Due to rapid technological progress and increasing digitalization, system integrators and installers are also constantly on the lookout for innovative video surveillance solutions and new business models.
In this article, we take a closer look at the alarm center function of the Dahua (EI) network recorders, which has been specially developed for integration into downstream systems. This new feature promises not only improved alarm notification, but also smooth connection to applications such as control center software, parking management system or retail analytics.
The alarm center function of the Dahua EI Recorder takes the integrability of the video surveillance system to a new level. In addition to the usual alarms in case of an event, this function can also be used to transmit video metadata, such as people counting or license plate recognition, to other platforms - for example to a retail analytics solution such as Flame Analytics.
Simple forwarding of alarm events and video metadata
The core of the new alarm center function is the HTTP push feature. For the first time, alarm events can be pushed not only via FTP or e-mail, but also via HTTP. This innovation enables faster and more reliable transmission of alarm information, which is particularly important in safety-critical situations.
The transfer of video metadata to third-party systems (e.g. control centers or cloud services) also opens up completely new opportunities. The real-time transmission means that follow-up actions can be triggered immediately. This is of particular benefit to control centers that also offer the connection of video surveillance systems. In the past, they often had to use the FTP upload function of Dahua recorders as a trigger for alarm events. With the introduction of the HTTP push feature, this procedure will probably soon be obsolete. It is important to note that the Alarm Center function only supports the alarming in case of an event or the forwarding of video metadata.
The alarm center function: quick to configure in the recorder
The HTTP push function can be set by any expert installer or system integrator. The function can be activated and configured under Settings > Network > Alarm control unit. It is essential that the target server can receive and process the transmitted format. Generally, the installer or system integrator receives all access data from the responsible server operator. However, the data can currently only be forwarded to a fixed IP address and not to a URL. This is where the Controlex Web Service (CXWS) offers a workaround - more on this in the next section. If you have any questions about the new alarm center function, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Simplified integration with the Controlex Web Service (CXWS)
For smooth and efficient data processing in the cloud, we offer our customers the Controlex Web Service (CXWS). With this service, alarm events or video metadata from the alarm center function can be forwarded directly to any URL address. In addition, it is possible to be notified of alarm events by phone call or SMS. Thanks to our close cooperation with Dahua's development department, we implement further extensions to the HTTP push functions quickly and reliably, which significantly reduces or even completely eliminates the programming effort for system integrators or platform operators.
In case you have any further inquiries about the alarm center function or our web service, you can also book a free consultation with our team of experts - we will be happy to assist you.
