Configuring IP cameras for Alarm Recording Introduction: In this guide we take you through each step to get your IP camera setup to record when an alarm device is triggered. You can use any alarm device that has a NC or NO output to trigger the IP camera to record, but the most commonly used alarm devices that people use are PIR motion sensors and the device that we will be using as an example in this guide is the ES-PIR-1. PIR motion sensors are the same type of motion sensors that access control installers such as ADT use to detect motion within a room or any given area. The advantage of using an attached PIR motion sensor over the IP camera s built in motion sensing capabilities is you are getting a much truer motion trigger. For example, the IP camera uses pixel based motion detection, which means anytime the camera senses pixel movement within its field of view, the camera will trigger on recording. The disadvantage to this is you will get a lot of false triggers this way due to a noisy (static) picture at night: small things such as leaves blowing, if the camera moves from the wind, etc. A PIR motion sensor will only be triggered if something breaks the invisible infrared beams that its shooting out and this eliminates the false triggers that you would get from using the IP camera s pixel based motion detection recording. Like we said, you can use other alarm devices such as door magnets, doorbells, etc. to trigger on alarm device recording, but for example purposes, we will be using a PIR motion sensor in this guide. Step 1: First we will need to make sure the IP camera and the alarm device are properly wired and plugged in. Once that is complete, type the IP cameras IP address in Internet Explorer to access the admin page. Once you have reached the login screen, login with your username and password then click login. (Default login: admin /password: admin)
Step 2: Now that you are logged into the IP camera you will notice a tab at the top right of the screen that says SET. Click SET to bring you to the settings screen. Step 3: Now that we are viewing the settings screen you will notice on the left hand menu there is a section labeled EVENT. Click EVENT and then select ALARM to bring you to the alarm configuration screen. From here we will need to set up a few options: Enable: Make sure this box is checked to enable alarm input activation. Relay-In: This should be set to the alarm number you have your alarm input connected to. Working Period: Here we can click the SET button to bring up a schedule screen where you can set times and days you want your alarm to be active. First select the day of the week you want to set a time for or select all days of the week by click the ALL box. Next, set the timeframe you would like to have your alarm active in the Period boxes below (Keep in mind this is set in a 24 hour format) once you have a time frame make sure the corresponding "Period #" box is checked then click the Save button to save your changes. In our example below we have set alarm activation from 9am to 5pm on Sat. and Sun. the rest of the week we have a 24 hour alarm scheduled.
Anti-Dither: This tells the IP camera to continue to record for a certain time after the alarm has ended. We recommend leaving this at 0 because the Delay setting is very similar. Sensor Type: This needs to be set to what alarm type you have, either "NO" (Normal Open) or "NC" (Normal Closed). Record: This box MUST be checked if you want the IP camera to start recording once an alarm is triggered. Record Delay: This option tells the IP camera to record a certain amount of seconds after the alarm has ended. This can be set from 10-300 seconds. Relay-out: This option activates an alarm output device once an alarm is triggered. If you have an alarm output device connected leave this box checked if you want it to activate once the alarm input is triggered. Alarm Delay: This option tells the alarm output device how many seconds to continue going off once it is triggered. For example, if someone walked in front of your PIR sensor it would trigger the alarm output device such as a siren and the siren will continue to sound for the amount of seconds you set. Send E-Mail: This option can be checked to send you an email once an alarm has been triggered. PTZ: Here you can checked the box next to PTZ to activate this option. To the left right you will notice a dropdown box labeled Activation and also the Address box. -Activation: This option allows you to set preset, tour, or pattern that will activate once the alarm is triggered. -Address: Here you will need to type in the number of your preset, tour, or pattern that you want to have activated once the alarm is triggered. Snapshot: You can check this box to have the IP camera take a snapshot every 1-7 seconds after the alarm is triggered.
Step 4: Now that we have our options configured all we need to do is click the Save button at the bottom to save your changes. Step 5: Now that we have the alarm options for our scenario we will need to set where we would like to camera to record to once an alarm is triggered. To begin, first select Storage from the left menu, then select the option labeled Destination. From here you will see check boxes for: Local: Timer, Motion Detect, Alarm - This sets the camera to write onto the SD card when one of the recordings types is selected. Leave all three of these options checked to have all recording types record to the SD card. FTP: Timer, Motion Detect, Alarm - This option records directly to an FTP server that you have set up. For this part of the guide we are setting up alarm recording to the SD card. Make sure the Alarm box is checked. Next, click the Schedule option in the left menu to bring you to the schedule screen. Here is where we can set the alarm recording schedule. To do so we will need to click the "Set" button next to one of the days we want to set alarm recording for. A new screen will pop up with editable fields labeled Period 1
through 6 this is where you set custom timeframes for one or all recording types. For example, if we wanted to set Wednesday to alarm recording only from 9am to 5pm, we would: Click the button "Set" next to Wednesday. In the new window type 9 in the beginning time box then in end time box type in 17 (Don't forget that you have to input the time in a 24 hour time format). Keep in mind this is just an example, please set the timeframe to best fit your schedule. See picture below, when you are done setting your schedule click the Save button to save your changes. Note: If you want the same schedule on multiple days you don't have to set it individually. Once you have your Period timeframe set, just click in each box next to the days of the week at the top, this will copy the timeframe to the days you selected.
Step 6: Now you have everything set up correctly for alarm activation and recording. The only thing left to do is click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save any changes. Congratulations! EYEsurv 2012