Event Rules for Offline Camera Alarm

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Affected Roles: Owner, Administrator

Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: DW Spectrum IPVMS

Software Version: 5.1.0.37133

Last Edit: September 5, 2023

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Event Rule for Offline Camera Alarm

DW Spectrum’s Event Rule features include default system alerts, including an alarm for when a camera is unexpectedly disconnected or goes offline. Depending on the site requirements, it may be in the Owner’s best interests to investigate why the camera has gone offline so that the issue can be resolved with minimal downtime. While Spectrum will create onscreen notifications within the desktop client, adding an audio notification to sound can help to ensure that administrators are made aware of such an occurrence.

This article will outline how to create an Event Rule in DW Spectrum to work with the DW-SWSP15 IP-enabled Horn Speaker to notify system administrators when a camera goes offline.

**NOTE: The Auto Discovery feature will need to be enabled in DW Spectrum to allow automatic device status checks and for the “Camera Disconnected” event to occur. This setting can be found in the System Administration > General > System Settings menu.

Supported/Affected Devices:

IP-enabled Horn Speaker (DW-SWSP15)

Setting Up HTTP Events and Event Rules

Part 1: Configuring the Speaker

When using the DW-SWSP15 Horn Speaker as the source of audio output for this alert, HTTP URL commands will need to be used to communicate.

Connect with the speaker’s web interface.

If you are using the DW-SWSP15, DW Spectrum will automatically detect the device if it is on the same local network. Otherwise, you can manually enter the speaker’s IP address into a web browser to connect.

**NOTE: The default IP address of the DW-SWSP15 horn speaker is 192.168.5.200. If this is a first-time setup, you can use DW IP Finder to locate and manage the DW device.

If this is a first-time setup, the default login is:

Default Username: admin
Default Password: admin (the default password must be changed during the initial setup of the speaker)

The speaker comes with predefined audio files. In the Media File menu tab, sample the stock audio files or upload your own custom media files as needed. You may upload up to ten (10) custom media files (MP3 or WAV). Do not exceed the maximum available storage for user files.

You can see a list of example URLs in the HTTP Commands menu tab that can be used to model a URL for the next section of this article.

**NOTE: If you are using an older model or a speaker from a different manufacturer, be sure to enable HTTP URL (Alarm) settings.

Part 2: Creating Events in DW Spectrum

An Event Rule will need to be added to DW Spectrum to have the system send an HTTP request when a camera goes offline. To do so:

In DW Spectrum Client, open the System Administration menu (CTRL+ALT+A) and select “Event Rules”.
In the Event Rules menu, click the + ADD button to create a new rule.

In the Event section, configure the following:

When: select “Device Disconnected” to assign the rule to trigger when a device is disconnected or goes offline.
At: you may select specific cameras for this rule. However, leave as “Any Device” to apply the rule to all cameras.
Schedule: [optional] set a schedule to limit when this event is allowed to occur.

In the Action section, configure the following:
- Do: set as “Do HTTP(S) request”.
- Interval of action: this can be modified to determine how frequently this event is allowed to occur. However, because the alarm will be set to remain active until the OFF command is generated by the camera, this setting can be set to “Instant”. Additionally, the camera disconnect event is only written to the Event Log once, regardless of how long a camera remains disconnected, so changing this would not make a difference.
- HTTP URL: this represents the command line that will be sent to the speaker and result in the desired action. The action listed will cause the speaker to play a user defined file from the speaker’s Media File menu.

http:///api/play?action=start&file=&mode=multiple&count=60000&volume=20

**NOTE: Replace “” with the IP address of the speaker. Replace “” with the preferred audio file.

Content Type: set as “Auto”.
Login: enter the username to the IP horn speaker.
Password: enter the password to the IP horn speaker.
Authentication Type: set as “Basic”.
Request Type: set as “GET”.

Click the OK button to save the rule and close the Event Rules window.

When a camera disconnects, it will first show as a network error in the event log. However, it will then generate a “Camera Disconnected” event and send the HTTP command that it was assigned to use.

Part 3: Configuring the Camera

The camera will need to generate the command for the system to turn off the event alarm once it has been activated. There are three areas within the camera’s web interface that need to be modified – HTTP Action, Action Rules, and Event Rules.

Connect with the camera’s web interface and open the camera setup menus.

Navigate to the Network > HTTP Action menu and configure the command to stop the alarm with the following and save the changes:

General Setting: set to “ON”.
Description: set as “stop sound”.
HTTP Action Server: enter the IP address of the IP horn speaker.
Port: set as “80”.
User ID: enter the username used to access the IP horn speaker.
Password: enter the password used to access the IP horn speaker.

Navigate to Trigger Action > Action Rules and configure the camera to generate an HTTP action when the camera initializes with the following and save the changes:

Name: set as “camera init”.
Action1: set as “HTTP ACTION”.