locked.
    • For:
      Amount of time in minutes or hours.
    • From/To:
      Date and time range to unlock the door.
Trigger alarm Triggers an alarm. This action might generate additional events, depending on the alarm configuration.
  • Alarm:
    Select an alarm.
  • Acknowledgment condition:
    Event type that must be triggered before the alarm can be acknowledged.
  • User acknowledgment required:
    Select whether the alarm must be manually acknowledged, or if it is automatically acknowledged by the system after the acknowledgment condition is cleared.
Trigger intrusion alarm Triggers a physical alarm on an intrusion detection area.
  • Recipient type:
    Type of alarm trigger, either the intrusion detection area or a specific alarm input.
  • Intrusion detection area:
    Select an intrusion detection area.
Trigger output Triggers an output behavior on an output pin of a unit. For example, an action can be configured to trigger the output pin of a unit (controller or input/output module).
  • Output relay:
    Select an output pin (unit).
  • Output behavior:
    Select the output behavior to trigger.
Trigger past read matching Triggers the LPR Manager role to compare new or updated hotlists against previously captured license plate reads.
Unlock door explicitly Temporarily unlocks a door for five seconds, or the Standard grant time configured for that door.
  • Door:
    Select a door.
Unlock area perimeter doors explicitly Temporarily unlocks an area's perimeter doors for five seconds, or the Standard grant time configured for those doors.
  • Area:
    Select an area.
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