Alarm configuration tabs

This section lists the settings found in Alarm configuration tabs, in the Alarm task.

Alarm - Properties tab

In the Properties tab, you can define the essential alarm properties.

Priority:
Priority of the alarm (1-255), based on the urgency of the situation. Higher priority alarms are displayed first in Security Desk.
Recipients:
Users, user groups, and analog monitor groups who are notified when the alarm occurs, and are responsible for responding to the alarm situation.
Broadcast mode:
How the alarm recipients are notified about the alarm.
- All at once:
  (Default) All recipients are notified at the same time, immediately after the alarm is triggered.
- Sequential:
  The recipients are notified individually, each after a specified delay (in seconds) calculated from the time the alarm is triggered. If the recipient is a user group, all members of the user group are notified at the same time.
Attached entities:
Entities that help describe the alarm situation (for example, cameras, area, doors, alarm procedure, and so on). When the alarm is received in Security Desk, the attached entities can be displayed one after another in a sequence or all at once in the canvas, to help you review the situation. If a composite entity is attached to the alarm, the entities that compose it are also attached to the alarm. For example, if a door entity is attached to the alarm, the cameras associated to the door are also attached to the alarm.
Video display option:
If cameras are attached to the alarm, select whether to display live video, playback video, a series of still frames, or a combination of the three when the alarm is triggered.
- Live:
  Display live video.
- Playback:
  Display playback video.
- Live and playback:
  Rotate between displaying live and playback video.
- Live and still frames:
  Rotate between displaying live video and a series of still frames.
- Still frames:
  Display a series of still frames.
Still frame durations:
Select whether you want each still frame to be displayed for the same duration or an independent duration of time.
- Same durations:
  Display each still frame for the same duration of time.
  Number of frames:
  Select the number of still frames to display within total content cycling duration.
  
  Play:
  Select how many seconds before the alarm was triggered to start the first still frame.
- Independent durations:
  Display each still frame for an independent duration of time.
  Relative time:
  Select how many seconds before or after the alarm was triggered the still frame displays.
  
  Duration:
  Select how long the still frame is displayed for.
Content cycling:
Turn this option on to automatically rotate the entities that are attached to the alarm in a display tile for an equal amount of time. The attached entities are listed in the order that they are displayed in Security Desk.

Alarm - Advanced tab

In the Advanced settings tab, you can configure the optional alarm properties.

Reactivation threshold:
The minimum time Security Center needs to wait after triggering this alarm before it can be triggered again. This option prevents the system from repeatedly triggering the same alarm before it is resolved.
Alarm procedure (URL):
Enter the URL or the web page address corresponding to the alarm procedure, which provides alarm handling instructions to the operators. The web page is displayed when the user clicks Show alarm procedure () in the alarm widget in Security Desk.
Schedule:
Define when this alarm is in operation. Outside the periods defined by this schedule, triggering this alarm has no effect.
NOTE: You can add multiple schedules to the alarm. Schedule conflicts that cannot be resolved will be notified.
Automatic acknowledgment:
Turn this option on to let the system automatically acknowledge this alarm if no one acknowledges it before the specified time (in seconds). This option is recommended for low-priority alarms that serve to alert the security operator, but do not require any action. When this option is turned off, the system follows the Auto ack alarms after option configured at the system level in Server Admin.
NOTE: Automatic acknowledgement does not apply to alarms that have an active condition attached. To acknowledge those alarms, you need to forcibly acknowledge them (which requires the Forcibly acknowledge alarms privilege). For more information on acknowledging alarms, see the Security Center User Guide.
Create an incident on acknowledgement:
Turn this option on to prompt the Security Desk user to report an incident every time they acknowledge an alarm.
NOTE: Turning this option on turns the automatic acknowledgement option off.
Automatic video recording:
Turn this option off (default=on) if you do not want to start recording video when the alarm is triggered.
Protect recorded video:
Turn this option on (default=off) to protect the video recordings associated to this alarm for the specified number of days.
Alarm sound:
Select the sound bite to play when a new alarm occurs, if alarms are configured to play a sound in Security Desk. By default, the sound bite that is configured in the Security Desk Options dialog box is used.
Color:
Select a color for the alarm. The color is used for the overlay of the alarm video when it is displayed in a tile in the Alarm monitoring or Monitoring task, as well as when the alarm is triggered on a map.