Alarm Out to Trigger Relay for External Components

This article will cover how to wire an alarm out port on IC Realtime equipment to a Timer/Delayed relay to trigger a 3rd party device such as a strobe light. Before we cover the concept, please read the "Before You Begin" section below.

 

Before You Begin: (Must Read)

Concerns: Due to the pixel-based nature of video analytics, IVS can have false alerts and is not 100% perfect. It is not recommended to use something like a Siren as this will trigger the sirens when false alerts are triggered. It could be a couple of times a day or it could trip dozens of times a day incorrectly depending on the complexity of the scene. (See here for IVS setup recommendations)

Another point concern is when adding multiple different cameras to trigger the same external device. For example, 10 cameras to 1 siren if every camera has 2 false alerts throughout the day the siren will falsely trigger 20 times in 1 day.

Make sure your customer is aware of the false alerts if relying on video analytics to avoid expectations issues with the job site.

Warning: This is not a recommended setup for mission-critical items that require 0 false alerts or 0 missed alerts. IC Realtime will not be responsible for false alerts triggered due to the limitation of currently available technology. This document only covers the concept of how to wire alarm out contacts to external devices such as a strobe light, siren, and other items. IC Realtime support will be limited on the support we are able to provide for the false alerts triggered.

Recommendation: It is recommended to use external devices such as PIR Motion Sensors or Laser barricades instead of relying on Video Analytics to trigger alarm systems as those require a physical object to cross through them instead of pixel changes. Utilizing these devices will drastically reduce false alerts compared to pixel-based IVS triggers.

Wiring Concept:

See the image below. A relay's trigger signal must be wired from the back of a recorder (or from a camera's alarm output ports). It is recommended to use a timer relay so you can adjust how long the external device is triggered. For example, if you want a light to stay on for 30 seconds you would adjust the relay's timer to 30 seconds.

The alarm out ports on the recorders and cameras are NO (Normally Open) dry contacts and will require independent power to be introduced. The alarm contacts support a max of 12v 1A.

Recorder Event Trigger Setup:

On the recorder, you will need to access the type of event you wish to use for the event trigger. In this example, we will use IVS but the concept is the same if you used other types like motion.

Steps are based on local GUI from the unit's headend. Steps are similar in the web browser but the placement of options may differ slightly in location but menu names will be the same.

Step 1: Go to the IVS menu.

Step 2: Select the desired camera channel and set up the IVS rule (tripwire or intrusion).

Step 3: Click the gearwheel icon under the trigger to set trigger parameters. A parameters window will open.

Step 4: Select Settings for Alarm. Another window will open.

Step 5: Turn the slider on for general alarm this will enable that even to trigger alarm outs.

Step 6: Select the desired Alarm grouping based on the ports used on the recorder. Default is alarm output port 1. (Alarm out ports are Normally Open (NO) dry contacts)

Step 7: Save settings and you are done. it is recommended to test the event triggers to make sure they are working correctly.