Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2

Security Desk
Getting Started Guide

5.2
Copyright notice
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Document information
Document title: Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2
Document number: EN.500.060-V5.2.C4(1)
Document update date: October 25, 2013
You can send your comments, corrections, and suggestions about this guide to
documentation@genetec.com.
gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 ii

EN.500.060-V5.2.C4(1) | Last updated: October 25, 2013
About this guide
This guide is for new users to Security Desk. It uses real-world scenarios to show you how to use
the basic product features. You'll get a tour of the user interface, and then learn how to log on
and off, view a camera, search for and export video, and manage alarms.
NOTE This version of the document focuses on the basic video surveillance and access control
tasks.
To learn more about all the features available in Security Desk, see the Genetec Security Desk
User Guide.
Notes and notices

The following notes and notices might appear in this guide:
• Tip. Suggests how to apply the information in a topic or step.
• Note. Explains a special case, or expands on an important point.
• Important. Points out critical information concerning a topic or step.
• Caution. Indicates that an action or step can cause loss of data, security problems, or
performance issues.
• Warning. Indicates that an action or step can result in physical harm, or cause damage to
hardware.
gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 iii

Contents
About this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Notes and notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Chapter 1: Security Desk basics

About Security Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Log on to Security Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Close Security Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Home page overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
UI component overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
About the Logical view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Searching for entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Searching for entities using the Search tool . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Opening tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Monitoring events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Selecting events to monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Selecting entities to monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Reporting incidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Responding to critical events through threat levels . . . . . . . . . . 19
Clearing threat levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 2: Canvas
How tiles work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Viewing entities in the canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Unpacking content in tiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Changing tile patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Chapter 3: Widgets
Alarm widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 iv

Camera widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
PTZ widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Door widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 4: Reports
Reporting task workspace overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Generating reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Exporting reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Printing reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Chapter 5: Monitoring cameras

Viewing cameras in tiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
On-tile video controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Zooming in and out of tile content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Creating digital zoom presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Taking snapshots of video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Customizing snapshot options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Visual tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Tracking moving targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Adding bookmarks to video sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Viewing bookmarked videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Live and playback video modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Switching between video modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
The video timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Viewing video archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Video export formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Exporting video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Copying exported video files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
The Export video dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Chapter 6: Monitoring access control entities

How access events are displayed in tiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Searching for cardholders, visitors, and credentials . . . . . . . . . . 68
gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 v

Searching for cardholders and visitors using their credential . . . . . . . 68
Creating cardholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Assigning access rules to cardholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Checking in new visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Checking in a returning visitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Checking out visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Assigning credentials to cardholders and visitors . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Requesting printed credential cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Printing badges for cardholders and visitors . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Assigning temporary cards to cardholders and visitors . . . . . . . . . 82
Restoring original cards to cardholders and visitors . . . . . . . . . . 83
Viewing properties of cardholder group members . . . . . . . . . . 84
Viewing credential properties of cardholders . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Investigating visitor events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Allowing access through doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Investigating door events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Chapter 7: Monitoring alarms

How alarms are displayed in the canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Acknowledging alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Forwarding alarms to other users manually . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Forwarding alarms to other users automatically . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Triggering alarms manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Investigating current and past alarms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Alarm report task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Alarm monitoring task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Where to find product documentation . . . . . . . . . .140
Technical support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 vi

1
Security Desk basics
This section introduces you to Security Desk. It also takes you on a tour of the user interface, and
describes the basics of using Security Desk.
This section includes the following topics:
• "About Security Desk" on page 2
• "Log on to Security Desk" on page 3
• "Home page overview" on page 4
• "UI component overview" on page 6
• "Searching for entities" on page 10
• "Opening tasks" on page 12
• "Monitoring events" on page 14
• "Reporting incidents" on page 17
• "Responding to critical events through threat levels" on page 19
gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 1

About Security Desk
About Security Desk

Security Desk is the unified security user interface for your Security Center platform. It is used
for monitoring, reporting, and managing alarms for your access control, video surveillance, and
LPR systems.
Within a single interface, you can monitor real-time events and alarms, generate reports, track
door and cardholder activity, and view live and recorded video. When connected to a
Federation of multiple systems, Security Desk allows you to monitor, report on, and manage
hundreds of sites.

Log on to Security Desk
Log on to Security Desk

To log on to Security Desk, you must open the Security Desk application and connect to the
Security Center server.
Before you begin
You need your username, password, and the name of the Directory you want to connect to.
What you should know
Once you are logged on, you can log off and disconnect from the Directory without closing
Security Desk. Logging off without closing the application is helpful if you plan to log on again
using a different username and password.
To log on to Security Desk:

1 To open Security Desk, click Start > All programs > Genetec Security Center 5.2 >
Security Desk.
2 In the Logon dialog box, do one of the following:
 Enter your Security Center username and password.
 Log on using your Windows user account by selecting the Use Windows credentials
option.
3 In the Directory field, enter the name or IP address of the main Security Center server.
4 If you are required to log on with supervision, your supervisor must provide a username
and password.
5 Click Log on.
6 To log off, click the Home ( ) tab, and then click Log off.
Close Security Desk

You can close Security Desk and save your workspace for the next time you log on.
By default, you are asked to save your workspace when you close Security Desk. You can change
this behavior from the Options dialog box.
To close Security Desk:

1 In the upper-right corner of the Security Desk window, click Exit ( ).
If you have unsaved tasks in your workspace, you are prompted to save them.
2 To automatically load the same task list the next time you open Security Desk, click Save.

Home page overview
Home page overview

The Home page is the main page in Security Desk. You can open the Home page by clicking the
Home ( ) tab. It is also shown if the task list is empty.
A B C D
I
J
A Home tab • Click to show or hide the Home page.

• Right-click for a list of commands (for example, save the workspace, close
tasks, and so on).
B Task list Lists the tasks you are currently have open and are working on.
• Click a task tab to switch to that task.
• Right-click a tab for a list of commands (see "Opening tasks" on page 12).
C Notification Displays important information about your system. Hold your mouse pointer
tray over an icon to view system information, or double-click the icon to perform an
action.
You can choose which icons to show in the notification bar from the Options
dialog box.
D List all tasks Click to view a list of all open tasks. This button only appears if the task tabs take
up the width of the taskbar.

Home page overview
E Search box Type the name of the task you are looking for. All tasks containing that text in
their category, name, or description, are shown.
F Tasks Lists your recent items, favorites, and all the task types that are available to you.
Select a task to open from this tab.
G Private/ Click to view the saved tasks that are available to you.
public tasks • Private tasks. Tasks that you saved that are only available to you.
• Public tasks. Tasks that you or someone else saved that are available to the
general public.
H Tools Click to view the tools that you can start directly from your Home page. The
Tools page is divided into two sections:
• Tools. This section shows the standard Security Center tools.
• External tools. This section shows the shortcuts to external tools and
applications.
I Options Click to configure Security Desk options.
J About Click to view information regarding your Security Center software, such as your
license, SMA, and software version. From the About page, you can also view the
following:
• Help. Click to open the online help.
• Change password. Click to change your password.
• Contact us. Click to visit GTAP or the GTAP forum. You need an Internet
connection to visit these Web sites (see "Technical support" on page 141).
 Gather diagnostic information. This option collects diagnostic information
about your system. It is reserved for use by Genetec’s Technical Assistance
personnel. Please do not be concerned with this option.
• Installed components. Click to view the name and version of all installed
software components (DLLs).
• Copyright. Click to display software copyright information.
K Log off Click to log off without exiting the application.
L Favorites Right-click any task or tool to add or remove it from your Favorites list. You can
also drag a task into your favorites list. Tasks listed in favorites no longer appear
in the Recent items list.
M Recent items Lists your recently opened tasks and tools.
N Browse tasks Click to view all the tasks available to you. Click a task icon to open the task. If it
is a single-instance task, it will open. If you can have multiple instances of the
task, you are required to type a name for the task (see "Opening tasks" on
page 12).

UI component overview
There are a few main parts in the Security Desk user interface: the Logical view, report pane,
canvas, and dashboard. These components are displayed in most tasks. This section gives you a
general overview of where these components are located in the user interface.
A Report pane Displays information in the form of a table listing events, active alarms, or query
results, depending on the task you are using. The information can appear as text
or graphics (cardholder picture, timeline, thumbnails, and so on).
B Dashboard Contains widget commands related to the entity type displayed in the selected
tile in the canvas.
For information about the widgets, see "Widgets" on page 28.
C Canvas Allows you to view and control entities such as videos, tile plugins, road maps,
cardholder pictures, and so on. The canvas only appears in certain tasks. There
are two canvas display modes:
• Tile mode. The canvas is divided into individual windows called tiles (seen in
the above example).
• Map mode. The canvas displays a road map. This display mode is used in the
Monitoring task, and in some LPR-related tasks.

D Logical view Lists all the entities that are part of your system, and allows you to bring them
into the canvas. For more information about the Logical view, see "About the
Logical view" on page 8.
E Hide Click to hide or show the dashboard.
Dashboard
F Hide Logical Click to hide or show the Logical view.
view

About the Logical view

You can find and view all the entities in your system quickly, using the Logical view. The entities
in the Logical view are organized in a hierarchy (or entity tree) according to their logical
relationships with areas. For example, the doors leading to an area, and other devices located
within the area, such as cameras, are displayed below that area in the hierarchy as child entities.
From the Logical view, you can do the following:
• Find entities you want to view in the canvas.
• Drag multiple entities from the Logical view into the canvas. For more information about
viewing entities in the canvas, see “Viewing entities in the canvas” in the Security Desk User
Guide.
• Rename local entities.
• Jump to entity configuration pages in Config Tool.
A
B

A Search box Type in the Search box to find the entities containing that text in their category,
name, or description (see "Searching for entities" on page 10).
B System entity The system entity ( ) cannot be viewed in the canvas.
C Configure Right-click an entity in the Logical view, and then click Configure entity ( ) to
entity jump to that entity’s configuration page in Config Tool.
NOTE You need the user privilege to modify entities to use this command.
D Area entity Area entities ( ) can represent a concept or physical location. It is a logical
grouping.
E Yellow entity Whenever an entity name is displayed in yellow, it means that there is a problem
with the settings.
F Rename Press F2 to rename the selected local entity.
entity NOTE You need the user privilege to modify entities to use this command. You
cannot edit names of federated entities.
G Arrow icons Click the arrows in the entity tree to show or hide child entities.
H Red entity Indicates that the entity is offline and the server cannot connect to it, or the
server is offline.
I Federated All entities imported from federated systems are shown with a yellow arrow
entity superimposed on the regular entity icon ( ). They are called federated entities.

Searching for entities

If you cannot find the entity you need in a task, you search for the entity by name.
To search for an entity:

1 In the Search box in the selector, type the entity name you are searching for.
2 Click Search ( ).
Only entities with names containing the text you entered are displayed.
3 Click Clear filter ( ) to stop using the search filter.
Searching for entities using the Search tool

You can apply a set of filters to find the entities you need using the Search tool.
The Search tool is available in most Security Desk tasks. The filters available depend on the task
you are using. For example, in the Bookmarks task, you can filters entities by name, description,
entity type, partition, and custom fields.
To search for an entity using the Search tool:

1 In the Search box in the selector, click Apply custom filter ( ).
2 In the Search window, use the filters to specify your search criteria.
 To turn on a filter, click on the filter heading. Active filters are shown with a green LED
( ).
 To turn off a filter ( ), click on the filter heading.
NOTE Invalid filters are shown in red. You can point to the heading to see why the filter is
invalid.

3 Click Search ( ).
The search results appear on the right. The total number of results is displayed at the bottom
of the list.
4 Click Select columns ( ) to choose which columns to display in the result list.
5 Select the entities you want.
TIP Hold the CTRL key for multiple selections. Click and to scroll through multiple
pages of results.
6 Click Select.
Only the entities you selected appear in the selector.
7 Click Clear filter ( ) to stop using the search filter.

Opening tasks
Opening tasks
To do most things in Security Desk, you must first open your tasks.
Some Security Desk tasks can only have one instance, and other tasks can have multiple
instances. Single-instance tasks cannot be renamed.
To open a task:
1 From the Home page, do one of the following:
 Type the task name in the Search box.
 Click the Tasks tab, and then click Browse all tasks.
 To open a saved task, click the Private tasks or Public tasks tab.
2 Click the task.
If only one instance of the task is allowed, the new task is created. If more than one instance
of the task is allowed, go to Step 3.
3 Enter the task name, and click Create.
The new task opens and is added to your task list.
4 Right-click a task tab, and click one of the following options:
 Rename task. Rename the selected task. Only tasks that accept multiple instances can be
renamed.
 Save. Save any changes you made to a previously saved task.
 Save as. Save the task as a private or public task.
 Reload. If you are using a saved private or public task and you change the task layout (for
example, resize or hide report columns), click to revert back to the layout used when the
task was saved.
 Send. Send the selected task to another Security Desk user or workstation.
 Close task. Close the selected task.
 Close all tasks. Close all open tasks.
 Close all other tasks. Close all tasks in your current task list, except the selected task.
 Add to Favorites. Add the selected task to your Favorites list on the Home page.
 Remove from Favorites. Remove the selected task from your Favorites list on the Home
page.
 Save workspace. Save the current task list and workspace. The same tasks and workspace
layout loads automatically the next time you log on to Security Desk with the same
username.
NOTE If you make changes to a task and save the workspace again, the previous
configuration is lost.

Opening tasks
 Sort by name. Sort the tasks in alphabetical order from left to right.
 Start task cycling. Automatically switch between all your current tasks in Security Desk.
By default, a 4 second dwell time is used for each task.
 Stop task cycling. Stop the task cycling rotation.
 Tiles only. Hide the Logical view, the report pane, and the dashboard. Only the canvas
tiles and task list are visible. This option is mainly used for the Monitoring task.
 Full screen. Display the Security Desk window in full screen mode.

Monitoring events
Monitoring events
Using the Monitoring task, you can monitor events, such as access control events from doors and
cardholders, and camera related events in real time.
When monitoring events, you are actually monitoring the entities that trigger those events. The
entities are selected in the Monitoring task. You can customize how the Monitoring task displays
information to suit the purpose of the task. For example, if you are monitoring cameras, you can
hide everything else except for the canvas tiles to make the camera images bigger.
You can create multiple Monitoring tasks to monitor different sets of entities (for example, just
cameras or doors).
To monitor events:
1 Select the events to monitor (see "Selecting events to monitor" on page 15).
2 Select the entities that are linked to the events you want to monitor (see "Selecting entities to
monitor" on page 15).
Once the entities are selected, events that occur in your system appear chronologically in
the event list and in real time. You cannot change the order of the events.
3 To show the event list, from the top of the Monitoring task window, drag the four grey dots
downwards.
4 To choose what event information to display in the event list, do the following:
a Click Show event list.
b Right-click on a column heading, and then click Select columns to choose the
information you want to display in the list.
EXAMPLE In access control systems, you might only want to view cardholder and credential
fields.
5 To clear the event list, in the upper-right corner of the Monitoring task, click Clear event
list ( ).
6 From the Logical view, select the entities you want to view in the canvas by dragging them
into the canvas. You can select multiple entities and drag them onto the canvas all at once.
7 (Optional) To protect the content in the tile from being overwritten by new events, turn off
monitoring for that tile.
TIP This is helpful if you have a tile plugin displayed in the canvas, and do not want it to be
replaced by an event.
a From the canvas, select a tile.
b In the tile widget or tile toolbar, click Stop monitoring ( ).
The tile ID background turns black.

Monitoring events
Selecting events to monitor

Before you can use the Monitoring task, you must select the event types you want to monitor.
To select events to monitor:

1 From the Home page, click Options > Events.
2 In the Event options page, select events to monitor.
3 In the Display in tile column, select the check boxes of the events you want to view in the
Monitoring task canvas. If the check box is cleared, the event only appears in the event list.
4 Click Save, or click Cancel to exit without saving.
After you finish
Select the entities you want to monitor that trigger the event types you selected (see "Selecting
entities to monitor" on page 15).
Selecting entities to monitor

Before you can monitor events in the Monitoring task, you must select the entities that trigger
those events.
Before you begin
Select the event types you want to monitor (see "Selecting events to monitor" on page 15).
Since some event types can be generated by multiple entities, it is not enough to select which
events to monitor. You must also select which entities you want to monitor. For example, an
Access granted or Access denied event can be generated by a cardholder, visitor, or credential. If
you only monitor cardholders, you will not receive all Access granted or Access denied events.
To select entities to monitor:

1 From the Home page, click Tasks > Monitoring.
2 Type a name for the task, and then click Create.
3 At the bottom of the Monitoring task, click Monitored entities ( ), and then click Add
( ).
4 From the Select entity type drop-down list, select the entity type you want to monitor
(Logical view, cardholder, visitor, hotlist, permit, user, asset, and so on).
NOTE Certain entity types, such as areas, doors, elevators, zones, and so on, only appear in
the Logical view list.
5 In the Select entities section, select the entities you want to monitor (specific cameras,
doors, cardholder, Patrollers, fixed AutoVu Sharp cameras, hotlists, and so on).
TIP To select multiple entities, hold CTRL or SHIFT, and then select the entities.

Monitoring events
6 Click Add.
The entities you selected are added to the Monitored entities list.
7 (Optional) In the Tile column of the Monitored entities list, select a tile to display the entity
in.
You can associate more than one entity to the same tile. By default, events are displayed in
any tile (All).
EXAMPLE You can set Tile 1 to display events happening at the Main Entrance door.
Monitoring is turned on in the canvas tiles. You can tell that tile monitoring is turned on
because the tile ID background turns blue. When a new event occurs, Security Desk displays
the event in an empty tile. When there are no more empty tiles, the entity that has been
displayed for the longest time is replaced by the new event.
After you finish
If you are monitoring events, see "Monitoring events" on page 14.

Reporting incidents
Reporting incidents
When you see a situation happen that must be remembered, you can report it as an incident.
Events and entities (cameras, doors, and so on) can be attached to an incident report as
supporting information.
When you report an incident about an event or an alarm, the event is attached to the reported
incident, along with the entities referenced by that event or alarm. You might also be required to
report an incident when you acknowledge an alarm, if the alarm is configured that way. For more
information, see “Alarm – Advanced settings” in the Security Center Administrator Guide.
NOTE Incident reports can searched for at a later time. For more information about reviewing
reported incidents, see “Incidents” in the Security Desk User Guide.
To report an incident:
1 Do one of the following:
 To report an incident that is not related to an entity, click the Home tab, and then click
Tools > Report an incident.
 To report an incident about an event or alarm, right-click an item in the event list or
report pane, and then click Report an incident.
 To report an incident about the entity in the selected tile, right-click inside the tile, and
then click Investigate > Report an incident.
The Report an incident dialog box opens.
2 In the Enter a description here section, describe the incident.
3 Click the More options drop-down list.

4 In the References section, click to add additional entities as references to the report.
All entities associated to what you are viewing are added as references by default.

Reporting incidents
5 In the Send to section, click to send the incident report to another user on the system.
NOTE The user must have an email address.
6 Click Create.
The report is saved in the database for reporting purposes. If you selected a user, the incident
report is sent to them.

Responding to critical events through threat levels

If a dangerous situation arises while you are monitoring your system (for example, a fire or
shooting), you can respond by changing the state of the entire Security Center system or specific
areas, using threat levels.
Before you begin
To set threat levels, you need the Threat level user privilege.
When you set a threat level, you could force a complete lock down, temporarily override lock
schedules, trigger an alarm, deny certain cardholders access to areas, and so on. The exact effects
of setting a threat level depend on how it is configured in Config Tool.
NOTE For information about configuring threat levels, see “Managing threat levels” in the
Security Center Administrator Guide.
To set a threat level:

1 Open the Threat levels dialog box one of the following ways:
 In the notification tray, double-click the Threat levels ( ) icon.
 From the Home page, click Tools > Threat levels.
 To set a threat level on the entire system, select a threat level from the System threat level
drop-down list.
 To set a threat level on a specific area, select a threat level from the drop-down list next to
the desired entity.

For information about searching for areas, see "Searching for entities" on page 10.
3 In the confirmation dialog box that opens, click Apply.

4 Click Close.
The Threat levels icon in the notification tray turns red ( ). If you set a threat level on the
entire system, the background of Security Desk turns the color of the threat level. Additional
effects of setting the threat level depend on how the threat level was configured.
EXAMPLE If a fire broke out and you set the Fire threat level, the fire alarm could be triggered,
all doors could be unlocked, cameras could start recording, and so on.
TIP You can view the current threat level status of areas in the System status task.
Clearing threat levels

Once the critical event is no longer active, you can clear the threat level and return Security
Center to its normal state.
To clear a threat level:

1 From the notification tray, double-click the Threat levels ( ) icon.
2 To reset the security clearance level to None (level 99) for all areas while the threat is still
set, click Reset all.
3 To clear the threat level, do one of the following:

 If a threat level was set on the entire system, from the System threat level drop-down list,
select None.
NOTE You can also clear the threat level on specific areas. This also clears the threat level
on all sub-areas.
 If a threat level was set on a specific area, from the drop-down list next to the entity,
select None.
4 Click Close.
The threat level is cleared.

2
Canvas
You can view and control entities such as videos, tile plugins, road maps, cardholder pictures,
and so on, using the canvas. The canvas only appears in certain tasks, and can be displayed in
Tile mode (individual tiles) or Map mode (road map).
This section includes information you need to know about the canvas, and tasks you can
perform with the canvas in Tile mode.
• "How tiles work" on page 23
• "Viewing entities in the canvas" on page 25
• "Unpacking content in tiles" on page 26
• "Changing tile patterns" on page 27

How tiles work
How tiles work

The canvas contains tiles that can display:
• Entities
• Event information
• Live and playback video
• Video images
• Cardholder and visitor pictures and information
• LPR reads
• Web pages
• Tile plugins.
Content is automatically displayed in tiles when events occur related to the entities you are
monitoring. You can also display entities by dragging them into a tile.
Security Desk tiles have a tile-memory, meaning that Security Desk remembers the last 8 entities
displayed in each tile. Using the commands in tile widget, you can switch to the previous, next,
and initial tile content.
The following figure shows a tile displaying a camera.
A
B
E
F
G
A Tile ID Right-click to show the tile menu commands.

If the tile ID is blue, it means event monitoring is enabled for this tile. If it is
black, monitoring is disabled.
B Tile toolbar Displays the entity name. When an event occurs, information corresponding to
the event is also shown in the tile toolbar.

How tiles work
C Yellow frame Indicates that the tile is selected.

D Video stream The streaming video is displayed inside the tile. Double-click to expand the tile to
the whole canvas.
E On-tile video Use the on-tile video controls while viewing video in a tile. For more information,
controls see "On-tile video controls" on page 43.
F Recording Displays the current video mode, and the recording state of the camera. Green
state indicates that it is not recording. Red indicates that it is recording.
G Timeline Use the timeline to control playback video (see "The video timeline" on page 56).

Viewing entities in the canvas
Viewing entities in the canvas

You can view an entity in a canvas tile from the Logical view or the report pane.
All entities listed in the Logical view and some entities and events in the report pane can be
viewed in a canvas tile, with the exception of the System entity ( ).
Entities can also appear automatically in a tile when an event occurs.
To view an entity in the canvas:

1 From the Logical view or the report pane, do one of the following:
 To view a single entity, double-click or drag the entity into a tile.
 To view multiple entities, hold CTRL or SHIFT, select the entities, and drag them into a
tile.
This method only works if there enough free tiles.
2 Control the entities.
 Right-click inside the tile, and use the tile menu commands.
 Use the widgets in the dashboard (see "Widgets" on page 28).
3 To clear entities from the canvas, do one of the following:
 Right-click on a tile, and then click Clear ( ).
 Select a tile, and then press the BACKSPACE key.
 (Empties all tiles) At the bottom of the canvas, click Clear all ( ).
 (Empties all tiles) Press CTRL+BACKSPACE.

Unpacking content in tiles
Unpacking content in tiles

When an entity is displayed in a tile that has other entities associated with it, you can unpack the
entity and view all the attached entities in separate tiles.
Entities that have two or more entities attached to them are called composite entities (for
example, a door that has multiple cameras associated to it). If you are monitoring the door and
an event occurs at the door, only the first camera is displayed because the multiple cameras are
packed. If you unpack the door, you can view all the cameras in separate tiles.
To unpack content in a tile:

1 Select the tile.
2 Beside the entity name in the tile toolbar, click .
3 From the drop-down menu, click one of the following:
 An attached camera (for example, Main Entrance or Front Hallway).

 Unpack. Click to view all attached entities in separate tiles.
 Start cycling. Click to alternate the attached entities within the tile. The amount of time
each entity is displayed is configured from the Options dialog box.
4 To repack the tiles when you have finished viewing what you need to see, click the blue
arrow ( ) underneath the camera name.
EXAMPLE The Main Entrance door has two cameras associated to it, the Main Entrance camera,
and the Front Hallway camera. An access denied event occurred at the main door, and the event
is displayed in a tile. Since the tile is packed, only the first camera is displayed (Main Entrance),
until you unpack the tile content.

Changing tile patterns
Changing tile patterns

You can change the tile pattern of the canvas.
The default tile pattern in the canvas displays four viewing tiles in a 2x2 formation.
To change the tile pattern:

1 At the bottom of the canvas, click Change tile pattern ( ).
 Select one of the four Equal tile patterns.
 Click More, and select one of the 22 additional tile patterns.
They range between 1 large tile to 64 small tiles.

3
Widgets
Widgets are groups of buttons that are located in the dashboard, which you can use to control
entities in the canvas. The widgets displayed depend on the entity type in the selected tile.
This section describes the widgets available in Security Desk:
• "Alarm widget" on page 29
• "Camera widget" on page 30
• "Door widget" on page 35
• "PTZ widget" on page 33

Alarm widget
Alarm widget
The Alarm widget appears whenever an alarm entity is displayed in
the current tile. It offers you different ways to respond to an alarm.
If an alarm is triggered that requires an acknowledgement condition

(for example, Door closed), the Investigate button appears in the
alarm widget when that alarm entity is displayed in the current tile
and the acknowledgement condition is not yet cleared.
The commands in the alarm widget are available in the Alarm monitoring and Alarm report
tasks. For mor information about working with alarms, see "Monitoring alarms" on page 91.
The alarm widget commands are described below:
Button Command Description
Acknowledge Acknowledge the alarm. The alarm is no longer active, and is removed from the canvas
(Default) and the alarm list.
Acknowledge Set the alarm to the Acknowledged (Alternate) state. The reasons for using the
(Alternate) alternate acknowledgement type are defined by your company. For example, if a false
alarm is triggered, you can acknowledge the alarm this way. This state can be used as a
filter in alarm queries.
Force Forces the alarm to be acknowledged. This is helpful for clearing alarms that are
Acknowledge currently under investigation, and their acknowledgement condition is not cleared. You
can only use this button if you are the administrator.
Investigate Investigates the alarm. This button is only available if an alarm is triggered that has an
acknowledgement condition attached to it, and the condition is not yet cleared. This lets
other users in the system know that you have seen the alarm.
Snooze alarm Puts the alarm to sleep for 30 seconds. When the alarm is snoozing, it is temporarily
removed from the canvas. You can change the default snooze time from the Options
dialog box. For more information, see “Alarm options” in the Security Desk User Guide.
Forward alarm Forwards the alarm to another user in the system. Before forwarding the alarm, you
must select a user, and you can also type a message. For more information, see
"Forwarding alarms to other users manually" on page 95 and "Forwarding alarms to
other users automatically" on page 96.
Show alarm Shows the alarm’s specific procedure (if one is defined by the administrator). Alarm
procedure procedures are simple to create and can take the form of HTML pages or a Web
application developed by the end user.

Camera widget
Camera widget
The Camera widget appears in the dashboard when the currently selected tile is displaying a
camera.
The buttons displayed in the camera widget change depending on the task you are performing,
and the camera type. For example, if the camera displayed in the tile is streaming live video, you
find one set of buttons. If the camera displayed in the tile is playing back a recording, some of
the buttons change. If the camera supports audio, the audio buttons appear, otherwise, they are
grayed out.
Live video / no audio: Playback video with audio:
The camera widget commands are described below:
Jump backward Jump backward. Each click of this button forces the recording playback to jump
backwards by 15 seconds.
Rewind Reverse the playback. Each click of this button adjusts the reverse playback speed from -
1x to -2x, -4x, -6x, -8x, -10x, -20x, -40x, -100x. Clicking the Play button reverts playback
to 1x (normal speed) in the forward direction.
Previous frame Reverse the video by one frame. You can also use the jog wheel to achieve the same result.
This button is only available when the video is paused.
Pause Pause the playback at the current frame.
Play Playback the recording at normal speed (1x).

Camera widget
Next frame Advance the video by one frame. You can also use the jog wheel to achieve the same
result. This button is only available when the video is paused.
Fast forward Fast forward the playback. Each click of this button increases the playback speed from 1x
to 2x, 4x, 6x, 8x, 10x, 20x, 40x, 100x. Clicking the Play button reverts playback to normal
speed (1x).
Jump forward Jump forward. Each click of this button forces the recording playback to jump forward
by 15 seconds.
Switch to live Switch the displayed images from recording playback to live video.
Recording on (Solid red) The camera is currently recording. Click to stop recording.
Recording on (Blinking red) The camera is currently recording, but almost at the end of it’s manual
recording duration (30 seconds remaining). Click to reset timer for another five minutes.
Recording on The camera is currently recording, and is controlled by a system configuration. You
(locked by cannot click to stop recording.
system)
Recording off The camera is not currently recording. Click to start recording.
The recording stops automatically after five minutes. You can also stop the recording
manually.
Recording off The camera is not currently recording, and is controlled by a system configuration. You
(locked by cannot click to start recording.
system)
Slow motion Switch between normal playback speed (1x) and slow motion (1/8x). While in slow
motion mode, click the Forward or Rewind button to change the playback speed from
1/8x to 1/4x, 1/3x, 1/2x, in either direction.
Loop playback Create a looped playback. When you click this button, two timeline markers ( ) appear
at either end of the timeline. Click and drag the markers over the timeline to indicate the
start and end points of the looped playback.
Speed slider Drag the slider to the right to accelerate playback to 2x, 4x, 6x, 8x, 10x, 20x, 40x, 100x.
Drag the slider to the left to force reverse playback at -2x, -4x, -6x, -8x, -10x, -20x, -40x,
-100x speeds.
Speed slider Same as the speed slider above except that reverse playback is limited to: -10x, -20x, -40x,
(limited) -100x. The limited speed slider is used on federated Omnicast 4.x cameras that do not
support all rewind speeds.
Jog wheel Replaces the speed slider when the video is paused. Use it for frame by frame playback
both forwards and backwards.

Camera widget
Go to specific Open a browser window, and jump to a precise date and time in the recording (see
time "Switching between video modes" on page 54).
Digital zoom Apply a 2x digital zoom to the image. Further digital zoom adjustments can then be
performed within the tile (see "Zooming in and out of tile content" on page 44).
Enable visual Enable visual tracking (see "Tracking moving targets" on page 49).
tracking
Export video Open the export video dialog box (see "Exporting video" on page 60).
Save snapshot Save a snapshot. Click this button to capture the current frame as a snapshot (see
"Taking snapshots of video" on page 46).
Previous Jump to the previous bookmark (see "Adding bookmarks to video sequences" on
bookmark page 50).
Add a Add a bookmark (see "Adding bookmarks to video sequences" on page 50).
bookmark
Next bookmark Jump to the next bookmark (see "Adding bookmarks to video sequences" on page 50).
Listen/stop Enable or diable the speaker. This button is only available when the camera supports
listening audio.
Task/stop Enable or disable the microphone. This button is only available when the camera
talking supports audio.
Show stream Display the properties of the selected video stream.

properties
Add digital When digital zoom is applied to the selected tile, click this button to add a digital zoom
zoom presets present for the current camera image position (see "Creating digital zoom presets" on
page 45).

PTZ widget
PTZ widget
The PTZ widget is used to perform pan, tilt, and zoom operations on the displayed camera. It
appears in the dashboard when the selected tile is displaying a PTZ-enabled camera ( ).
IMPORTANT Not all PTZ cameras support all PTZ commands. If one or more of the PTZ buttons
are greyed out, it means that the PTZ camera you are working with does not support that
command.
A
B
C
Button/Letter Command Description
A Direction arrows Pan the PTZ motor using the eight direction arrows.
B Speed slider Adjust the speed of the PTZ motor.
C Zoom in/out Zoom in and out using the plus (+) and minus (-) commands.
D Quick access buttons Move the PTZ motor to one of the eight quick access PTZ presets.
E Presets Select a preset from the drop-down list to move the PTZ motor to that
preset, save a new preset position, or rename the preset.
F Patterns Select a PTZ pattern from the drop-down list to start a PTZ pattern
(series of presets), record a new pattern, or rename the pattern.
G Auxiliaries Select an auxiliary from the drop-down list to start or stop an auxiliary
command, or rename the auxiliary command.
Lock PTZ Lock the PTZ motor so only you have control of the PTZ.

PTZ widget
Button/Letter Command Description
Toggle to advanced Open the PTZ Advanced mode menu.

mode
Focus near Focus the PTZ near.
Focus far Focus the PTZ far.
Open iris Manually control the iris (open iris).
Close iris Manually control the iris (close iris)
PTZ home Go to the PTZ home (default) position.
Flip Flip the PTZ motor 180 degrees.
Menu on/off Open the PTZ menu. This option is only for analog dome cameras.
Specific commands Use commands that are specific to that camera model.
Go to preset Jump to the preset position selected in the drop-down list.
Save preset Save the preset selected in the drop-down list, using the current PTZ
position.
Rename Rename the selected preset, pattern, or auxiliary.
Start pattern Start the PTZ pattern selected in the drop-down list. You can click any
preset of PTZ button to stop the pattern.
Record pattern Record a new PTZ pattern.
Start auxiliary Start a PTZ auxiliary command (for example, a wiper blade).
command
Stop auxiliary Stop the PTZ auxiliary command.

command

Door widget
Door widget
The Door widget appears whenever a door entity is displayed in the
current tile. It allows you to control the access through that door. The
door widget also displays the current door status (closed or opened),
and the lock status (locked or unlocked).
The door widget commands are described below:
Unlock Temporarily unlock the door for 5 seconds (or whatever the duration of the
Standard grant time is, as configured by the system administrator).
Override unlock Unlock the door indefinitely for maintenance purposes, or keep the door locked/
schedules unlocked for a predetermined period of time.
Cancel Cancel the unlock schedule override.
Forgive antipassback Forgive antipassback violation. This button is only available when there is an
violation antipassback violation.

4
Reports
Reports are specific queries you can run in many Security Desk tasks, to investigate the activities
and events that happen in your system. Using reports, you can also see the current configuration
and status of your system.
This section explains the basics of using reports:
• "Reporting task workspace overview" on page 37
• "Generating reports" on page 39

Reporting task workspace overview

Reporting tasks are where you generate customized queries on the entities, activities, and events
in your Security Center system for investigation or maintenance purposes. Most investigation
and maintenance tasks are reporting tasks.
This section takes you on a tour of the reporting task layout, and describes the common
elements of most reporting tasks. The Alarm report task was used as an example. You can open
the Alarm report task by typing its name in the Search box on the Home page.
C
D
E
H
I
A Number of Displays the number of returned results. A warning is issued when your query
results returns too many rows. If this happens, adjust your query filters to reduce the
number of results.
B Query filters Use the filters in the query tab to set up your query. Click on a filter heading to
turn it on ( ) or off. Invalid filters display as Warning or Error. Hover your
mouse over the filter to view the reason it is invalid.
C Export/print Click to export or print your report once it is generated (see "Exporting reports"
report on page 40 and "Printing reports" on page 40).
D Select Right-click a column heading to select which columns to display.

columns

E Contextual Contextual commands appear under the report pane, depending on the type of
commands report you are using.
F Report pane View the results of your report. Drag an item from the list to a tile in the canvas,
or right-click an item in the list to view more options associated with that item, if
applicable (such as launching another report related that report result).
G Tile Commands related to canvas tiles.
commands
H Generate Click to run the report. This button is disabled if you have not selected any query
report filters, or when you have invalid filters. While the query is running, this button
changes to Cancel. Click on Cancel to interrupt the query.
I Query tab Use the Query tab to customize and filter your searches. The Query tab only
appears in reporting tasks.
NOTE Click the Logical view tab to show the Logical view, and select entities to
view in the canvas.

Generating reports
Generating reports
To generate a report for any task, you must set the query filters, and then run the query. After
you generate the report, you can work with your results.
The maximum number of report results you can receive in Security Desk is 10, 000. By default
the maximum number of results is 2000.
To generate a report:
1 Open an existing reporting task, or create a new one (see "Opening tasks" on page 12).
2 In the Query tab, use the filters to create a customized search.
3 Set a time range for the report.
4 Click Generate report.
If there are invalid filters, the Generate report button is unavailable.
The query results are displayed in the report pane. You can sort the results by column.
5 Analyze the query results.
The query results depend on the type of reporting task. When video sequences or LPR data
are attached to the query results, you can view them in the canvas by dragging a report item
to a tile.
6 Work with the query results.
Depending on the items in the query results, you can print the report, save the report as an
Excel or PDF document, export the video sequences, and so on (see "Exporting reports" on
page 40 and "Printing reports" on page 40).
7 Save the report as a template.
Save the reporting task (query filters and report layout) as a report template that can be used
with the Email a report action.

Generating reports
Exporting reports
In every reporting task, you can export your report once it is generated.
To export a report:
1 At the top of the report pane, click Export report ( ).
2 In the Save report as dialog box, select the file format.
You must select CSV, Excel, or PDF file format. If you choose CSV format, you must also
specify where the attached files, such as cardholder pictures or license plate images, are to be
saved.
3 Select the destination file name.
4 Click Save.
Printing reports
In every reporting task, you can print your report once it is generated.
To print a report:
1 At the top of the report pane, click Print report ( ).
The Report preview dialog box appears.
2 In the preview window, click Print ( ), and select a printer.
You can also export the report as a Microsoft Excel, Word, or Adobe PDF document.

5
Monitoring cameras
If your system has many cameras, you won't be able to view them all at once. But as a security
operator, if someone reports that a car is being stolen from the parking lot, you'll need to quickly
find the parking lot camera, and flag the recording. If the camera is a PTZ camera, you may want
to control its motor and move it around.
In this section, you'll learn how to find and display a camera and how to control cameras in the
canvas. You'll also learn how to find and view video recordings.
• "Viewing cameras in tiles" on page 42
• "On-tile video controls" on page 43
• "Zooming in and out of tile content" on page 44
• "Creating digital zoom presets" on page 45
• "Taking snapshots of video" on page 46
• "Visual tracking" on page 48
• "Adding bookmarks to video sequences" on page 50
• "Live and playback video modes" on page 52
• "Switching between video modes" on page 54
• "The video timeline" on page 56
• "Viewing video archives" on page 57
• "Video export formats" on page 59
• "Exporting video" on page 60
• "The Export video dialog box" on page 64

Viewing cameras in tiles
Viewing cameras in tiles

From any video-related task in Security Desk, you can view cameras in the canvas.
To view a camera in a tile:

• Find a camera in the Logical view, and then double-click or drag it into a tile.
• Drag a camera from the report pane into a tile.

On-tile video controls
On-tile video controls

When viewing a camera in the canvas, a set of on-tile video controls appear on top of the video
image when your mouse pointer hovers over the tile.
For more information about these controls, see "Camera widget" on page 30.
The following figures show the on-tile video controls when viewing live and playback video.
Live video: Playback video:
A B C D E A B C D E
A Show/hide thumbnail images

B Rewind (reverse playback)
C Pause
D Forward
E • Live video: Recording state
• Playback video: Switch to live video

Zooming in and out of tile content
Zooming in and out of tile content

When viewing video from fixed cameras or PTZ cameras, you can zoom in and out of tile
content in a few different ways.
If the default video stream of the camera is set to Automatic, the video stream switches to high
resolution when you apply digital zoom.
NOTE If you set the Camera tile video option in the Options dialog box to Fill the tile, the full
camera image is temporarily displayed while you are using digital zoom instead of being
cropped.
To zoom in and out of tile content:

1 Select a tile that is displaying video.
 Click and drag your mouse to create your desired zooming area (blue rectangle), and
then release the mouse button. This method does not work with PTZ cameras.
 Scroll your mouse wheel forwards to zoom in and backwards to zoom out. With PTZ
cameras, this method only works once you apply the digital zoom.
 In the camera widget, click Toggle digital zoom ( ).
 Right-click in the tile and click Camera > Digital zoom ( ).
A zoom thumbnail of the full image appears in the upper-left corner of the tile.
3 Hover your mouse pointer over the tile.
A zoom slider appears on the right side of the tile and appears on the bottom corner of
the thumbnail.
4 In the zoom thumbnail, you can do the following:
 Click and drag the red box to reposition the zoom area.
 Click and drag the mouse cursor on the zoomed-in image to reposition the zoom area.
 Use the slider to increase and decrease the zoom level.
5 To stop zooming, click Toggle digital zoom ( ) in the camera widget.

Creating digital zoom presets
Creating digital zoom presets
When you zoom into a camera image in a tile, you can create digital zoom presets for areas of
interest in the image.
• You can create as many presets as you want.
• Digital zoom presets are not supported on PTZ cameras.
To create a digital zoom preset:
1 Select a tile that is displaying video, and zoom to the position you want to create a preset for
(see "Zooming in and out of tile content" on page 44).
2 In the camera widget, click Add ( ).
3 In the Create preset dialog box, type a name for the digital zoom preset and then click
Create.
A preset is created for the current camera image position. You can now zoom to the preset
by selecting it from the Digital zoom presets drop-down list in the camera widget.
4 In the Digital zoom presets section, click Preset ( ) for the following additional preset
options:
 Reload. If you have moved the camera image, return to the preset position.
 Save. Save the preset at the current image position.
 Rename. Rename the selected preset.
 Remove. Delete the preset.
 Create. Create a new digital zoom preset.

Taking snapshots of video

Whether you are viewing live or playback video in a tile, you can save the current video frame as
an image file, and then organize and share all files using the Snapshots tool.
Before you begin
• Set your snapshot options (see "Customizing snapshot options" on page 47).
• To send snapshots through e-mail, make sure that the mail server is configured on your
main server.
All snapshots are saved with the following naming convention: CameraName (Date Time).png.
By default, snapshots are saved in *.png format in the following location:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Genetec Inc.\Security Desk\version#\Snapshots.
To take a snapshot of video in a tile:

1 Select the tile that is displaying the video image you want to save as a snapshot.
 In the camera widget on the dashboard, click Save a snapshot ( ).
 Right-click in the tile, and click Camera > Save a snapshot ( ).
A thumbnail preview is displayed in the upper-right corner of your Security Desk window
for two seconds.
3 To open the Snapshots tool, from the Home page, click Tools > Snapshots.
Thumbnails of all snapshots are displayed in the Snapshots window.
4 Select the snapshots in one of the following ways:
 Click on a thumbnail, or hold SHIFT or CTRL and select multiple snapshots.
 In the Search box, type the name of the snapshot.
 To your snapshots using Windows Explorer, click or double-click on a thumbnail.
If thumbnails appear too small, use the zoom slider to increase their size.
5 With the Snapshots tool, you can do the following:
 To delete the selected snapshots, click Delete ( ).
IMPORTANT If you delete the snapshots, the image files are no longer available.
 To rename the selected snapshot, click Rename ( ). Snapshots can only be renamed
one at a time.
 To print the selected snapshots, Click Print ( ).
 To send the selected snapshots via e-mail, click Email ( ).

Customizing snapshot options

Before taking snapshots of video, you can choose the file format and folder location of your saved
snapshots.
The Write snapshot info option is saved as part of your Security Center user profile. The other
snapshot settings are saved locally for your Windows user profile.
To customize snapshot options:

1 From the Home page, click Options > Video.
2 In the Video options page, set the following:
 Write snapshot info (On/Off). The date, time, and camera name is stamped on the
snapshot image.
 File format. Choice of supported file formats: .bmp, .jpg, .png, .gif. The default format is
*.png.
 Folder. The windows folder path where snapshots are saved.
The default path (in Windows 7) is:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Genetec Inc.\Security Desk\version#\Snapshots.
3 Click Save.

Visual tracking
Visual tracking
You can use the visual tracking feature to follow an individual or object that is moving across
different cameras.
Visual tracking works with both live and playback video. When visual tracking is turned on,
semi-transparent overlays (colored shapes drawn over the video) appear in the tile where the
camera is displayed. Each overlay corresponds to one or more adjacent cameras that you can
jump to.
In addition, when more than one camera is associated to a given overlay, a list of camera names
is shown instead of the video preview. You must pick a camera name to switch to that camera.
The video stream displayed in the tile switches to the next camera, as determined by the visual
tracking configuration.
A Semi-transparent overlays on the video image signify a visual tracking

link to another camera.
B Click on colored overlay to switch to the next camera.
C Hovering your mouse pointer over the overlay produces a preview of the
next camera.

Visual tracking
Tracking moving targets

You can follow an individual or object that is moving across different cameras from the same
canvas tile, using the visual tracking feature.
Before you begin
Make sure that visual tracking is supported on all cameras using this feature and that it is
configured in Config Tool. To learn about how to configure this feature, see “Configure visual
tracking” in the Security Center Administrator Guide.
Visual tracking works with both live and playback video (see "Visual tracking" on page 48 for
details).
To track a moving target:

1 Select a tile displaying video.
2 To enable visual tracking for that tile, do one of the following:
 In the camera widget in the dashboard, click Enable visual tracking ( ).
 Right-click in the tile, and click Camera > Enable visual tracking ( ).
 On your keyboard, press ALT+F.
3 As the subject moves out of the camera’s field of view, click the zone (colored overlay)
representing a link to the next camera.
NOTE Hovering your mouse pointer over the zone gives you a preview of the image from the
next camera.

Adding bookmarks to video sequences

If you see something worth noting, you can add a bookmark to the video you are viewing.
A bookmark is a short text used to mark a specific spot in a recorded video sequence. If a camera
is not currently recording, adding a bookmark forces it to begin recording. You can use the
bookmarks you create to search for that video sequence at a later time.
To add a bookmark to a video sequence:

1 In the camera widget, click Add bookmark ( ).
2 (Optional) In the Add bookmark dialog box, type a short text in the Message field.
The timestamp of the bookmark is fixed at the Time indicated in the dialog box.
3 (Optional) Protect the video sequence containing the bookmark against routine archive
cleanup as follows:
a Select the Protect video from deletion option.
b In the Protect archives dialog box, set the start time and end time of the video sequence
to protect, and the duration.
NOTE By default, the protected sequence starts one minute before your bookmark and
ends 4 minutes after. The default duration of the protection is 5 days.
c Click Protect.
NOTE The Protect video from deletion option is only available if the bookmark is added to
a local camera (non federated).
4 Click OK to add the bookmark, or click Cancel to exit without adding a bookmark.
NOTE Adding a blank message does not cancel this action.
Viewing bookmarked videos

To view a sequence of video that was previously bookmarked, you can generate a report of the
all the stored bookmarks in the Bookmarks task.
To view bookmarked video:

1 From the Home page, open the Bookmarks task.
 If you know which camera you added the bookmark to, select the camera from the
Camera query filter.
 If you previously added a bookmark and you must edit or remove it, type the message
you wrote when you added the bookmark, in the Message query filter.
 If you want all of the bookmarks that were added by other users over a specific period of
time, set the Time range query filter.


The bookmarks appear in the report pane. If your query does not generate a result, a
warning message appears.
4 To view the video associated with a bookmark, drag the bookmark from the report pane to
a tile in the canvas.

Live and playback video modes

When viewing a camera in the canvas, you can alternate between Live and Playback video modes
from the timeline or from the camera widget in the dashboard.
The camera widget allows you to pause and rewind the video, or instantly replay the video if you
missed something important. When you finish watching the replay, you can switch back to live
video. When a camera is displayed, the current video mode is shown in the lower-right corner
of the tile.
When you are viewing live video, the camera’s current recording state is indicated:
• Red ( ) - The camera is currently recording.
• Green ( ) - The camera is currently not recording.
When you are viewing playback video, the date and time stamp of the recording is indicated.The
date/time stamp can be displayed in absolute mode or relative mode. Click the date/time stamp
to toggle between the two display modes.
• Date/Time stamp overlay in relative mode.
• Date/Time stamp overlay in absolute mode.
How the video mode is determined

If you decide to view another camera in the canvas, by default the video mode is inherited from
the currently selected tile. For example, if the selected tile is displaying playback video, then
when you add a camera into a new tile, it also displays playback video.
If the currently selected tile is not displaying a camera, the inherited video mode depends on the
task type. The default video mode for Monitoring tasks is live video. The default video mode for
investigation tasks is playback video.

Video playback states

When you are viewing playback video in a state other than normal playback (1x), a blue overlay
appears on the lower-left corner of the image. In the following figure, the playback video is
reversing at 10 times (10x) the normal speed.
Possible playback states
Pause
Slow motion playback
Fast forward playback (2x, 4x,

6x, 8x, 10x, 20x, 40x, or 100x)
Reverse playback (-2x, -4x, -6x,

-8x, -10x, -20x, -40x, or -100x)

Switching between video modes

You can alternate between Live and Playback video modes from the timeline or from the camera
widget in the dashboard.
IMPORTANT If the camera is not currently recording (indicated with the green overlay), the
Archiver might not be available. However, even if the camera is not recording on the Archiver,
the orange bar at the top of the timeline indicates the video that has been buffered locally on your
hard drive. Locally buffered video is available for playback.
For more information about viewing live and playback video, see "Live and playback video
modes" on page 52.
To switch video modes:

1 Switch to Playback video mode one of the following ways:
 On the timeline, click and drag the playback cursor to the left.
TIP The timeline scale can be adjusted by scrolling your mouse wheel while hovering your
mouse pointer over it.
 To begin reverse playback, click Rewind ( ) in the camera widget.

Successive clicks adjust the playback speed from -1x to -100x.
 To jump backwards in 15-second increments, click Jump backward ( ) in the camera
widget.
The seek value is 15 seconds by default.
 To jump to a specific time in the video playback, do the following:
i In the camera widget, click Go to specific time ( ).
ii In the Video archives dialog box, use the calendar to navigate through the months
and years.
The dates that video archives are available on are highlighted in green.
iii Select a date.

The hours in the day that video archives are available on are shown on the right in a
timeline and are indicated by a white background.
iv (Optional) Switch between Timeline and Thumbnails view.

v Click a position in the timeline to jump to that hour in the video recording.
2 Switch to Live video mode one of the following ways:
 In the on-tile video controls, click Camera > Switch to live ( ).
 In the camera widget, click Switch to live ( ).

The video timeline
The video timeline

The timeline appears below the video image in canvas tiles.
With the video timeline you can do the following:
• Move the timeline window to the left or to the right by clicking on the timeline itself and
dragging it either left or right.
• Shrink or widen the timeline by hovering your mouse pointer over the timeline and turning
your mouse wheel.
A B C D E F G H I
A White background indicates that a recording is present.
B Black background indicates that no recording was made at that time.
C Green motion-bars. The bigger the bar, the more motion is present.
D Orange ribbon icon indicates the presence of a bookmark. Mousing over the bookmark displays
the associated text and time stamp.
E Orange bar at the top of the timeline indicates video that has been cached (buffered) on your
workstation’s hard drive.
F Playback cursor. Drag cursor to playback a different point on the timeline.
G Playback timestamp. Click to toggle between relative and absolute time.
H Timeline duration/scale. Hover your mouse pointer and scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in or
out on the scale of the timeline.
I Purple background indicates the future.

Viewing video archives

You can find and view available video archives on your system by camera and time range, using
the Archives report.
In the Archives report, you can search for archived video sequences within a given time range
or for a specific camera on a given date.
If a Mobile app streamed live video to a virtual Security Center camera that was recorded by an
Archiver, you can view the playback video from that mobile stream by selecting the Archiver and
the time range. For more information about streaming video to Security Center from Mobile
apps, see the Security Center Mobile User Guide.
To view a video archive:

1 From the Home page, open the Archives task.
2 In the Query tab, do one of the following:
 To search for archives by date:
i Click the All available tab, and then select a camera that you want to investigate.
All days that include video archives for the selected camera are listed by month and
day.
ii To show the time range for each day that video archives are found on, click .
iii Select a date.
 To search for archives by time range, do one of the following:
iv In the Cameras section, select a camera you want to investigate.
v Click the Time range tab, and set the time range.


The related video recordings are listed in the report pane, one of the following ways:
 If you searched by date, the hours in the selected day that video is available on are listed.
 If you searched by time range, only cameras with video archives are listed. The length of
the listed video sequences corresponds to the specified time range.
The Preview column shows where video is available within the sequence for each camera.
4 To view the video sequence in a tile, double-click or drag an item from the report pane to
the canvas.
The selected sequence immediately starts playing. For information about video playback
states, see "Video playback states" on page 53.
5 To control the video recording, use the camera widget (see "Camera widget" on page 30).
6 To export an important video archive, select the item in the report pane, and then click
Export ( ). For more information, see "Exporting video" on page 60.
EXAMPLE If an important security event occurs, you can search through the video archives to
review the video recording, and then export it to share with colleagues or law enforcement.

Video export formats
Video export formats

Video export formats determine the media player that is used to view the exported video files.
You can export video in Genetec’s native video data format (G64) or in the Advanced Systems
Format (ASF).
G64 export format

The G64 export format is the native video format used by Security Center. This format contains
bookmarks, motion indicators, metadata overlays, and audio and date-time information. All
event markers are included, except the metadata markers. G64 also supports watermarking,
variable frame rate, and variable image resolution. When a video file’s authenticity is protected
through proper watermarking, it is eligible in court as proof of evidence.
NOTE You need Genetec Security Desk or the Portable Archive Player to view G64 video files.
The Portable Archive Player is a standalone media player that you can export with your video
file. This media player is useful if you need to share your exported G64 video files with someone
who does not have the Security Center software. To learn more about the Portable Archive
Player, see the Portable Archive Player User Guide.
ASF export format

Advanced Systems Format (ASF) is a Microsoft proprietary data format. This format supports
audio information and variable frame rate, but not digital signatures (watermarking). Date and
time information is also not supported, but it can be overlaid on top of the video images during
the conversion phase of the exporting process.
If the video sequence that you want to export uses multiple image resolutions (CIF, 2CIF, 4CIF,
and so on), the exported video sequence follows the image resolution of the first frame rate in
the source video sequence. In addition, metadata that is associated with the video sequence is
not exported. You can use this format if you need to make a copy of a video recording to share
with law enforcement, your legal department, or other members of your security team. Also,
G64 files can be converted to ASF format using the Video file player task (see “Converting video
files to ASF format” in the Security Desk User Guide).
NOTE You need Windows Media Player to view ASF video files.

Exporting video
Exporting video
To create stand-alone video files that can be played without being connected to the Security
Center Directory, you can export video from any task in Security Desk that is displaying a
playback video sequence in the canvas.
Before you begin
Make sure that you have the Export video user privilege.
Video export formats determine the media player that is used to view the exported video files.
You can export video in Genetec’s native video data format (G64) or in the Advanced Systems
Format (ASF). You need Genetec Security Desk or the Portable Archive Player to view G64 video
files, whereas you need Windows Media Player to view ASF video files. For more information
about video formats, see "Video export formats" on page 59.
To export video:
1 Display playback video in the canvas.
2 Click Export ( ) from one of the following areas in the task workspace:
 Select an item in the report pane, and then at the bottom of the report pane, click Export
( ).
 Right-click inside a tile, and then click Camera > Export video from selected tile.
 In the camera widget, click the Export ( ).
Clicking this button gives you the option of exporting video from the selected tile or
from all tiles.
3 In the Export settings dialog box, specify the export folder one of the following ways:
 Enter the folder path.
 Click , select a folder, and then click OK.
4 From the Export formats drop-down list, select an export format:
 ASF (Advanced Systems Format). The Advanced Systems Format is a Microsoft
proprietary data format.
 G64. This is the native video data format that is used by Security Center.
a For ASF format, do the following:
 From the Use following profile drop-down list, select the compression profile.
The bit rate (shown in brackets) indicates the quality of the exported video. The higher
the bit rate, the better the quality and the larger the file size. The Description under the
profile provides useful information to guide your choice.
 Select Export audio to include audio information in the ASF files.

Exporting video
 Select Display date and time on video to have the date and time overlaid on the
exported video image.
 Select Delete intermediary g64 file(s) if you do not need to keep the G64 files after the
conversion to ASF is completed.
b For G64 format, do the following:
 Select Transfer watermarks with data if you want to tamper-proof the exported video
files.
If not all of the video sequences that you select support watermarking, a warning
message is displayed.
 Select Copy the Portable Archiver Player to the export folder if you want the
Portable Archive Player to be exported along with the video sequence. This ensures
that when you to send the video file to a third party, they can view the video.
 Select Create an autorun file if you want the Portable Archive Player to open
automatically if the exported video files are burned to a CD or DVD and inserted into
another computer.
 Select Encrypt files to set a password on the exported video files. Specify the
password in the Encryption key field.
Selecting this option converts the exported video files into GEK format, which you
must decrypt before reviewing (see “Decrypting exported video files” in the Security
Desk User Guide).
 Select Delete intermediary g64 file(s) if you do not want to keep the G64 files along
with the encrypted GEK files after the conversion is complete.
5 In the Source column, select the source of each video recording.
 Select All sources to ensure that you export the most complete segment of video. The
exported video file might consist of recorded video from multiple archiving sources.
 If you want to export a video sequence with a specific resolution, frame rate, or a specific
video stream, select the Archiver role that is configured to record with those settings.
The video segment might not be complete if the Archiver you select was not recording
the whole time.
NOTE You cannot specify the archiving source for federated cameras.
6 In the Start and End columns, set the export time range for the selected video sequences.
TIP You can specify a different time range for each video sequence.
7 Click Export.
The Export window opens showing the export operation progress and the Export icon
( ) appears in the notification tray. For more information about the Export window, see
"The Export video dialog box" on page 64.
When the video export is completed, the Export icon ( ) appears in the notification tray.
IMPORTANT If you close the Export window, you cannot export more video files until the
current operation is complete.

Exporting video
8 If you previously closed the Export dialog box, proceed as follows:

a Double-click Export ( ) in the notification tray.
b In the Export dialog box, select the completed or cancelled exported video files.
c Click Clear selected items and then click Close.
When the export is complete or cancelled, the video files are created in subfolders that have the
camera name and are located in the export folder that you specified. If you exported the video
files in G64 format and select the Copy a stand-alone Archiver Player to the export folder
option, the Portable Archiver Player is also copied to the specified export folder.
After you finish
You can play your exported video files on your local computer in the following ways:
• To play exported ASF or G64 video files in Security Desk, use the Video file player task (see
“Viewing exported G64 video files” in the Security Desk User Guide).
• To play exported G64 files in the Portable Archive Player, navigate to the export folder you
created and then double-click the Portable Archive Player.exe.
NOTE This method only works if you select the Copy a stand-alone Archiver Player to the
export folder option when exporting in G64 format.
To copy the exported video files so that you can save and play them on another computer, see
"Copying exported video files" on page 63.

Exporting video
Copying exported video files

To share the exported video files, you can copy the video files to a CD or DVD after the video
files have been successfully exported.
To play G64 video files on another computer, you must select the Copy the Portable Archiver
Player to the export folder option when exporting in G64 format. For information about
exporting video files, see "Exporting video" on page 60.
To copy an exported video file:

1 Navigate to the export folder that you created.
2 Depending on the chosen file format, proceed as follows:
 For ASF video files, copy the exported video files onto a CD or DVD.
 For G64 video files, copy the exported video files, the Portable Archive Player.exe, and the
Autorun.exe onto a CD or DVD. The Autorun.exe causes the Portable Archive Player to
run automatically when the CD or DVD is inserted into another computer. This file is
only available if you select the Create an autorun file option when exporting in G64
format.

The Export video dialog box

The Export video dialog box opens when you are exporting video from any task in Security Desk
that is displaying a playback video sequence in the canvas.
The figure that follows shows the Export video dialog box during the exporting video process.
For information about exporting video, see "Exporting video" on page 60.
The elements
The following elements are found in the dialog box:
• Global Status. The global export status is indicated in the upper-left corner of the dialog
box, along with the animated icon.
• List of video sequences. Each sequence is identified by the Camera, the export status (see
"The export status messages" on page 65), the export progress, the sequence length, the
sequence start and end times, and the source of the video sequence. Each sequence
corresponds to a single video file.
• Elapsed time. The total elapsed time since the export operation started.
• File name. Name of the file being exported.
• Error. The error message explaining why the selected export failed or was aborted (partial
export).
• Cancel selections. Interrupt the export before it completes. If the operation already started,
the partial sequences that were already exported are saved as video files.

• Cancel all remaining. Interrupt the export of all remaining video files. The sequences that
were already exported (marked as Successful) are saved as video files.
The export status messages

The following are possible export statuses:
• Queued. The export operation is queued, but has not started.
• Converting. If you chose to export in ASF format, this step comes before the Exporting
step. The progress is indicated by the percentage of work completed.
• Exporting. The export is in progress (creation of the G64 file). The progress is indicated by
the number of bytes transferred.
• No video. There is no video from that camera for the selected time period.
• Partial export. The export has to be aborted due to some unexpected problem. Click on the
sequence to see a description of the problem in the Status field found at the bottom of the
dialog box. When this happens, the remainder of the video is exported to a separate video
file.
• Archive server not running. The Archiver that manages the selected video sequence is not
running.
• Cancelled. The export operation has been cancelled by the user.
• Failed. The export operation failed. Click the sequence to see why the export failed in the
Error field found at the bottom of the dialog box.
• Successful. The complete video sequence has been exported successfully.

6
Monitoring access control entities
In this section, you will learn how to create cardholders. You'll also learn how to find access
control door events that occurred in your system, and how to view the configuration of
cardholders and credentials.
• "How access events are displayed in tiles" on page 67
• "Searching for cardholders, visitors, and credentials" on page 68
• "Creating cardholders" on page 70
• "Checking in new visitors" on page 74
• "Checking out visitors" on page 77
• "Assigning credentials to cardholders and visitors" on page 78
• "Assigning temporary cards to cardholders and visitors" on page 82
• "Viewing properties of cardholder group members" on page 84
• "Viewing credential properties of cardholders" on page 85
• "Investigating visitor events" on page 86
• "Allowing access through doors" on page 88
• "Investigating door events" on page 90

How access events are displayed in tiles
How access events are displayed in tiles

An access event (Access granted or Access denied) is any event involving an access point. When
an access event occurs on an entity you are monitoring, information about the event is displayed
in a tile in the Monitoring task.
The following figure is an example of an Access denied event that has occurred. The event
description is displayed at the top of the tile as a colored overlay. Additional information, such
as the event timestamp and the cardholder name is displayed when you place the cursor over
the colored overlay. Also, you can expand the cardholder picture by placing the cursor over the
picture. This might be helpful when comparing the cardholder picture to the face you see in the
video.

Searching for cardholders, visitors, and credentials

If you have a large access control system and cannot find a cardholder, visitor, or credential, you
can search for them by name, or use the advanced search by applying a combination of filters,
such as description, partition, status, and so on.
To search for a cardholder, visitor, or credential:

1 From the Home page, open one of the following tasks:
 For cardholders, click Cardholder management.
 For visitors, click Visitor management.
 For credentials, click Credential management.
2 To search by an entity name, type the name in the Search ( ) box.
All entities with names that match the text you entered are listed.
3 To search for the entity using the advanced search:
a In the left pane, click Advanced search.
b Set up one or more query filters.
A filter is automatically turned off when the heading is closed.
NOTE The Custom fields filter is only available if custom fields are created for that entity.
c Click Search.
The cardholders, visitors, or credentials that match your search criteria are displayed on screen,
depending on the task you are in.
EXAMPLE Let's assume that the cardholder or visitor you are searching for has a card that was
activated less than a week ago. In the Activation date filter, set the Time range mode option to
Relative, and enter 7 days in the During the last box.
Searching for cardholders and visitors using their credential

If you have an unidentifiable card, you can find the cardholder or visitor it belongs to by
presenting the card at a USB reader or door.
Before you begin
Make sure that you have a USB reader connected to your computer, or that there is a door you
can present the card at.
To search for a cardholder or visitor by using their credential:

1 From the Home page, open one of the following tasks:
 For cardholders, click Cardholder management.
 For visitors, click Visitor management.
2 At the top of the task window, click .

3 From the drop-down list in the search window, select one of the following:
 USB reader. A USB reader that is connected to your computer.
 Door. An access point close by.
4 Present the card to the device selected in the previous step.
If the card is assigned to a cardholder or visitor, the search dialog box closes and the
corresponding person is selected in the cardholder or visitor list. If the card is not assigned to a
cardholder or visitor, the reason that the card is rejected is displayed in the search dialog box.
You can present another card, or click Cancel to stop the operation.
EXAMPLE If you found a card in the office or parking lot and it has no name or picture on it,
you can identify who it belongs to.

Creating cardholders
To add new employees who must enter and exit secured areas using access cards, and to track
their activities, you can create cardholders through the Cardholder management task.
Before you begin
• To add custom information to cardholders, create custom fields in Config Tool. For more
information, see “Defining custom fields and data types” in the Security Center
Administrator Guide.
• If you require different groups of cardholder with different access rights, create cardholder
groups in Config Tool. For more information, see “Create a cardholder group” in the
To create a cardholder:
1 From the Home page, open the Cardholder management task.
2 Click Create new cardholder ( ).
3 At the top of the dialog box, enter the cardholder’s first name, last name, and e-mail address.
NOTE If the software language (chosen at installation) is latin-based, the Name field is
configured as the first name followed by the last name. This order is reversed if you are using
an Asian language such as Japanese or Chinese.
4 To assign a picture to the cardholder, click the silhouette and select one of the following
options:
 Load from file. Select a picture from disk. All standard image formats are supported.
 Load from webcam. Take a snapshot with your webcam. This option appears only if you
have a webcam attached to your workstation.
 Load from camera. Take a snapshot from a camera managed by Security Center.
 Load from clipboard. Load the picture copied to the clipboard. This option appears only
if you used the Windows copy command to save a picture onto your clipboard.
NOTE If you select Load from camera, a separate capture dialog box appears. Simply select
the video source and click Take snapshot ( ).
5 To edit the picture, click it to open the Image editor and use the editing options at the top of
the editor’s dialog box.
6 In the Status section, set the following:
 Status. Set the cardholder status to Active.
If the cardholder status is inactive, then the credentials assigned to the cardholder do not
work, and the cardholder does not have access to any area.
 Activation. Displays the current date.
 Expiration. Set the cardholder to expire Never, on a specific date, or after a specified
number of days after the first use.

7 (Optional) If custom fields are defined for cardholders, such as department, phone
numbers, and so on, enter the additional cardholder information.
8 To assign the cardholder to a cardholder group, click Add ( ) in the Security section, and
select a cardholder group from the list.
Cardholder groups define the access rules that apply to the cardholder. To learn more about
cardholder groups, see the Security Center Administrator Guide.
NOTE A cardholder can belong to more than one cardholder group.
9 In the Security section, select the cardholder Security clearance level.
A cardholder’s security clearance level determines their access to areas when a threat level is
set in Security Center. Level 0 is the highest clearance level, with the most privileges.
 Inherited from parent cardholder groups. The cardholder’s security clearance level is
inherited from the parent cardholder groups. If the cardholder is part of multiple
cardholder groups, then they inherit the highest security clearance level from the parent
cardholder groups.
 Specific. Set a security clearance level for the cardholder.
10 (Optional) In the Advanced section, configure the following cardholder properties:
a If the cardholder has been assigned a credential, grant access privileges to the cardholder.
 Use extended grant time. Grants the cardholder more time to pass through doors
where the Extended grant time parameter is configured for a door. Use this option for
cardholders with reduced mobility.
 Bypass antipassback rules. Exempts the cardholder from all antipassback restrictions.
To learn more about the extended grant time and antipassback rules, see “Configuring
doors” and “Configuring secured areas” in the Security Center Administrator Guide.
b In the Entity name field, type a name for the cardholder entity, if you do not want to use
the cardholder’s name.
By default, the Entity name uses the First name and Last name fields.
c In the Description field, type a description for the cardholder.
d Assign the cardholder to a partition.
Partitions determine which users have access to the cardholder’s profile. To learn more
about partitions, see the Security Center Administrator Guide.
NOTE A cardholder can belong to up to three partitions.
11 Click Save.
After you finish
Assign access rules to the cardholder (see "Assigning access rules to cardholders" on page 72).

Assigning access rules to cardholders

To grant or deny a cardholder access to areas, doors, and elevators, you must assign access rules
to them.
Before you begin
Access rules must be created in Config Tool. For more information, see “Configuring access
rules” in the Security Center Administrator Guide.
You can assign access rules while you are creating new cardholders, or after they are created. In
this procedure, it is assumed you have already created a cardholder.
Best practice: Assign access rules to cardholder groups, rather than to individual cardholders.
Assign access rules to individual cardholders only as a temporary measure. When used too
often, the access control system can quickly become unmanageable.
To assign access rules to the cardholder:

1 In the Cardholder management task, select a cardholder, and then click Modify ( ).
2 Click the Access rules ( ) tab > Add ( ).
A dialog box that lists all access rules in the system opens.
3 Select the rule you want to add, and click Add.
4 Select the access rule from the list.
The schedule that applies to the access rule is shown in a grid on the right. Green areas
indicate periods when access is granted by the rule. Red areas indicate periods when access

is denied by the rule. White areas are times not specified by the schedule; therefore, access is
denied.
5 To view the access rule schedule in minutes, click .

Use the arrow buttons to scroll left or right.
6 To assign another access rule to the cardholder, click .
7 To remove an access rule directly assigned to the cardholder, click .
You cannot remove the All open rule, or the Lockdown rule.
8 Click Save.
After you finish
Assign a credential to the cardholder (see "Assigning credentials to cardholders and visitors" on
page 78).

Checking in new visitors

To ensure that a visitor’s activities can be monitored throughout their visit, you must check in
visitors, using the Visitor management task.
Before you begin
Create a cardholder group reserved for visitors in Config Tool, and assign access rules to the
group. This is how Security Center grants access rights to visitors, since access rules cannot be
directly associated to a visitor. For more information, see “Create a cardholder group” in the
To check in a new visitor:

1 From the Home page, open the Visitor management task.
2 Click Check-in ( ).
3 At the top of the dialog box, enter the visitor’s first name, last name, and e-mail address.
NOTE If the software language (chosen at installation) is latin-based, the Name field is
configured as the first name followed by the last name. This order is reversed if you are using
an Asian language, such as Japanese or Chinese.
4 To assign a picture to the visitor, click the silhouette and select one of the following options:
 Load from file. Select a picture from disk. All standard image formats are supported.
 Load from webcam. Take a snapshot with your webcam. This option appears only if you
have a webcam attached to your workstation.
 Load from camera. Take a snapshot from a camera managed by Security Center.
 Load from clipboard. Load the picture copied to the clipboard. This option appears only
if you used the Windows copy command to save a picture onto your clipboard.
NOTE If you select Load from camera, a separate capture dialog box appears. Simply select
the video source and click Take snapshot ( ).
5 To edit the picture, click it to open the Image editor and use the editing options at the top of
the editor’s dialog box.
6 In the Status section, set the visitor status and expiration date.
 Status. Set the visitor status to Active or Inactive.
If the visitor status is inactive, then the credentials assigned to the cardholder do not
work, and the cardholder does not have access to any area.
 Activation. If the visitor’s status is currently set to Inactive, select a date and time to
activate the visitor’s credentials.
NOTE The activation time is not the same as the check-in time. Activation time indicates
when the visitor’s credentials are activated. Check-in time indicates when the visitor profile
was created. You can set the activation time to a date in the future, which allows you to
create visitor profiles in advance.

 Expiration. Set the visitor to expire Never, on a specific date, or after a specified number
of days after the first use.
7 (Optional) If custom fields are defined for visitors, enter the additional visitor information.
8 In the Security section, assign the visitor to a cardholder group.
Cardholder groups defines which access rules apply to the visitor. To learn more about
cardholder groups, see the Security Center Administrator Guide.
NOTE A visitor can belong to more than one cardholder group.
a Under Cardholder groups, click Add ( ).

b In the Search dialog box, select a cardholder group, and then click Select.
The cardholder group is listed in the Cardholder group field.
9 In the Security section, select the visitor Security clearance level.
A visitor’s security clearance level determines their access to areas when a threat level is set
in Security Center. Level 0 is the highest clearance level, with the most privileges.
 Inherited from parent cardholder groups. The visitor’s security clearance level is inherited
from the parent cardholder groups. If the visitor is part of multiple cardholder groups,
then they inherit the highest security clearance level from the parent cardholder groups.
 Specific. Set a security clearance level for the visitor.
10 (Optional) In the Advanced section, configure the following visitor properties:
a If the visitor has been assigned a credential, grant access privileges to the visitor.
 Use extended grant time. Grants the visitor more time to pass through doors where the
Extended grant time parameter is configured for a door. Use this option for visitors
with reduced mobility.
 Bypass antipassback rules. Exempts the visitor from all antipassback restrictions.
To learn more about the extended grant time and antipassback rules, see “Configuring
doors” and “Configuring secured areas” in the Security Center Administrator Guide.
b In the Entity name field, type a new name for the visitor entity, if you do not want to use
the visitor’s first and last name.
By default, the Entity name uses the First name and Last name fields.
c In the Description field, type a description for the cardholder.
d Assign the visitor to a partition.
Partitions determine which users have access to the visitor’s profile. To learn more about
partitions, see the Security Center Administrator Guide.
NOTE A visitor can belong to up to three partitions.
11 Click Save.

Checking in a returning visitor

If a visitor returns to your site, you can check in the visitor without having to re-enter their
information, because all checked-out visitors are saved in the database.
IMPORTANT If the visitor was previously assigned a credential, you must re-assign a credential
after the visitor is checked in.
To check in a returning visitor:

1 In the Visitor management task, click Returning visitor ( ).
2 (Optional) To filter the visitor list, do one of the following:
 Type a visitor’s first name or last name, and then click Search.
 Select the visitor’s activation or expiration date, and then click Search.
 Click Click to edit, select a visitor custom field, click OK, and then click Search.
3 Select a visitor.
4 Click Check-in or Check-in and edit, and then click OK.
The returning visitor is added to the visitor list.
5 If you selected the Check-in and edit option, then modify the visitor in the dialog box that
opens, and then click Save and close.
After you finish
If the visitor requires a credential, assign one (see "Assigning credentials to cardholders and
visitors" on page 78).

Checking out visitors
Checking out visitors

You must check-out visitors when they leave.
To check out a visitor:

1 In the Visitor management task, select the visitor from the visitor list.
If the visitor list is long, use the search features to locate the visitor name. For information
about the Visitor dialog, see "Investigating visitor events" on page 86.
2 Click Check-out ( ).
The checked-out visitor is removed from the visitor list, but remains available for
investigation reports. The visitor’s information is also saved in the database, and can be used
if the visitor returns.
If the visitor was assigned a credential, the credential status switches to Unassigned, and can
be assigned to another visitor or cardholder. The credential is also removed from all access
controllers it was synchronized with. This might take a few seconds.

Assigning credentials to cardholders and visitors

To monitor the activities and generate activity reports for a cardholder or visitor, you must assign
them credentials.
Cardholders and visitors can be assigned multiple credentials.

You can assign credentials while you are creating a new cardholder or visitor, or after they are
created. In this procedure, it is assumed you have already created a cardholder or visitor.
To assign credentials to a cardholder or visitor:

1 From the Home page, proceed as follows:
 For cardholders, click Cardholder management, select a cardholder, and then click
Modify ( ).
 For visitors, click Visitor management, select a visitor, and then click Modify ( ).
2 In the Credential section, click Add a credential ( ).
3 Select one of the following options:
 Automatic entry. Present the card at a reader. Go to Step 4.
 Manual entry. Manually enter the card data. Use this method when you do not have a
card reader near you. Go to Step 5.
 Existing credential. Select a pre-enrolled, unassigned credential. Go to Step 6.
 PIN. Create a credential PIN. Go to Step 7.
 Request card. Request a credential card for the cardholder or visitor. Use this method if
you do not have a printer on site (see "Requesting printed credential cards" on page 80).
 Paper credential (print). Print a badge (name tag or photo ID card) without having a
credential assigned to the cardholder or visitor. The paper credential cannot be used to
open doors. It is only used to visually identify the cardholder or visitor (see "Printing
badges for cardholders and visitors" on page 81).
4 If you selected Automatic entry, the following dialog box appears.

a Select a reader (USB reader or a door), and present the card at the reader.
The dialog box closes automatically after an eligible card is presented. If the card has not
been enrolled, it is enrolled automatically. If it was already assigned to someone, it is
rejected. Go back to Step 3.
b Continue with Step 8.
5 If you selected Manual entry, the following dialog box appears.
a Select a card format, enter the required data fields, and click OK.
If the card has not been enrolled, it is enrolled automatically. If it was already assigned to
someone, it is rejected. Go back to Step 3.
CAUTION Be careful when you enter the card data, because the system cannot validate
whether the data you entered correspond to a physical card or not.
6 If you selected Existing credential, a dialog box listing all existing but unassigned
credentials in the system appears.
a Select an unassigned credential from the list, and click OK.
7 If you selected PIN, the following dialog box appears:
a Click inside the first box to start entering the PIN.

Only numerical values are accepted. You can enter up to five digits can be entered.
NOTE You can enter values between 1 and 65535.
b Re-enter the PIN, and click OK.

c Continue with Step 8.

8 After the credential is assigned, it appears in the Credential section.
The credential name and status are displayed. Active indicates the credential is assigned.
NOTE If the credential is a PIN, the credential icon is displayed. If the credential is a card, a
default badge template is assigned, and a print preview of the badge is displayed instead of the
credential icon.
9 (Optional) If the credential is a card, select a different badge template.
a In the Credential section, click the badge image.
b Select a badge template, and then click OK.
Badge templates are created in Config Tool. For information, see “Defining badge
templates” in the Security Center Administrator Guide.
A print preview of the badge appears, with data corresponding to the current cardholder
and their credential.
10 To print the badge, click Print badge next to the badge preview.
11 (Optional) To assign additional credentials to the cardholder, return to Step 2.
12 When you are finished, click Save.
Requesting printed credential cards

If you do not have a printer on site, or close to you, you can request a credential card to be
printed.
You can request a card while you are creating a new cardholder or visitor, or after they are
created. In this procedure, it is assumed you have already created a cardholder or visitor.
To request a credential card:

 For cardholders, click Cardholder management, select a cardholder, and then click
Modify ( ).
 For visitors, click Visitor management, select a visitor, and then click Modify ( ).
3 From the drop-down menu, click Request card.
4 In the Request card dialog box, select the reason why you are requesting a card.
NOTE Card request reasons only appear if your administrator has created possible reasons
in Config Tool.
5 From the Badge template drop-down list, select a badge template.

Badge templates are created in Config Tool. For information, see “Defining badge
templates” in the Security Center Administrator Guide.
A print preview of the badge appears.
6 In the Activate option, select when to activate the credential.
 Never. The credential will never be activated.
 After enrollment. After the credential is printed by another user.
 On. Select a specific date to activate the credential.
7 If you want to receive an email when the credential has been printed, select the Email me
when the card is ready option.
NOTE For this option to work, your user must have a valid email address.
8 Click OK.
The credential is shown as Requested in the Credential section of the cardholder or visitor
details window.
9 Click Save.
The Card requests ( ) icon appears in the notification tray.
Printing badges for cardholders and visitors

To print a badge, you need a badge template. A badge template is generally associated to a card
credential, but you can also print a badge without any credential data. In the latter case, the badge
is called a paper credential. It cannot be used to unlock doors, but it can be used as a name tag or
a photo ID for visual identification.
You can print a paper credential while you are creating a new cardholder or visitor, or after they
are created. It is assumed the cardholder or visitor is already created.
For information about creating badge templates, see “Defining badge templates” in the Security
Center Administrator Guide.
To print a badge:
1 In the Cardholder management task, select a cardholder, and then click Modify ( ).
3 In the menu that appears, click Paper credential (Print).
The Badge printing dialog box appears.
4 From the drop-down list, select a badge template.
A print preview of the badge is shown. Cardholder information might be shown on the
badge, depending on how the badge template is designed. No credential data is shown on
the badge.
5 To print the paper credential, click Print badge.

Assigning temporary cards to cardholders and visitors

If a cardholder’s card credential is reported as lost or stolen, you can replace it with a temporary
card and mark the original card as lost.
Before you begin
Make sure that you have the following:
• A card reader nearby.
• A stack of pre-enrolled spare cards. To learn how to enroll a large quantity of cards at once,
see “Enrolling multiple credentials” in the Security Desk User Guide.
To assign a temporary card to a cardholder or visitor:

 For cardholders, click Cardholder management, select the cardholder who is reporting
a lost card, and then click Modify ( ).
 For visitors, click Visitor management, select the visitor who is reporting a lost card, and
then click Modify ( ).
2 In the Credential section, click Assign temporary card.
3 From the drop-down list, select a card reader near you.
The card reader can be a USB reader connected to your computer, or you can use an Access
point (door).
4 Present a spare card.
NOTE The spare card must be pre-enrolled.
5 Set the number of days the temporary card is to remain active, and click Assign temporary
card.
6 Click Save.
After this operation, the original card is marked as Lost, but remains assigned to the
cardholder. The temporary card is activated for the specified number of days, and assigned to
the same cardholder. The cardholder now has at least two cards. A permanent one that is lost,
and a temporary one that is active.

Restoring original cards to cardholders and visitors

When a lost card is found, you can restore the original card and remove the temporary card
assignment.
Before you begin
Make sure you have a card reader nearby.

To restore the original card, the cardholder or visitor must return both the original and the
temporary card.
CAUTION When a cardholder has more than one temporary card, returning the temp card
restores the original card to the cardholder. The return temporary card functionality can be used
only once per cardholder.
To restore an original card to a cardholder or visitor:

1 In the Cardholder management or Visitor management task, click Return card ( ).
2 From the drop-down list, select a card reader near you.
The card reader can be a USB reader connected to your computer, or you can use an access
point (door).
3 Present both the original and the temporary cards; the order is not important.
4 If both cards match the same cardholder, click Restore original credential to restore the
status of the original card to Active, and deactivate the temporary card.
The temporary card can now be assigned to someone else.

Viewing properties of cardholder group members
Viewing properties of cardholder group members

You can find out the members of a cardholder group, and view any associated cardholder
properties (first name, last name, picture, status, custom properties, and so on) of the
cardholders, using the Cardholder configuration task.
You can search for a specific cardholder group to see which cardholders are members of that
group. You also can search for expired or inactive cardholders so see if there are any in your
system.
To view the properties of cardholder group members:

1 From the Home page, open the Cardholder configuration task.
2 Generate your report (see "Generating reports" on page 39).
The cardholders that are members of the selected cardholder groups are listed in the report
pane.
3 To show a cardholder in a tile, double-click or drag a cardholder from the report pane to the
canvas.
4 To view additional cardholder information in the tile, click .

Viewing credential properties of cardholders
Viewing credential properties of cardholders

You can view credential properties (status, assigned cardholder, card format, credential code,
custom properties, and so on) of cardholders, using the Credential configuration report.
To view the credential properties of a cardholder:

1 From the Home page, open the Credential configuration task.
The credential properties the selected cardholder are listed in the report pane.
3 To show a cardholder in a tile, double-click or drag a cardholder from the report pane to the
canvas.
4 To view additional cardholder information in the tile, click .
EXAMPLE If you requested a credential for a cardholder, and want to see if it was activated, you
can search for that cardholder. The Credential status column indicates if the credential is in the
Requested or Active state. You can also see if there are any credentials currently listed as lost or
stolen.

Investigating visitor events

You can investigate events related to visitors (access denied, first person in, last person out,
antipassback violation, and so on), using the Visitor activities report.
To investigate visitor events:

1 From the Home page, open the Visitor activities task.
2 In the Visitor section of the Query tab, click .
3 In the Visitors dialog box, filter the Visitor list one of the following ways:
 Type a visitor’s first name or last name, and then click Search.
 Select the visitor’s activation or expiration date, and then click Search.
 Click Click to edit, select a visitor custom field, click OK, and then click Search.
4 Select a visitor to investigate.
You can only specify one visitor at a time.
5 Click Select.
6 Set up the other query filters for your report.
The visitor events are listed in the report pane.
8 To show the corresponding video of an event in a tile, double-click or drag the item from
the report pane to the canvas.
If there is no camera attached to the entity, the door, elevator, or area icons are displayed,
depending on the type of visitor event.

9 To control the tiles, use the widgets in the dashboard (see "Widgets" on page 28).
EXAMPLE If you want to see all the areas and doors the visitor accessed during their stay, you
investigate on just that visitor. If you want to see if there were any critical events that occurred
on your site in the last day in relation to visitors, you can set a time range for the report.

Allowing access through doors

To unlock a door or override locking and unlocking schedules, you can use the Door widget to
control access through doors. The door widget is enabled when a door entity is displayed in the
selected canvas tile.
All access controlled doors are locked by default, unless an unlock schedule is being used. Only
cardholders with the correct credentials can open them. When a door is displayed in a canvas
tile, the door entity icon in the tile toolbar changes in real time to reflect whether the door is
physically open ( ) or closed ( ).
NOTE If no camera is associated to the door, a static open door image is displayed in the canvas
tile.
The following figure shows an open door and its corresponding door icon.
To allow access through a door:

1 From the Monitoring task, select a tile that is displaying a door.
The Door widget is displayed in the dashboard.
2 In the door widget, do one of the following:
 To unlock the door and temporarily grant access, click Unlock ( ).
The duration of the grant time is configured by the system administrator. The widget
shows that the door is open and unlocked.
 To override the door’s unlock schedule, click Override unlock schedules ( ), and
select one the following:
 Unlock for maintenance. Unlock the door indefinitely for maintenance purposes. To
cancel this override, click in the door widget.

 Temporarily override schedule. Lock or unlock the door for the time specified in the
From and To fields. With this option, the door returns to its normal state after the time
expires.
EXAMPLE When setting unlock schedules for a door, a Security Center administrator can
program a door to grant access to everyone during certain hours of the day, such as when a
receptionist is on duty. If you have the rights, you can override these unlock schedules by locking
the door when it is scheduled to be unlocked, or by unlocking the door when it is scheduled to
be locked.

Investigating door events
Investigating door events

You can investigate events related to doors (access denied, door forced open, door open too long,
hardware tamper, and so on), using the Door activities report.
To investigate door events:

1 From the Home page, open the Door activities task.
The door events are listed in the report pane.
3 To show the corresponding video of an event in a tile, double-click or drag the item from
If there is no camera attached to the door, the door icon is displayed.
4 To control the doors, use the area widget (see "Door widget" on page 35).
EXAMPLE You can see how many access denied events have occurred in the last week, or since
your last shift, or search for other critical events (For example, Door forced open). If you see
suspicious cardholder activity while monitoring live video, you can investigate what other doors
the cardholder accessed in the last day. If you want to see if the maintenance staff has completed
work at a particular door, you can investigate on that door, and select the Door locked:
Maintenance completed event.

7
Monitoring alarms
Alarms represent a trouble situation that requires your immediate attention. Any event can be
used as an alarm trigger. The presence of motion, a door forced open, or a change of state on a
contact are often used as alarm triggers. Alarms are sent to users logged on to Security Desk.
When an alarm is triggered, you must a recipient of the alarm to receive the alarm.
NOTE It is up to your system administrator to define the events that will be used to trigger your
alarms.
In this section, you will learn how to view active alarms, and what you can do when you receive
alarms. You will also learn how to search for past alarms, and how to view the recorded video
associated with those alarms.
• "How alarms are displayed in the canvas" on page 92
• "Acknowledging alarms" on page 93
• "Forwarding alarms to other users manually" on page 95
• "Forwarding alarms to other users automatically" on page 96
• "Triggering alarms manually" on page 97
• "Investigating current and past alarms" on page 98
• "Alarm report task" on page 99
• "Alarm monitoring task" on page 100

How alarms are displayed in the canvas
How alarms are displayed in the canvas

You can view active and past alarms in the canvas in the Alarm monitoring and Alarm report
tasks.
In the Alarm monitoring task, active alarms are automatically displayed in the canvas so you can
review the alarm details and the associated video. In the Alarm report task, all videos associated
to the alarm are displayed in playback mode. The playback starts at the time the alarm was
triggered.
Alarms are often composite entities because they are attached to multiple cameras, doors, or
areas. To view all the attached entities at once, you must unpack the tile where the alarm is
displayed (see "Unpacking content in tiles" on page 26).
The following figure shows an active alarm in a canvas tile in the Alarm monitoring task.
A F
B G
H
C
A Source of the alarm

B Alarm timestamp
C Allows you to view all attached entities at once
D On-tile video controls
E Timeline
F Alarm name
G Alarm instance number
H Displays the alarm procedure if it is defined

Acknowledging alarms
When you receive an alarm, you can view and acknowledge the alarm from the Alarm
monitoring task.
You only receive an alarm in Security Desk if you are a recipient of that alarm. Alarms are
displayed in the canvas by order of their priority.
NOTE You might not have to acknowledge all the alarms that are triggered. Certain alarms are
configured to be automatically acknowledged after a set amount of time.
To acknowledge an alarm:
1 To open the Alarm monitoring task, double-click the Alarm monitoring ( ) icon in the
notification tray.
In the Alarm monitoring task, all new alarms are automatically listed the alarm list and the
associated video is displayed in the canvas.
2 To filter the alarm list, click Display options ( ) and select one or more of the following
filters:
 Show all. Display all alarms (no filter).
 Show active. Show active alarms.
 Show under investigation. Show alarms that are currently under investigation.
 Show acknowledgement required. Show alarms where their source conditions are cleared
but they must still be acknowledged.
 Show acknowledged. Show acknowledged alarms.
3 Double-click or drag an alarm from the alarm list to view the alarm video in a tile. The
video is displayed with a red overlay that provides the alarm details. For information, see
"How alarms are displayed in the canvas" on page 92.
4 Click one of the following:
 Acknowledge (Default) ( ). The alarm is removed from the canvas and the alarm list.
IMPORTANT Certain alarms require you to report an incident when you acknowledge
them.
 Acknowledge (Alternate) ( ). Sets the alarm to the alternate acknowledged state. The
reasons for using this state are defined by your company. For example, if a false alarm is
triggered, you might want to acknowledge the alarm in this way. This state can be used as
a filter in alarm queries.
 Force acknowledge ( ). Forces the alarm to be acknowledged. This is helpful for
clearing alarms that are currently under investigation and their acknowledgement is not
yet cleared. To force acknowledge all active alarms, click Force acknowledge all alarms
( ).

NOTE The force acknowledge commands are only available if you are logged on as an
administrator.
 Snooze the alarm ( ). Puts the alarm to sleep for 30 seconds. When the alarm is
snoozing, it is temporarily removed from the canvas. You can change the default snooze
time from the Options dialog box.
 Investigate ( ). Investigates the alarm. This option is only available if the alarm is
triggered with an acknowledgement condition attached to it (for example, Door held
open too long), and the condition is not yet cleared (for example, Door closed). This lets
other users in the system know that someone has seen the alarm.
 Show alarm procedure ( ). Shows the alarm’s specific procedure (if one is defined by
the administrator). Alarm procedures are simple to create and can take the form of
HTML pages or a Web application developed by the end user.
 Forward alarm ( ). Forwards the alarm to another user in the system. Before
forwarding the alarm, you must select a user, and you can also type a message.
NOTE You can forward alarms manually (see "Forwarding alarms to other users
manually" on page 95) or automatically (see "Forwarding alarms to other users
automatically" on page 96).

Forwarding alarms to other users manually
Forwarding alarms to other users manually

If you receive an important alarm and you want someone else to see it, you can manually forward
the alarm to them from the Alarm monitoring and Alarm report tasks.
Before you begin
Make sure that you have the Forward alarms user privilege.
To forward an alarm manually:

1 Under the alarm list, or in the alarm widget, click Forward alarm ( ).
2 In the Select alarm recipients dialog box, select the destination user or user group.
3 (Optional) Write a message to send with the forwarded alarm.
4 Click Forward.
NOTE Forwarding an alarm does not remove it from your workspace.
The alarm is forwarded to the user you selected. One of you must acknowledge the alarm.

Forwarding alarms to other users automatically
Forwarding alarms to other users automatically

If you must leave your desk and you want someone else to receive alarms while you are gone, you
can set alarms to auto-forward.
Before you begin
Make sure that you have the Forward alarms user privilege.
To forward an alarm automatically:

 In the notification tray, right-click the Alarm monitoring icon ( or ), and click
Start alarms auto-forward.
 In the upper-left corner of the Alarm monitoring task, click Start alarms auto-forward
( ).
2 In the Select alarm recipients dialog box, select the destination user or user group.
3 (Optional) Write a message to send with the forwarded alarm.
4 Click Start alarms auto-forward.
All alarms sent to you are forwarded to the specified user until you cancel the auto-forward
option.
5 To cancel auto-forward, do one of the following:
 In the notification tray, right-click the Alarm monitoring icon ( or ), and click
Stop alarms auto-forward.
 In the upper-left corner of the Alarm monitoring task, click Stop alarms auto-forward
( ).

Triggering alarms manually
Triggering alarms manually

If you are testing an alarm that you created in Config Tool, or something critical occurs and you
want to set an alarm, you can trigger the alarm manually from the Alarm monitoring task in
Security Desk.
Before you begin
Alarms must be configured in Config Tool.
To trigger an alarm manually:

1 From the Home page, open the Alarm monitoring task.
2 Click Trigger alarm ( ).
3 From the list, select an alarm, and then click Trigger alarm.
All pre-configured alarm recipients receive the alarm if they are logged on to Security Desk.

Investigating current and past alarms
Investigating current and past alarms

You can search for and investigate current and past alarms, using the Alarm report task.
To investigate an alarm:
1 From the Home page, open the Alarm report task.
The alarms are listed in the report pane.
3 To show the corresponding video of an alarm in a tile, double-click or drag the item from
For more information about how alarms are displayed in the canvas, see "How alarms are
displayed in the canvas" on page 92.
4 To control the alarms, use the area widget (see "Area widget" on page 31).
EXAMPLE You might want to see which alarms were triggered during the last week, or since
your last shift. You could search for major events that happened in your system, by only
selecting critical alarms. You can see who acknowledged a specific alarm, and why. If there was
a critical alarm that occurred and you must re-examine it, you can search for the alarm, and then
review the attached video. If needed, you can also export the alarm video, and send it to law
enforcement as evidence.

Alarm report task
Alarm report task

Use the Alarm report task to search for and investigate current and past alarms.
The following figure shows the Alarm report task. For information about investigating alarms,
see "Investigating current and past alarms" on page 98.
A
B
A Query filters
B Export or print the report (see "Exporting reports" on page 40 and "Printing reports" on page 40).
C The alarm report results are listed in the report pane.
D (Only administrators) Forcibly acknowledge all active alarms.
E Alarm widget (see "Alarm widget" on page 29).
F Video of an alarm in a tile (see "How alarms are displayed in the canvas" on page 92).
G Run the report.

Alarm monitoring task
Alarm monitoring task

Use the Alarm monitoring task to monitor and respond to active alarms in real time, as well as
review past alarms.
The following figure shows the Alarm monitoring task. For information about acknowledging
alarms, see "Acknowledging alarms" on page 93.
A The alarm monitoring icon turns red when there is an active alarm. Double-click to open the
Alarm monitoring task.
B Additional alarm commands.
• Start alarms auto-forward (see "Forwarding alarms to other users automatically" on page 96).
• Trigger alarm (see "Triggering alarms manually" on page 97).
• (Administrators only) Force acknowledge all alarms.
C Current alarms are listed in the alarm list.( )
D Commands to control active alarms.
E Video of an alarm in a tile. The video is displayed with a red overlay with details of the alarm.

Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Security Center is the unified platform for all Genetec’s IP security solutions, which include Omnicast™, and
Synergis™ modules. The definitions in this glossary pertain to all three modules.
A
accepted user A user who has read access over all entities contained in a partition. This allows
the user to view them in all entity browsers. Additional access rights may be
granted through user privileges.
Access control health Type of maintenance task that reports on access control unit malfunction
history events.
See also Health history.
access control unit Type of entity that represents an access control device, such as Synergis Master
Controller (SMC) or an HID VertX controller, that communicates directly
with the Access Manager over an IP network. Access control units usually
control other slave units (or interface modules) such as the HID VertX V100
and V200, and the Mercury MR50 and MR52, which are connected to door
sensors and readers.
See also Access Manager, interface module and Synergis Master Controller.
Access control unit events Type of maintenance task that reports on events pertaining to selected access
control units.
Access Manager Type of role that manages and monitors access control units on the system.
access point Any monitored point that can be used to enter or exit a secured area, usually a
door side or an elevator floor. Note that an elevator floor can only be used as
an entry point.
access rule Type of entity that defines the access control logic which grants or denies
passage to a cardholder through an access point, based on a schedule.
Access rule configuration Type of maintenance task that reports on entities and access points affected by
a given access rule.

Glossary
Access troubleshooter Tool that helps you detect and diagnose access configuration problems. It
allows you to find out about the following:
• Who are allowed to use an access point at a given time
• Which access points a cardholder is allowed to use at a given time
• Why a given cardholder can or cannot use an access point at a given time.
access right access right.
(1) Type of rights a user has over entities in the system (view, add, modify,
delete), which are defined by a combination of partitions and user
privileges.
(2) The right a cardholder has to pass through an access point at a given date
and time.
action User-programmable function that can be triggered as an automatic response to

an event (door held open for too long, object left unattended) or executed
according to a specific time table.
See also event and event-to-action.
active alarm An alarm that has not yet been acknowledged.

See also alarm.
Active Directory Active Directory (AD).

(1) A directory service created by Microsoft.
(2) Type of role that imports users and cardholders from an Active Directory
and keeps them synchronized.
Activity trails Type of maintenance task that reports on the user activity related to video and
LPR functionality. This task can provide information such as who played back
which video recordings, who used the Hotlist and permit editor, who enabled
hotlist filtering, and much more.
Advanced Systems Format Advanced Systems Format or ASF (formerly Advanced Streaming Format) is a
Microsoft streaming format associated with Windows Media Player.
agent Subprocess created by a Security Center role to run simultaneously on multiple

servers for the purpose of sharing its load.
See also redirector agent.
alarm Type of entity that describes a particular trouble situation that requires
immediate attention and how it should be handled in Security Center. Namely,
its priority, what entities (usually cameras and doors) best describe it, who
should be notified, how it should be displayed to the user, and so on.

Glossary
alarm acknowledgement User response to an alarm. There are two variants of alarm acknowledgement
in Security Center:
• Default acknowledgement
• Alternate acknowledgement
Each variant is associated to a different event so that specific actions can be
programmed based on the alarm response selected by the user.
See also action and event.
Alarm monitoring Type of operation task that allows you to monitor and respond to alarms
(acknowledge, forward, snooze, among other things) in real time, as well as
review past alarms.
See also monitor group.
alarm panel Another name for intrusion panel.

See also intrusion panel.
Alarm report Type of investigation task that allows you to search and view current and past
alarms.
analog monitor Type of entity that represents a monitor that displays video from an analog
source, such as a video decoder or an analog camera. This term is used in
Security Center to refer to monitors not controlled by a computer.
See also monitor group and video decoder.
antipassback Access restriction placed on a secured area that prevents a cardholder from
entering an area that they have not yet exited from, and vice-versa.
Archive storage details Type of maintenance task that reports on the video files (file name, start and
end time, file size, protection status, and so on) used to store video archive, and
which allows you to change the protection status of those files, among other
things.
Archiver Type of role that is responsible for the discovery, status polling, and control of
video units. The Archiver also manages the video archive, and performs
motion detection when it is not done on the unit itself.
See also Auxiliary Archiver and video unit.
Archiver events Type of maintenance task that reports on events pertaining to selected
Archiver roles.
Archives Type of investigation task that allows you to find and view available video
archives by camera and time range.

Glossary
area Type of entity that represents a concept or a physical location (room, floor,
building, and so on) used for the logical grouping of entities in the system.
See also Logical view.
When Synergis is enabled, the area entity can also be used to configure a
secured area with access rules and access control behavior.
See also antipassback and interlock.
Area activities Type of investigation task that reports on area related activities (access granted,
access denied, first person in, last person out, antipassback violation, and so
on).
Area presence Type of investigation task that provides a snapshot of all cardholders and
visitors currently present in a selected area.
ASF See Advanced Systems Format.
asset Type of entity that represents any valuable object with an RFID tag attached,
allowing it to be tracked by an asset management software.
See also RFID tag.
asynchronous video Simultaneous playback video from more than one camera that are not
synchronized in time.
audio decoder Device or software that decodes compressed audio streams for playback.
Synonym of "speaker".
audio encoder Device or software that encodes audio streams using a compression algorithm.
Synonym of "microphone".
Audit trails Type of maintenance task that reports on the configuration changes who made
them, on selected entities in the system.
automatic discovery The process by which IP units on a network are automatically discovered by
Security Center. This is done by broadcasting a discovery request on the
discovery port and waiting for all listening units to respond with a packet that
contains connection information about itself. Security Center uses the
information to automatically configure the connection to the unit, thus
enabling communication. Not all units support this feature.
See also unit.

Glossary
AutoVu AutoVu™ is the IP license plate recognition (LPR) system of Security Center
that automates the reading and verification of vehicle license plates. AutoVu
Sharp cameras capture license plate images, and send the data to Patroller or
Security Center to verify against lists of vehicles of interest (hotlists) and
vehicles with permits (permit lists). You can install AutoVu in a fixed
configuration (e.g. on a pole in a parking lot), or in a mobile configuration (e.g.
on a police car). You can use AutoVu for scofflaw and wanted vehicle
identification, city-wide surveillance, parking enforcement, parking permit
control, vehicle inventory, security, and access control.
Auxiliary Archiver Type of role that supplements the video archive produced by the Archiver.
Unlike the latter, the Auxiliary Archiver is not bound to any particular
discovery port. Therefore, it can archive any camera in the system, including
the federated ones (Security Center 5.x systems only). The Auxiliary Archiver
depends on the Archiver to communicate with the video units. It cannot
operate on its own.
See also Archiver and discovery port.
B
Badge designer Tool that allows you to design and modify badge templates.
Badge printer Tool that allows you to print badges in bulk, based on a badge template and a
list of cardholders or credentials.
badge template Entity type used to configure a printing template for badges.
bit rate Data transfer rate expressed in kilobits per second (Kbps).
bookmark Short text used to mark a specific position in a recorded video sequence that
can be used to search for that video sequence at a later stage.
Bookmarks Type of investigation task that searches for bookmarks related to selected
cameras within a specified time range.
broadcast Communication between a single sender and all receivers on a network
C
camera Type of entity that represents a single video source on the system. The video
source can be an IP camera or an analog camera connected to the video
encoder of a video unit. Multiple video streams can be generated from the same
video source.
See also video encoder.

Glossary
camera blocking Omnicast feature that lets you restrict the viewing of video (live or playback)
from certain cameras to users with a minimum user level.
See also user level.
Camera events Type of investigation task that reports on events pertaining to selected cameras
within a specified time range.
camera sequence Type of entity that defines a list of cameras that are displayed one after another
in a rotating fashion within a single tile in Security Desk.
canvas One of the panes found in the Security Desk's task workspace. The canvas is
used to display multimedia information, such as videos, maps, and pictures. It
is further divided into three panels: the tiles, the dashboard, and the properties.
See also tile.
card and pin An access point mode that requires a cardholder to present their card and then
enter a personal identification number (PIN).
cardholder Type of entity that represents a person who can enter and exit secured areas by
virtue of their credentials (typically access cards) and whose activities can be
tracked.
Cardholder access rights Type of maintenance task that reports on which cardholders and cardholder
groups are granted or denied access to selected areas, doors, and elevators.
Cardholder activities Type of investigation task that reports on cardholder activities (access denied,
first person in, last person out, antipassback violation, and so on).
Cardholder configuration Type of maintenance task that reports on cardholder properties (first name,
last name, picture, status, custom properties, and so on).
cardholder group Type of entity that configures the common access rights of a group of
cardholders.
Cardholder management Type of operation task that allows you to create, modify, and delete
cardholders, as well as manage their credentials, including temporary
replacement cards.
cash register Type of entity that represents a single cash register (or terminal) in a point of
sale system.
See also point of sale system.
certificate Additional license information that is required to run plugins or SDK-based

applications.
compatibility pack See Omnicast compatibility pack.

Glossary
Config Tool Security Center administrative application used to manage all Security Center
users, and configure all Security Center entities such as areas, cameras, doors,
schedules, cardholders, Patroller/LPR units, and hardware devices.
Conflict resolution utility Tool that helps you resolve conflicts caused by importing users and
cardholders from an Active Directory.
controlled exit Credentials are necessary to leave a secured area.
controller module Processing component of Synergis Master Controller with IP capability, pre-
loaded with the controller firmware and the web-based administration tool,
Controller Portal.
See also Controller Portal, four-port RS-485 module, and Synergis Master
Controller.
Controller Portal Web-based administration tool hosted on every Synergis Master Controller
unit, used to configure, administer, and upgrade the controller firmware.
See also controller module and Synergis Master Controller.
Copy configuration tool Tool that copies the configuration of one entity to many other entities.
credential Type of entity that represents a proximity card, a biometrics template, or a PIN
required to gain access to a secured area. A credential can only be assigned to
one cardholder at a time.
Credential activities Type of investigation task that reports on credential related activities (access
denied due to expired, inactive, lost, or stolen credential, and so on).
credential code A textual representation of the credential showing the credential data (typically
the Facility code and the Card number). For credentials using custom card
formats, the user can choose what to include in the credential code.
Credential configuration Type of maintenance task that reports on credential properties (status,
assigned cardholder, card format, credential code, custom properties, and so
on).
Credential management Type of operation task that allows you to create, modify, and delete credentials,
and print badges. It also allows you to enroll large numbers of card credentials
into the system, either by scanning them at a designated card reader, or by
entering a range of values.
custom event An event added after the initial system installation. Events defined at system
installation are called system events. Custom events can be user-defined or
automatically added through plugin installations. Unlike system events,
custom events may be renamed and deleted.

Glossary
custom field User defined property associated to an entity type to store additional
information that is useful to your particular organization.
D
dashboard One of the three panels that belong to the canvas in Security Desk. It contains
the graphical commands (or widgets) pertaining to the entity displayed in the
current tile.
See also widget.
Data Server Plan Manager Server module that manages the Plan Manager database where
the map configuration is stored.
See also Plan Manager Server.
database Collection of data that is organized so that its contents can easily be accessed,
managed, and updated.
database server An application that manages databases and handles data requests made by
client applications. Security Center uses Microsoft SQL Server as its database
server.
debounce The amount of time an input can be in a changed state (for example, from
active to inactive) before the state change is reported. Electrical switches often
cause temporarily unstable signals when changing states, possibly confusing
the logical circuitry. Debouncing is used to filter out unstable signals by
ignoring all state changes that are shorter than a certain period of time (in
milliseconds).
dewarping Transformation used to straighten a digital image taken with a fish-eye lens.
DHCP server A DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server provides

configuration parameters necessary for a unit to automatically connect to an IP
network. DHCP automatically supplies the unit with an IP address, the
network mask, a gateway IP address, and a DNS server IP address.
Directory The main role that identifies your system. It manages all entity configurations
and system wide settings in Security Center. Only a single instance of this role
is permitted on your system. The server hosting the Directory role is called the
main server. All other servers in Security Center must connect to the main
server and are called expansion servers.
See also expansion server, main server, and server.
Directory Manager The role that manages the Directory failover and load balancing in order to
produce the high availability characteristics in Security Center.
See also Directory server and high availability.

Glossary
Directory server Any one of the multiple servers simultaneously running the Directory role in a
high availability configuration.
See also Directory, high availability, and server.
discovery port Port used by certain Security Center roles (Access Manager, Archiver, LPR
Manager) to find the units they are responsible for on the LAN. No two
discovery ports can be the same on one system.
See also automatic discovery.
door Type of entity that represents a physical barrier. Often, this is an actual door
but it could also be a gate, a turnstile, or any other controllable barrier. Each
door has two sides named by default “A” and “B”. Each side is an access point
(entrance or exit) to a secured area.
Door activities Type of investigation task that reports on door related activities (access denied,
door forced open, door open too long, hardware tamper, and so on).
door contact A door contact monitors the state of a door, whether it is open or closed. It can
also be used to detect improper state (door open too long).
door controller See access control unit.
door side Every door has two sides, named by default "A" and "B". Each side is an access
point to an area. For example, passing through side A leads into an area, and
passing through side B leads out of that area. For the purposes of access
management, the credentials necessary to pass through a door in one direction
are not necessarily the same to pass through in the opposite direction.
Door troubleshooter Type of maintenance task that lists all the cardholders who have access to a
particular door side or elevator floor at a specific date and time.
Driver Development kit Driver Development Kit (DDK). An SDK for creating device drivers.
duress A special code used to disarm an alarm system that quietly alerts the
monitoring station that the alarm system was disarmed under threat.
E
edge recording Video is recorded on the unit itself, eliminating the need to constantly stream
video to a centralized server.
See also Archiver.
electric door strike An electric device that releases the door latch when current is applied.

Glossary
elevator Type of entity that provides access control properties to elevators. For an
elevator, each floor is considered an entry point for the area corresponding to
that floor.
Elevator activities Type of investigation task that reports on elevator related activities (access
denied, floor accessed, unit is offline, hardware tamper, and so on).
entity Entities are the basic building blocks of Security Center. Everything that
requires configuration is represented by an entity. An entity may represent a
physical device, such as a camera or a door, or an abstract concept, such as an
alarm, a schedule, a user, or a software module.
entity tree The graphical representation of Security Center entities in a tree structure
illustrating the hierarchical nature of their relationships.
See also Logical view.
event Indicates the occurrence of an activity or incident, such as access denied to a

cardholder or motion detected on a camera. Events are automatically logged in
Security Center, and can be programmed to trigger actions, conferring
intelligent behavior to the system. Every event mainly focuses on one entity,
called the event source.
See also event-to-action.
event-to-action The coupling of an action to an event to confer automatic and intelligent

behavior to the system.
expansion server Any server machine in a Security Center system that does not host the
Directory role. The purpose of the expansion server is to add to the processing
power of the system.
See also main server and server.
F
failover A backup operational mode in which a role (system function) is automatically
transferred from its primary server to a secondary server that is on standby
when the primary server becomes unavailable, either through failure or
through scheduled downtime.
See also high availability and load balancing.
federated entity Any entity that is imported from an independent system via a federation role.

Glossary
federated system A independent system (Omnicast or Security Center) that is unified under
your local Security Center via a federation role, so that the local users can view
and manipulate its entities as if they belong to the local system.
See also Omnicast Federation and Security Center Federation.
Federation The Federation™ is a virtual system formed by joining multiple remote

independent Genetec IP security systems together. The purpose of the
Federation is to allow the users on your local system (the Federation host) to
access the entities belonging to independent systems as if they were on your
local system.
four-port RS-485 module RS-485 communication component of Synergis Master Controller with four
ports (or channels) named A, B, C, and D. The number of interface modules
you can connect to each channel depends on the type of hardware you have.
See also controller module, interface module, and Synergis Master Controller.
frame A single video image.
free access Access point state where no credentials are necessary to enter a secured area.
The door is unlocked. This is typically used during normal business hours, as a
temporary measure during maintenance, or when the access control system is
first powered up and is yet to be configured.
free exit Access point state where no credentials are necessary to leave a secured area.
The person releases the door by turning the doorknob, or by pressing the REX
button, and walks out. An automatic door closer shuts the door so it can be
locked after being opened.
G
G64 G64 is the native data format used by all archiving roles (Archiver and
Auxiliary Archiver) to store video files. This data format incorporates all
information related to the video data, including audio, bookmarks,
timestamps, motion and event markers, and supports watermarking.
See also ASF, video file, and video watermarking.
Genetec Server Windows service at the core of Security Center architecture that must be
installed on every computer that is part of the Security Center's pool of servers.
Every such server is a generic computing resource capable of taking on any role
(set of functions) you assign to it.
See also server.

Glossary
ghost camera Entity used as a stand in camera that is automatically created by the Archiver
when video archives are detected for a camera whose definition has been
deleted from the Directory, either accidentally or because the physical device
no longer exists. Ghost cameras cannot be configured. They only exist so users
can reference the video archive that would otherwise not be associated to any
camera.
See also camera.
GIS Geographic information system (GIS) is a third party map provider that Plan
Manager can connect to, to bring maps and all types of geographically
referenced data to Security Center.
See also KML, OGC, and WMS.
Global Cardholder Type of role that ensures the two-way synchronization of shared cardholders
Synchronizer and their related entities between the local system (sharing participant) and the
central system (sharing host).
See also sharing guest and sharing host.
global entity Entity that is shared across multiple independent Security Center systems by
virtue of its membership to a global partition. Only cardholders, cardholder
groups, credentials, and badge templates are eligible for sharing.
See also global partition.
global partition Partition that is shared across multiple independent Security Center systems by
the partition owner, called the sharing host.
See also global entity, partition, and sharing guest.
GUID A globally unique identifier, or GUID, is a special type of identifier used in

software applications to provide a unique reference number.
H
H.264 H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding) is a standard for video
compression.
Hardware inventory Type of maintenance task that reports on the characteristics (unit model,
firmware version, IP address, time zone, and so on) of access control, video,
intrusion detection, and LPR units in your system.
hardware zone A subtype of zone entity where the IO linking is done by hardware. A hardware
zone is controlled by a single access control unit and works only in mixed and
offline mode. Hardware zones cannot be armed or disarmed from Security
Desk.
See also virtual zone and zone.

Glossary
Health history Type of maintenance task that reports on health issues.

See also Health statistics and Health Monitor.
Health Monitor The central role that monitors system entities such as servers, roles, units, and
client applications for health issues.
See also Health history and Health statistics.
Health statistics Type of maintenance task that gives you an overall picture of the health of your
system.
See also Health history and Health Monitor.
high availability Design approach used to enable a system to perform at a higher than normal
operational level. This often involves failover and load balancing.
See also failover and load balancing.
HIP A hardware integration package, or HIP, is an update that can be applied to

Security Center. It enables the management of new functionalities (for
example, new video unit types), without requiring an upgrade to the next
Security Center release.
hot action An action mapped to a PC keyboard function key (Ctrl+F1 through Ctrl+F12)
in Security Desk for quick access.
hotspot Type of map object that represents an area on the map that requires special
attention. Clicking on a hotspot displays associated fixed and PTZ cameras.
See also map object.
HTTPS Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol for the World Wide Web that provides safe
data transmission by encrypting and decrypting information sent over the
Internet.
I
I-frame Synonym of intra-frame and key frame.
See also key frame.
Immersive view Plan Manager feature that lets you 'walk' inside a building or a city in a first
person view.
Import tool Tool that allows you to import cardholders, cardholder groups, and credentials
from a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file.

Glossary
inactive entity An entity that is shaded in red in the entity browser. It signals that the real
world entity it represents is either not working, offline, or incorrectly
configured.
See also entity.
incident Any incident reported by a Security Desk user. Incident reports can use
formatted text and include events and entities as support material.
See also Incidents.
Incidents Type of investigation task that allows you to search, review, and modify
incident reports.
interface module A third-party device that communicates with Synergis Master Controller over
IP, USB, or RS-485, and provides input, output, and reader connections to the
controller module.
See also controller module, four-port RS-485 module, and Synergis Master
Controller.
interlock Access restriction placed on a secured area that permits only one door to be
open at any given time. When one perimeter door is open, all other perimeter
doors are locked.
intra-frame Synonym of I-frame and key frame.

See also key frame.
intrusion detection area Type of entity that corresponds to a zone or a partition (group of sensors) on
an intrusion panel.
See also intrusion detection unit.
Intrusion detection area Type of investigation task that reports on activities (master arm, perimeter
activities arm, duress, input trouble, and so on) in selected intrusion detection areas.
intrusion detection unit Type of entity that represents an intrusion panel (or alarm panel) that is
monitored and controlled by Security Center.
See also Intrusion Manager.
Intrusion detection unit Type of investigation task that reports on events (AC fail, battery fail, unit lost,
events input trouble, and so on) pertaining to selected intrusion detection units.
Intrusion Manager Type of role that monitors and controls intrusion panels. It also logs the
intrusion events in a database for intrusion activity reports.

Glossary
intrusion panel A wall-mounted unit where the alarm sensors (motion sensors, smoke
detectors, door sensors, and so on) and wiring of the intrusion alarms are
connected and managed.
IO configuration Type of maintenance task that reports on the IO configurations (controlled

access points, doors, and elevators) of access control units.
IO linking IO (input/output) linking is controlling an output relay based on the combined

state (normal, active, or trouble) of a group of monitored inputs. A standard
application would be to sound a buzzer (via an output relay) when any window
on the ground floor of a building is shattered (assuming that each window is
monitored by a "glass break" sensor connected to an input).
See also zone.
IP The protocol that routes data packets through a local area network (LAN) and
the Internet.
IP address An IP Address is a unique numeric address for a specific computer or

computing device connected to the Internet, or to a LAN.
See also IPv4 and IPv6.
IP camera A video unit incorporating a camera.

See also video unit.
IPv4 First generation IP protocol using a 32-bit address space.
IPv6 New generation IP protocol extending the address space from 32 to 128 bits.
J
K
key frame A key frame (or I-frame, or intra-frame) is a frame that contains a complete
image by itself as opposed to a usual frame that only holds information that
changed compared to the previous frame. It is used as reference in video image
compression.
KML Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is a file format used to display geographic
data in an Earth browser such as Google Earth and Google Maps.
See also GIS.

Glossary
license key Software key used to unlock the Security Center software. The license key is
specifically generated for each computer where the Directory role is installed.
You need the System ID (which identifies your system) and the Validation key
(which identifies your computer) in order to obtain your license key.
License Plate Recognition See also Image processing technology used to read license plate numbers.
License Plate Recognition (LPR) converts license plate numbers cropped from
camera images into a database searchable format.
load balancing Distribution of workload across multiple computers.

See also failover and high availability.
logical ID Unique IDs assigned to each entity in the system for ease of reference. Logical
IDs are only unique within a particular entity type.
Logical view Browser view that organizes all viewable entities in Security Desk (such as
areas, cameras, doors, elevators, maps, and so on) according to their logical
relationships. Areas are used as logical groupings for other entities. Each area
may represent a concept or a physical location.
See also Security Desk.
LPR See License Plate Recognition.
M
macro Type of entity that encapsulates a C# program that adds custom functionalities
to Security Center.
main server The only server in a Security Center system hosting the Directory role. All
other servers on the system must connect to the main server in order to be part
of the same system. In an high availability configuration where multiple servers
host the Directory role, it is the only server that can write to the Directory
database.
See also Directory server, expansion server, and server.
manufacturer extension Manufacturer specific settings for access control units, video units, and
intrusion detection units.
Map Generator Map Server module that imports raster and vector maps to Plan Manager
database.
See also Mlap Server.
map link Type of map object that lets you jump to either another map or another area of
the same map.
See also map object.

Glossary
Map mode Security Desk canvas operating mode where the main area of the canvas is used
to display a geographical map.
map object A graphical object displayed on a Plan Manager map, such as a camera, a door,
or a hyperlink, that allows you to monitor and control your Security Center
system, or to navigate through your maps.
See also hotspot, map link, and Plan Manager Client.
Map Server Plan Manager Server module that manages the private maps imported by the
Plan Manager administrator. Map Server includes two modules: Map
Generator and Tile Server.
See also Map Generator, Tile Server, and Plan Manager Server.
map view A defined display position and zoom level for a given map.
master arm Arming an intrusion detection area in such a way that all sensors attributed to
the area would set the alarm off if one of them is triggered. Some manufacturers
call this arming mode “Away arming”.
Media Router The central role that handles all stream (audio and video) requests in Security
Center. It establishes streaming sessions between the stream source (camera or
Archiver) and its requesters (client applications). Routing decisions are based
on the location (IP address) and the transmission capabilities of all parties
involved (source, destinations, networks, and servers).
metadata Metadata is data about data. Any data that describes or enriches the raw data.
Migration tool Tool used to migrate Omnicast 4.x systems to Security Center 5. This tool must
be executed on every server computer where Omnicast 4.x components are
installed.
mixed mode Access control unit operation mode where all access control decisions are
made by the unit locally based on information downloaded from the Access
Manager during unit synchronization. Access events are reported to the Access
Manager in real-time.
See also offline mode, online mode.
M-JPEG Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) is an informal name for a class of video formats where
each video frame of a digital video sequence is separately compressed as a JPEG
image.
Mobile Admin Web-based administration tool used to configure the Mobile Server.
See also Mobile Server.

Glossary
Mobile app The client component of Security Center Mobile installed on mobile devices.
Mobile app users connect to Mobile Server to receive alarms, view live video
streams, view the status of doors, and more, from Security Center.
See also mobile device, Mobile Server, and Web Client.
mobile device Any handheld device that can connect to Wi-Fi or wireless carrier networks,
such as a smartphone, tablet, and so on, on which the Mobile app is installed.
See also Mobile app.
Mobile Server The server component of Security Center Mobile that connects Mobile apps
and Web Clients to Security Center. The Mobile Server connects to Security
Center, and synchronizes the data and video between Security Center and
supported Mobile client components.
See also Mobile Admin, Mobile app, and Web Client.
monitor group Type of entity used to designate analog monitors for alarm display. Besides the
monitor groups, the only other way to display alarms in real time is to use the
Alarm monitoring task in Security Desk.
See also Alarm monitoring and analog monitor.
monitor ID ID used to uniquely identify a workstation screen controlled by Security Desk.
Monitoring Type of operation task that allows you to monitor and respond to real time
events pertaining to selected entities of interest.
motion detection The software component that watches for changes in a series of video images.
The definition of what constitutes motion in a video can be based on highly
sophisticated criteria.
Motion search Type of investigation task that searches for motion detected in specific areas of
a camera's field of view.
motion zone User defined areas within a video image where motion should be detected.
Move unit Tool used to move units from one manager role to another. The move preserves
all unit configurations and data. After the move, the new manager immediately
takes on the command and control function of the unit, while the old manager
continues to manage the unit data collected before the move.
MPEG-4 A patented collection of methods defining compression of audio and visual

(AV) digital data.
multicast Communication between a single sender and multiple receivers on a network.

Glossary
NAT See network address translation.
network Entity type used to capture the characteristics of a network for stream routing
purposes.
network address The process of modifying network address information in datagram (IP)
translation packet headers while in transit across a traffic routing device, for the purpose
of remapping one IP address space into another.
Network view Browser view that illustrates your network environment by showing each
server under the network they belong to.
O
offline mode Access control unit operation mode when the communication with the Access
Manager has been lost. The unit makes access control decisions locally, based
on information downloaded from the Access Manager during unit
synchronization. Access events are logged in the unit and are uploaded to the
Access Manager when the network connection is re-established.
See also mixed mode and online mode.
OGC Open Geospacial Consortium (OGC) is a standards organization for

geographic information systems.
See also GIS and WMS.
Omnicast Omnicast™ is the IP video surveillance system of Security Center that provides
seamless management of digital video. Omnicast allows for multiple vendors
and CODEC (coder/decoder) to be used within the same installation,
providing the maximum flexibility when selecting the appropriate hardware
for each application.
Omnicast compatibility Software component that you need to install to make Security Center
pack compatible with an Omnicast 4.x system.
Omnicast Federation Type of role that imports entities from an independent Omnicast 4.x system so
that its cameras and events can be used by your local Security Center users.
online mode Access control unit operation mode where the unit is under the direct real-time
control of the Access Manager. The Access Manager makes all access control
decisions. This mode is not available with HID VertX and Edge units.
See also mixed mode and offline mode.
output behavior Type of entity that defines a custom output signal format such as a pulse with
a delay and duration.
P
Glossary
partition Type of entity that defines a set of entities that are only visible to a specific
group of users. For example, a partition could include all doors, elevators, and
cameras in one building.
See also accepted user and partition manager.
partition manager An accepted user of a partition who has full administrative rights over the
partition and its members. A partition manager can add, modify, and delete all
entities within the partition, including users and user groups.
People counting Type of operation task that keeps count in real time of the number of
cardholders in all secured areas of your system.
perimeter arm Arming an intrusion detection area in such a way that only sensors attributed
to the area perimeter would set the alarm off if triggered. Other sensors such as
motion sensors inside the area will be ignored.
Plan Manager Map-based interface built into Security Center that allows you to view, control,
and monitor your access control, LPR, and video equipement directly from an
interactive map within Security Desk.
See also Plan Manager Client and Plan Manager Server.
Plan Manager Client Client component of Plan Manager that runs as a tile plugin within Security
Desk. It enables operators to use maps to monitor and control cameras, doors,
and other security devices, and administrators to create map objects.
See also map object, tile plugin, and Tile Server.
Plan Manager Server Server component of Plan Manager that must be hosted by a Security Center
Plugin role. Plan Manager Server includes two server modules, Data Server and
Map Server, which can be hosted on the same Plugin role or two separate
Plugin roles.
See also Data Server, Map Server, and Plugin.
Plugin Plugin. There are two definitions:

(1) Proper noun – Type of role that hosts a specific plugin.
(2) Common noun – A software module that adds a specific feature or service
to a larger system.
Point of Sale Type of role that imports transaction data from an external point of sale system
so that transaction reports can be generated from Security Desk for
investigation purposes.
See also point of sale system.

Glossary
point of sale system Point of sale (POS) typically refers to the hardware and software used for
checkouts - the equivalent of an electronic cash register. Point of sale systems
are used in supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, stadiums, and casinos, as well as
almost any type of retail establishment.
Today's POS systems handle a vast array of features, including, but not limited
to, detailed transaction capture, payment authorization, inventory tracking,
loss prevention, sales audit and employee management.
Portable Archive Player Self-contained video player that can play exported Security Center video files
on computers that do not have Security Center installed.
See also video file.
primary server The default server chosen to perform a specific function (or role) in the system.
To increase the system's fault-tolerance, the primary server can be protected by
a secondary server on standby. When the primary server becomes unavailable,
the secondary server automatically takes over.
See also failover.
private IP address An IP address chosen from a range of addresses that are only valid for use on a
LAN. The ranges for a private IP address are: 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255,
172.16.0.0 to 172.16.255.255, and 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255. Routers on
the Internet are normally configured to discard any traffic using private IP
addresses.
private task Entity that represents a saved type of task that is visible only to the user who
created it.
See also public task and task.
properties panel One of the three panels found in the Security Desk canvas. It is used to show
the metadata associated to the entity displayed in the current tile.
Public partition A special partition created at system installation that has the unique
characteristic that all its members are visible to all users on the system,
regardless whether they are accepted users or not.
public task Entity that represents a saved task that can be shared among multiple Security
Center users.
See also private task and task.
Q
R

Glossary
reader A sensor that reads the credential for an access control system. For example,
this can be a card reader, or a biometrics scanner.
recording mode The criteria by which the Archiver schedules the recording of video streams.
There are four possible recording modes:
• Off (no recording allowed)
• Manual (record only on user requests)
• Continuous (always record)
• On motion/manual (record according to motion detection settings or on
user request).
recording state Current recording status of a given camera. There are four possible recording
states:
• Enabled
• Disabled
• Currently recording (unlocked)
• Currently recording (locked).
redirector Server assigned to host a redirector agent created by the Media Router role.
redirector agent Agent created by the Media Router role to redirect data streams from one IP
endpoint to another.
redundant archiving Option that allows a copy of all the video streams of an Archiver role to be
archived simultaneously on the standby server as a protection against data loss.
Remote Type of operation task that allows you to remotely monitor and control other
Security Desks that are part of your system, using the Monitoring task and the
Alarm monitoring task.
See also Monitoring and Alarm monitoring.
Report Manager Type of role that automates report emailing and printing based on schedules.
report pane A section in the Security Desk's task workspace used to display information in
a tabular form. The rows may correspond to query results or real-time events.
See also task workspace.
request to exit Request to exit (REX).

(1) Door release button normally located on the inside of a secured area that
when pressed, allows a person to exit the secured area without having to
show any credential. This can also be the signal from a motion detector.
(2) The signal received by the controller for a request to exit.

Glossary
RFID tag Radio Frequency Identification tag. A device that communicates location data,
and other data related to the location, of an object to which it is attached.
role A software module that performs a specific function (or job) within Security
Center. Roles must be assigned to one or more servers for their execution.
See also server.
Role view Browser view that lists all roles on your system with the devices they control as
child entities.
route Entity used to configure the transmission capabilities between two end points
in a network for the purpose of routing media streams.
S
schedule 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).
See also standard schedule and twilight schedule.
scheduled task Type of entity that defines an action that executes automatically on a specific
date and time, or according to a recurring schedule.
secondary server Any alternate server on standby intended to replace the primary server in the
case the latter becomes unavailable.
See also failover and primary server.
Security Center Security Center is the unified security platform that seamlessly blends
Genetec's IP security and safety systems within a single innovative solution.
The systems unified under Security Center include Genetec's Omnicast IP
video surveillance system, Synergis IP access control system, and AutoVu IP
license plate recognition (LPR) system.
See also Security Desk.
Security Center Federation Type of role that imports entities from an independent Security Center system
so that its entities can be used by your local Security Center users.
Security Center Mobile Security Center Mobile is a feature of Genetec’s unified platform that lets you
remotely connect to your Security Center system over a wireless IP network.
Supported Mobile client components include a platform-independent, unified
Web Client, as well as various Mobile apps for smartphones and tablets.
See also Mobile Admin, Mobile app, Mobile Server, and Web Client.

Glossary
security clearance Numerical value used to further restrict the access to an area when a threat level
is in effect. Cardholders can only access (enter or exit) an area if their security
clearance is equal or higher than the minimum security clearance set on the
area.
See also threat level.
Security Desk Security Desk is the unified user interface of Security Center. It provides
consistent operator flow across all of the Security Center’s main systems,
Omnicast, Synergis, and AutoVu. Security Desk’s unique task-based design lets
operators efficiently control and monitor multiple security and public safety
applications.
See also Security Center.
selector One of the panes found in the Security Desk's task workspace. The selector
contains different sets of tools, grouped in tabs, to help you find and select the
information you need to work on.
See also task workspace.
server Type of entity that represents a server machine on which Genetec Server is
installed.
See also expansion server, Genetec Server, and main server.
Server Admin Web application running on every server machine in Security Center that
allows you to configure the settings of Genetec Server. Server Admin also
allows you to configure the Directory role on the main server.
sharing guest Security Center system that is given the rights to view and modify entities
shared by another system, called the sharing host.
See also Global Cardholder Synchronizer and global partition.
sharing host Security Center system that owns partitions that are shared with other Security
Center systems, called sharing guests.
See also global partition.
SMC See Synergis Master Controller.
Software Development Kit Software Development Kit (SDK). Allows end-users to develop custom
applications or custom application extensions for Security Center.
SSL Secure Sockets Layer is a protocol used to secure applications that need to
communicate over a network.

Glossary
standard schedule A subtype of schedule entity that may be used in all situations. Its only
limitation is that it does not support daytime or nighttime coverage.
See also twilight schedule.
standby server See secondary server.
stream stream.
(1) Video stream.
(2) Entity representing a specific video quality configuration on a camera.
strict antipassback Antipassback option. When enabled, a passback event is generated when a
cardholder attempts to leave an area that they were never granted access to.
When disabled, Security Center only generates passback events for cardholders
entering an area that they never exited.
See also timed antipassback.
synchronous video Simultaneous live video or playback video from more than one camera that are
synchronized in time.
Synergis Synergis™ is the IP access control system of the Security Center designed to
offer end-to-end IP connectivity, from access control reader to client
workstation. Synergis™ seamlessly integrates a variety of access control
capabilities including, but not limited to, badge design, visitor management,
elevator control, zone monitoring and more.
Synergis Master Controller Genetec's access control unit that supports a variety of third party readers and
(SMC) interface modules over IP, USB, and RS-485. SMC is seamlessly integrated to
Security Center, and is capable of making the access control decisions
independently of the Access Manager.
See also access control unit, controller module, and four-port RS-485 module.
system event A system event is a standard Security Center event defined at system
installation. Unlike custom events, system events cannot be renamed or
deleted.
See also custom event.
System status Type of maintenance task that monitors the status of all entities of a given type
in real time, and allows you to interact with them.
T
tailgating A person who enters a secure area without presenting a credential, by following
behind another person who has presented their credential.

Glossary
task The central concept on which the entire Security Center user interface is built.
Each task corresponds to one aspect of your work as a security professional. For
example, use a monitoring task to monitor system events in real-time, use an
investigation task to discover suspicious activity patterns, or use an
administration task to configure your system. All tasks can be customized and
multiple tasks can be carried out simultaneously.
See also private task and public task.
task cycling Security Desk feature that automatically cycles through all tasks in the active
task list following a fixed dwell time.
task workspace Area in the Security Center client application window reserved for the current
task. The workspace is typically divided into three panes:
• canvas
• selector
• report pane
See also canvas, report pane, and selector.
taskbar User interface element of the Security Center client application window,
composed of the Home button and the task list. The taskbar can be configured
to appear on either edge of the application window.
threat level Emergency handling procedure that a Security Desk operator can enact on one
area or the entire system to deal promptly with a potentially dangerous
situation, such as a fire or a shooting.
tile An individual window within the tile panel, used to display a single entity. The
entity displayed is typically the video from a camera, a map, or anything of a
graphical nature. The look and feel of the tile depends on the displayed entity.
See also tile panel.
tile ID The number displayed at the upper left corner of the tile. This number uniquely
identifies each tile within the tile panel.
See also tile and tile panel.
Tile mode Security Desk canvas operating mode where the main area of the canvas is used
to display the tile panel and the dashboard.
tile panel Panel within the canvas used to display multimedia information, such as
videos, maps and pictures. The tile panel is composed of individual display
windows called tiles.
See also canvas and tile.

Glossary
tile pattern Predefined tile arrangements within the tile panel.

See also tile panel.
Tile Server Map Server module that answers the map requests issued from Plan Manager
Client.
See also Map Server and Plan Manager Client.
tile plugin Type of entity that represents an application that runs inside a Security Desk
tile. Examples of tile plugins include a web browser (available as standard
Security Center feature) and Plan Manager Client.
See also Plan Manager and plugin.
Time and attendance Type of investigation task that reports on who has been inside a selected area
and the total duration of their stay within a given time range.
timed antipassback Antipassback option. When Security Center considers a cardholder to be

already in an area, a passback event is generated when the cardholder attempts
to access the same area again during the time delay defined by Timeout. When
the time delay has expired, the cardholder can once again pass into the area
without generating a passback event.
See also strict antipassback.
timeline A graphic illustration of a video sequence, showing where in time, motion, and
bookmarks are found. Thumbnails can also be added to the timeline to help the
user select the segment of interest.
Transmission Control The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a connection-oriented protocol

Protocol used to send data over an IP network. The TCP/IP protocol defines how data
can be transmitted in a secure manner between networks. TCP/IP is the most
widely used communications standard and is the basis for the Internet.
trickling The process of transferring data in small amounts.
twilight schedule A subtype of schedule entity that supports both daytime and nighttime
coverages. A twilight schedule may not be used in all situations. Its primary
function is to control video related behaviors.
See also standard schedule.
U
unicast Communication between a single sender and a single receiver over a network.

Glossary
Uniform Resource Locator A URL (Uniform Resource Locator, previously Universal Resource Locator) is
the unique address for a file that is accessible on the Internet. The URL contains
the name of the protocol (http:, ftp:, file:) to be used to access the file resource,
a domain name that identifies a specific computer on the Internet, and a path
name, a hierarchical description that specifies the location of a file in that
computer.
unit A hardware device that communicates over an IP network that can be directly
controlled by a Security Center role. We distinguish four types of units in
Security Center:
• Access control units, managed by the Access Manager role
• Video units, managed by the Archiver role
• LPR units, managed by the LPR Manager role
• Intrusion detection units, managed by the Intrusion Manager role.
See also access control unit, Access Manager, Archiver, Intrusion Manager, LPR
Manager, LPR unit, and video unit.
Unit discovery tool Tool that allows you to discover IP units connected to your network, based on
their type (access control or video), manufacturer, and network properties
(discovery port, IP address range, password, and so on). Once discovered, the
units can be added to your system.
Unit replacement Tool used to replace a failed hardware device with a compatible one, while
ensuring that the data associated to the old unit gets transferred to the new one.
For an access control unit, the configuration of the old unit is copied to the new
unit. For a video unit, the video archive associated to the old unit is now
associated to the new unit, but the unit configuration is not copied.
user Type of entity that identifies a person who uses Security Center applications
and defines the rights and privileges that person has on the system. Users can
be created manually or imported from an Active Directory.
See also Active Directory and user group.
User Datagram Protocol The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a connectionless protocol used to
exchange data over an IP network. UDP is more efficient than TCP for video
transmission because of lower overhead.
user group Type of entity that defines a group of users who share common properties and
privileges. By becoming member of a group, a user automatically inherits all
the properties of the group. A user can be member of multiple user groups.
User groups can also be nested.
See also user.

Glossary
user level A numeric value assigned to users to restrict their ability to perform certain
operations, such as controlling a camera PTZ, viewing the video feed from a
camera, or to stay logged on when a threat level is set. The smaller the value, the
higher the priority.
See also threat level, user, and user group.
user privilege Privileges that control what operations a user is allowed to perform in Security
Center, independent of what entities they can access, and within the
constraints set by the software license. User privileges can be inherited from
user groups.
See also access right, partition, user, and user group.
V
validation key Serial number uniquely identifying a computer that must be provided to obtain
the license key.
See also license key.
video analytics The software technology that is used to analyze video for specific information
about its content. Examples of video analytics include counting the number of
people going through a door, license plate recognition, detection of unattended
objects, or the direction of people walking or running.
video archive Video archive includes both the recorded audio/video footage and the database
that documents those recordings (source camera, timestamps, events,
bookmarks, and so on).
video encoder Device that converts an analog video source to a digital format using a standard
compression algorithm (H.264, MPEG-4, MPEG-2 or M-JPEG). The video
encoder is one of the many devices found on a video encoding unit.
See also camera and video unit.
video decoder Device that converts a digital video stream into analog signals (NTSC or PAL)
for display on an analog monitor. The video decoder is one of the many devices
found on a video decoding unit.
See also analog monitor and video unit.
video file File created by an archiving role (Archiver or Auxiliary Archiver) to store
archived video. The file extension is G64. You need the Security Desk or the
Portable Archive Player to read video files.
See also Archiver, Auxiliary Archiver, and G64.

Glossary
Video file player Type of investigation task that browses through your file system for video files
(G64) and allows you to play, convert to ASF, and verify the authenticity of
these files.
video sequence Any recorded video stream of a certain duration.
video unit Type of entity that represents a video encoding or decoding device capable of
communicating over an IP network and incorporating one or more video
encoders. They come in a wide variety of brands and models. Some support
audio, others support wireless communication. The high-end encoding models
come with their own recording and video analytics capabilities.
See also Archiver, video decoder, and video encoder.
video watermarking Process by which a digital signature (watermark) is added to each recorded
video frame to ensure its authenticity. If anyone later tries to make changes to
the video (add, delete or modify a frame), the signatures will no longer match,
thus, showing that the video has been tampered with.
virtual zone A subtype of zone entity where the IO linking is done by software. The input
and output devices may belong to different units of different types. A virtual
zone is controlled by the Zone Manager and only works online. It can be armed
and disarmed from Security Desk.
See also hardware zone and zone.
Visit details Type of investigation task that reports on the stay (check-in and check-out
time) of current and past visitors.
Visitor activities Type of investigation task that reports on visitor activities (access denied, first
person in, last person out, antipassback violation, and so on).
Visitor management Type of operation task that allows you to check in, check out, and modify
visitors, as well as manage their credentials, including temporary replacement
cards.
visual tracking Visual tracking is a feature in Security Desk that allows you to follow an
individual across different areas of your company without ever loosing sight of
that individual, as long as the places this person goes through are monitored by
cameras. This feature displays transparent overlays on the video to show you
where you can click to switch to adjacent cameras.
VSIP port The VSIP port is the name given to the discovery port of Verint units. A given
Archiver can be configured to listen to multiple VSIP ports.
See also discovery port.

Glossary
watchdog Security Center service installed alongside the Genetec Server service on every
server computer, whose sole purpose is to monitor the operation of Genetec
Server, and to restart it if abnormal conditions are detected.
Web-based SDK Type of role that exposes the Security Center SDK methods and objects as Web
services to support cross-platform development.
Web Client The client component of Security Center Mobile that provides access to
Security Center features from a Web browser. Web Client users connect to
Mobile Server to configure and monitor various aspects of your Security
Center system.
See also Mobile Server.
widget A component of the graphical user interface (GUI) with which the user
interacts.
Wiegand An electrical interface standard and format used between a reader and
controller (from the original Wiegand card reader).
Windows Communication Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is a communication

Foundation architecture used to enable applications, in one machine or across multiple
machines connected by a network, to communicate. AutoVu Patroller uses
WCF to communicate wirelessly with Security Center.
WMS Web Map Service (WMS) is a standard protocol for serving over the Internet,
georeferenced map images that are generated by a map server using data from
a GIS database.
See also GIS and OGC.
X
Y
Z
zone Type of entity that monitors a set of inputs and triggers events based on their
combined states. These events can be used to control output relays.
See also hardware zone, IO linking, and virtual zone.
Zone activities Type of investigation task that reports on zone related activities (zone armed,
zone disarmed, lock released, lock secured, and so on).
Zone Manager Type of role that manages virtual zones and triggers events or output relays
based on the inputs configured for each zone. It also logs the zone events in a
database for zone activity reports.

Index
A Alarm report
about, 98
access control viewing past alarms, 92
controlling doors, 88 alarm widget
setting unlock schedules, 88 about, 29
access control events commands, 29
monitoring, 67 allowing access through doors, 88
viewing, 67 analyzing report results, 39
access rule antipassback
applying, 72 forgiving violations, 35
acknowledge alternate, about, 93 applying
acknowledging alarms, 29, 93 custom filters, 10
actions custom filters using search tool, 10
task-related, 12 digital zoom, 44
active alarm, viewing, 92 name filters, 10, 68
adding Archives
bookmarks, 50 about, 57
favorites, 4 finding video archives, 57
tasks, 12 querying, 57
advanced search, about, 68 archives
alarm finding, 57
acknowledging, 29, 93 ASF format
force acknowledge, 29, 93 about, 59
forwarding, 29 assigning
investigating, 29, 93 cardholder access rules, 72
monitoring, 93 cardholder pictures, 70
searching, 98 credentials, 78
showing procedure, 93 temporary cards
snoozing, 29, 93 cardholders, 82
testing, 97 visitors, 82
triggering, 97 attached entities, about, 26
unpacking tiles, 92 automatic entry, using, 78
viewing, 92
viewing attached entities, 92
Alarm monitoring B
about, 93
badge template, printing, 81
acknowledging, 93
bookmark
alarm widget, 29
adding, 50
forwarding alarms
viewing, 50
manually, 95
Bookmarks
viewing bookmarked video, 50

Index
browsing tile history, 23 pictures, 70

assigning access rules, 72
creating cardholders, 70
C managing
camera lost cards, 82
default video mode, 52 temporary cards, 82
saving snapshots, 46 printing badges, 81
switching video modes changing
live, 54 tile pattern, 27
playback, 54 checking-in
using new visitors, 74
digital zoom, 44 returning visitors, 76
snapshots, 46 checking-out visitors, 77
visual tracking, 49 clearing
video modes, 52 threat levels, 20
viewing, 42 tiles, 25
zooming in/out, 44 closing
camera widget Security Desk, 3
about, 30 tasks, 12
commands, 30 commands
canvas alarm widget, 29
about, 6 camera widget, 30
changing tile pattern, 27 door widget, 35
viewing PTZ widget, 33
alarms, 92 timeline, 56
cameras, 42 composite entity, about, 26
viewing entities, 25 configuration pages, jumping to, 8
working with, 22 configuring
cardholder entities, 8
applying access rules, 72 connecting
assigning to Security Center, 3
credentials, 78 contacting technical support, 141
pictures, 70 copying exported video files, 63
creating, 70 creating
printing badges, 81 cardholders, 70
requesting credentials, 80 digital zoom presets, 45
searching, 68 tasks, 12
viewing properties, 84 credential
Cardholder configuration, about, 84 assigning automatically, 78
cardholder group assigning manually, 78
viewing member properties, 84 requesting, 80
Cardholder management searching
assigning advanced search, 68
credentials, 78 by name, 68
searching for, 68
viewing properties, 85
Credential configuration, about, 85
critical event, setting threat level, 19

Index
custom filter, applying, 10 entities

cycling configuring, 8
entities, 26 finding, 8
tasks, 12 monitoring, 14
renaming, 8
searching
D by custom filter, 10
dashboard by name, 10
about, 6 using search tool, 10
hiding, 6 selecting which to monitor, 15
widgets viewing, 25
alarm, 29 in tiles, 25
camera, 30 viewing from Logical view, 8
door, 35 entity cycling
PTZ, 33 about, 26
default entity states
video mode, 52 red, 8
demo license, acquiring, 141 yellow, 8
digital zoom entity tree, about, 8
about, 44 event
applying, 44 monitoring, 14
creating presets, 45 selecting which to monitor, 15
using, 44 exporting
displaying report results, 40
cameras in canvas, 42 video, 60
document information, ii exporting statuses, 65
documentation. See production documentation formats, 59
door
allowing access, 88
forgiving antipassback violations, 35
F
investigating events, 90 fast forward video playback, 53
overriding unlock schedules, 35 favorites, adding, 4
unlocking, 35 File format, option, 47
Door activities, about, 90 file format, snapshots, 47
door widget finding
about, 35 entities in Logical view, 8
commands, 35 saved snapshots, 46
video archives, 57
by date, 57
E with specific time ranges, 57
emptying tiles, 25 Folder, option, 47
enabling force acknowledge alarms, 93
visual tracking, 49 force acknowledge, alarms, 29
formats, video export, 59
forwarding alarms, 29
manually, 95

Index
G logging on
default mode, 3
G64 format, about, 59 Security Center, 3
generating using Windows credentials, 3
reports, 39 with supervision, 3
maximum results, 39 Logical view
about, 8
hiding, 6
H lost card, managing, 82
hiding
dashboard, 6
Logical view, 6 M
Home button, about, 4 maintenance tasks
Home page generating reports, 39
about, 4 managing
lost cards, 82
temporary cards, 82
I manual entry, using, 78
incidents maximum results
reporting, 17 Security Desk reports, 39
inherited video mode, 52 monitoring
interface events, 14
overview, 4
See also UI components
investigating N
doors, 90 name filter, applying, 10, 68
visitors, 86 notification tray
investigating alarms, 29, 93 about, 4
investigation tasks
generating reports, 39
O
J on-tile video controls
about, 43
jumping to configuration pages, 8 opening
Security Desk, 3
snapshots tool, 46
L tasks, 12
licensing, 141 Options
live video Video
about, 52 Snapshots, 47
commands, 30 overriding unlock schedules, 35, 88
on-tile controls, 43
recording modes, 52
switching to playback, 54 P
loading tasks, 12 packing tile content, 26
logging off, Security Center, 3 paper credential, printing, 81

Index
past alarm, viewing, 92 returning temporary cards, 83

picture reversing video playback, 53
assigning to cardholders, 70
playback video
about, 52 S
commands, 30 saved task, reloading, 12
on-tile controls, 43 saving
states, 53 report results, 40
switching to live, 54 report templates, 39
timeline, 54 snapshots, 46
presets, creating for digital zoom, 45 tasks, 12
printing workspace, 12
cardholder badges, 81 schedule. See unlock schedule
paper credentials, 81 scrolling using timeline, 56
report results, 40 search box, using, 10, 68
visitor badges, 81 search tool, using, 10
product documentation, about, 140 searching for
PTZ widget alarms, 98
about, 33 cardholders, 68
commands, 33 credential names, 68
credentials, 68
advanced search, 68
Q entities
Query tab by name, 10
about, 37 visitors, 68
Security Center
connecting, 3
R default logon, 3
recording state, viewing, 23, 30 logging off, 3
red entity state, 8 logging on, 3
reloading saved tasks, 12 with supervision, 3
renaming entities, 8 with Windows credentials, 3
report Security Desk
analyzing results, 39 about, 2
exporting, 40 closing, 3
printing, 40 main components, 4
saving, 40 opening, 3
saving templates, 39 UI overview, 6
report pane user interface overview, 4
about, 6, 37 selecting
working with, 36 entities to monitor, 15
report results, analyzing, 39 events to monitor, 15
reporting incidents, 17 sending tasks, 12
reporting tasks setting
generating reports, 39 threat levels, 19
UI layout, 37 sharing exported video files, 63
requesting credential cards, 80

Index
showing visitors, 82
alarm procedure, 93 managing, 82
slow motion, video playback, 53 returning, 83
snapshots testing alarms, 97
choosing file format, 47 threat level
configuring options, 47 clearing, 20
controls, 46 setting, 19
finding, 46 tile ID, about, 23
options, 47 tile memory, about, 23
saving, 46 tile pattern
using, 46 changing, 27
snapshots tool, opening, 46 tile toolbar, about, 23
snoozing alarms, 29, 93 tiles
sorting tasks, 12 about, 23
status, exporting video, 65 browsing history, 23
switching changing display pattern, 27
cameras using visual tracking, 49 clearing, 25
System entity, about, 8 emptying, 25
packing/unpacking, 26
using the timeline, 56
T video controls, 43
task viewing entities, 25
cycling, 12 timeline
loading, 12 about, 54, 56
opening, 12 commands, 56
saving, 12 scrolling, 56
sorting, 12 zooming, 56
task list, about, 4 Tools
task types Report an incident, 17
investigation tasks Snapshots, 46
Alarm report, 98 Threat levels, 19
Archives, 57 tracking using visual tracking, 49
Door activities, 90 triggering
Visitor activities, 86 alarms, 97
maintenance tasks
Cardholder configuration, 84
Credential configuration, 85
U
operation tasks UI component
Alarm monitoring, 93 Home button, 4
Visitor management, 74 Home page, 4
task workspace, about, 4 notification tray, 4
taskbar task list, 4
about, 4 task workspace, 4
technical support, contacting, 141 taskbar, 4
temporary card tile, 23
assigning UI overview, 6
cardholders, 82 reporting tasks, 37

Index
unlock schedule from Logical view, 8

about, 88 recording state, 23, 30
overriding, 88 video archives, 57
unlocking doors, 35 visitor
unpacking assigning credentials, 78
alarm entities, 92 checking-in, 74
tile content, 26 checking-out, 77
user interface, overview, 4 investigating events, 86
using printing badges, 81
digital zoom, 44 requesting credentials, 80
search box, 10, 68 returning visitor, 76
search tool, 10 searching, 68
snapshots, 46 Visitor activities
timeline, 56 about, 86
visual tracking, 49 querying, 86
Visitor management
about, 74
V assigning credentials, 78
video checking-in, 74
bookmarking, 50 checking-out, 77
commands, 30 managing
exporting, 60 lost cards, 82
playback states, 53 temporary cards, 82
using timeline, 56 printing badges, 81
video archives visual tracking
finding by date, 57 about, 48
searching specific time ranges, 57 enabling, 49
video export formats, 59
video file
exporting, 60
W
sharing, 63 widgets
video mode alarm, 29
inherited, 52 camera, 30
video modes door, 35
about, 52 PTZ, 33
default inherited, 52 Windows credentials, logging on to Security Center, 3
switching to live, 54 working with
switching to playback, 54 canvas, 22
video options report pane, 36
snapshots, 47 workspace, saving, 12
viewing Write snapshot info, option, 47
alarms, 92
bookmarked video, 50
cameras, 42 Y
cardholder properties, 84 yellow state, entities, 8
credential properties, 85
entities, 25

Index
Z
zooming
in/out of camera image, 44
in/out using timeline, 56

Where to find product documentation
You can find our product documentation in the following locations:
• Installation package. The documentation is available in the Documentation folder of the
installation package. Some of the documents also have a direct download link to the latest
version of the document.
• Genetec Technical Assistance Portal (GTAP). The latest version of the documentation is
available from the GTAP Documents page. Note, you’ll need a username and password to
log on to GTAP.
• Help. Security Center client and web-based applications include help, which explain how
the product works and provide instructions on how to use the product features. Patroller
and the Sharp Portal also include context-sensitive help for each screen. To access the help,
click Help, press F1, or tap the ? (question mark) in the different client applications.

Technical support
Genetec Technical Assistance Center (GTAC) is committed to providing its worldwide clientele
with the best technical support services available. As a Genetec customer, you have access to the
Genetec Technical Assistance Portal (GTAP), where you can find information and search for
answers to your product questions.
• Genetec Technical Assistance Portal (GTAP). GTAP is a support website that provides in-
depth support information, such as FAQs, knowledge base articles, user guides, supported
device lists, training videos, product tools, and much more.
Prior to contacting GTAC or opening a support case, it is important to look at this website for
potential fixes, workarounds, or known issues. You can log in to GTAP or sign up at
https://gtap.genetec.com.
• Genetec Technical Assistance Center (GTAC). If you cannot find your answers on GTAP, you
can open a support case online at https://gtap.genetec.com. For GTAC's contact information in
your region see the Contact page at https://gtap.genetec.com.
NOTE Before contacting GTAC, please have your System ID (available from the About button in
your client application) and your SMA contract number (if applicable) ready.
• Licensing.
 For license activations or resets, please contact GTAC at https://gtap.genetec.com.
 For issues with license content or part numbers, or concerns about an order, please contact
Genetec Customer Service at customerservice@genetec.com, or call 1-866-684-8006
(option #3).
 If you require a demo license or have questions regarding pricing, please contact Genetec
Sales at sales@genetec.com, or call 1-866-684-8006 (option #2).
Additional resources
If you require additional resources other than the Genetec Technical Assistance Center, the
following is available to you:
• GTAP Forum. The Forum is an easy to use message board that allows clients and Genetec staff
to communicate with each other and discuss a variety of topics, ranging from technical
questions to technology tips. You can log in or sign up at https://gtapforum.genetec.com.
• Technical training. In a professional classroom environment or from the convenience of your
own office, our qualified trainers can guide you through system design, installation, operation,
and troubleshooting. Technical training services are offered for all products and for customers
with a varied level of technical experience, and can be customized to meet your specific needs
and objectives. For more information, go to http://www.genetec.com/Services.


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Security Desk

Getting Started Guide

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 ii

Notes and notices

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 iii

Chapter 1: Security Desk basics

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 iv

Chapter 5: Monitoring cameras

Chapter 6: Monitoring access control entities

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 v

Chapter 7: Monitoring alarms

Where to find product documentation . . . . . . . . . .140

Technical support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 vi

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 1

About Security Desk

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 2

Log on to Security Desk

To log on to Security Desk:

Close Security Desk

To close Security Desk:

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 3

Home page overview

A Home tab • Click to show or hide the Home page.

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 4

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 5

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 6

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 7

About the Logical view

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 8

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 9

Searching for entities

To search for an entity:

Searching for entities using the Search tool

To search for an entity using the Search tool:

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 10

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 11

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 12

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 13

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 14

Selecting events to monitor

To select events to monitor:

Selecting entities to monitor

To select entities to monitor:

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 15

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 16

3 Click the More options drop-down list.

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 17

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 18

Responding to critical events through threat levels

To set a threat level:

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 19

3 In the confirmation dialog box that opens, click Apply.

Clearing threat levels

To clear a threat level:

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 20

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 21

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 22

How tiles work

A Tile ID Right-click to show the tile menu commands.

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 23

C Yellow frame Indicates that the tile is selected.

gtap.genetec.com | Security Desk Getting Started Guide 5.2 24