Follow the steps in Setting up a Video Reader Pro / Video Intercom Reader Pro in the Control Center to set up the device in the Control Center.
Note: Avigilon firmware upgraded before October 2nd will only sync time with DHCP time (if it provides NTP), but not with both DHCP and Cloud. This might cause some issues if your DHCP has an invalid NTP configured.
With the new Avigilon firmware update, we sync time with NTP servers from both DHCP and our Cloud NTP servers. If your device is still not able to sync time, it would happen because our cloud NTP servers AND the DHCP’s NTP are being blocked.
If you have updated before October 2nd you will have another update ready to be installed.
Information: Recommended upload speeds for 1 Video Reader Pro or Video Intercom Reader Pro.
(Double for each added Video Reader, Video Intercom reader)
Quality:
Low: 1Mb
Medium: 2Mb
High: 8Mb
We recommend more for the Video Intercom Reader Pro because Live streaming and Video Calls require more bandwidth since they can be used simultaneously.
Attention: Interacting with Video Intercom calls from the Avigilon Alta Open app requires a minimal app version of 2.10.0.
Note: You get 5 free Video Intercom Reader Pro user licenses per org. Any users over 5 tied to a group in the Routing Profiles will need a license.
Prerequisites for using the Video Intercom Reader Pro features
Video Intercom Voice Assistant app from the App marketplace.
Cloud Video Storage plan (for Visual Voicemail).
Set up the Access Groups.
Set up Entry Schedules
Set up Routing profiles.
Note: If you are setting up a Unit Connect Routing profile we recommend setting up Building Management first as well as the ones above.
(Optional) Set up Building Management.
New Control Center Features for the Video Intercom Pro
Alert Settings
We’ve added three new events that can trigger Alerts in the Alert Settings, Intercom Session Started, Motion Detected, Audio Detected, and Video Reader Tamper Detected. Be careful, if you have a busy environment that triggers a lot of motion detection, it may not be the best option for Alert Settings.
Rules Engine
Similar to the Alert Settings, we’ve added new events that can trigger rules in the Rules Engine. This also allows you to filter the rule to only one Video Intercom Reader Pro. This will allow you to fine-tune the rules that fit the environment of that specific device.
Roles and Permissions
We recognize that introducing video and images into the Avigilon Alta Control Center can be a sensitive option for some organizations, so we’ve introduced some added permissions to ensure every organization can be configured to meet their needs.
The Role Management page now allows for a Role to have the following permissions:
View Live feed: user can see the live video feed associated with a Video Intercom Reader Pro.
Playback video clips: Users can see and playback video clips associated with events for a Video Intercom Reader Pro.
Avigilon Video Device: user can adjust the video settings related to the Video Intercom Reader Pro.
Account level Security
We’ve also added some more Account level Security Settings to prevent and allow Avigilon Alta Support and Parent Orgs (if applicable) to view videos associated with your organization. If toggled off, the live video stream will not load, video clips will not be able to play, and any thumbnails will be obfuscated.
Intercom Video Features
Video Settings Tab
The Video Settings tab allows you to fine-tune the video feed on your Video Intercom Reader Pro.
The Video Properties allow you to make adjustments to the image controls to ensure you have the best quality image.
The Detection Settings section allows you to enable/disable Motion Detection and set a Sensitivity level. Any motion detection events that exceed this threshold will be stored as video clips, so this setting is very important to align with the environment your Video Intercom Reader Pro is pointed at. On the video frame below the Detection Settings, you can click and drag to apply a Privacy Mask or a Region of Interest. A Privacy Mask will black out the video feed for a certain area so that sensitive areas of the feed can be hidden from users. Applying a Region of Interest will configure the motion detection settings to only be applied to that given area. Multiple Privacy Masks and Regions of Interest can be applied. Recording Settings allows control over the showing burned-in timestamp and device name which appear in the top right corner of any recordings made by the camera of the Intercom.
Control Center Intercom Calling
It is possible to make calls to the Avigilon Video Intercom from within Control Center on certain browsers (Safari and Firefox are currently not supported). To initiate a call you can open the live view window and click the phone icon.
It is also possible to configure Control Center for the currently logged-in Avigilon Alta user to receive notifications within Control Center any time that user is being called.
For this notification to show, first the user logged into Control Center must be part of an active Intercom Routing Profile so they may be reached by a visitor.
Second, they will need to navigate to their user settings at the top right corner of the screen, click on “My profile”, then click on Settings, and finally enable “Push Notifications”.
Now when a visitor calls for this user, a notification will appear at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen with a button that will bring up the live view of the Intercom. From there the user can decide if they wish to answer the call, unlock the entry, or ignore the incoming call.
Calling the intercom via the Avigilon Alta Open App
You can call the intercom itself via the Avigilon Alta Open app. Open the Avigilon Alta Open app, click the camera icon at the bottom of the app and you will see the intercom video that has a small phone icon at the bottom of the video. Clicking that will connect you to the intercom.
Intercom/Voice Assistant Features
The Intercom Settings tab provides configuration options for the Text-To-Speech and Audio of the Video Intercom Reader Pro.
The Text-To-Speech configuration provides an optional default message to play if no user Routing Profiles have been added, as well as an Initial Greeting message which plays when a guest presses the Intercom Call button.
The Microphone Settings allow control of when the microphone is enabled, its sensitivity level, and control over if the microphone records audio.
Enabled - Always On - Audio can be heard both during Intercom calls and from the Live View.
Enabled - On During Intercom Events - Audio will not be heard from the Live View.
Audio Recording - Allows audio to be recorded during events.
Audio Detection (Only available with Always On) - Audio-triggered event
The Speaker settings allow control to enable/disable the speaker along with its volume level.
Note: The Default message and Initial greeting have a max 130 character limit each.
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
Note: We have only tested the Video Intercom Reader SIP with the following IP PBX servers and cannot guarantee functionality with other IP PBX systems. As additional systems are tested and validated, they will be added here.
Asterisk PBX
Issabel PBX
SIP can be enabled to be used instead, OR as a failover system if you use that protocol. For information about the installation and configuration of your PBX software and VoIP phone systems, see third-party vendor documentation.
SIP mode - Change SIP disabled (default) to SIP only to use SIP or SIP failover to use SIP only during internet outages.
Note: When SIP is enabled on the video intercom reader, the voice assistant interface will be disabled.
SIP address - The IP address of the PBX software.
Authentication user - The extension number for the video intercom reader(example, 5555).
Authentication password - The password for the extension number for the video intercom reader.
Display name (optional) - The caller ID to be displayed on the video intercom reader (for example, OP Intercom.
ID/Call destination - The extension number for the VoIP phone system.
Device SIP number - The extension number for the video intercom reader. Use the same value in Authentication user.
The Intercom Voice Assistant can be configured through the Routing Profiles. These determine which users and groups can be found through the Intercom Voice Assistant and at what times they should be available.
Routing Profiles require that Access Groups and Entry Schedules already be configured so they can be applied to the Routing Profiles.
On the Routing Profiles page, you’ll press the + button to add a new Routing Profile.
Give the profile a Name and select the Profile Type. These are the four Profile Types.
Direct Connect - Allows guests to call individual users by stating the user's full first and last name to the Voice Assistant.
Unit Connect - Allows guests to call a group of users by asking for the Unit name/number those users are tied to under the Building Management configurations.
Front Desk Connect - Forwards the intercom call to a configured user/group.
Visual Voicemail - Records a Visual Voicemail of the guest and notifies all users added to the profile.
Profile Schedule sets the time frame of when this Intercom Profile will be active. This allows users not to be interrupted by intercom calls outside of business hours or any other pre-set timeframes. The Profile Schedule uses Entry Schedule.
Available Recipient Groups take the assignment of one or more User Groups who can be reached by this Intercom Profile. The User Group should be configured ahead of time before creating the Intercom Profile.
Backup Configuration controls the behavior for ending or transitioning sessions with this Intercom Profile.
Timeout Until Fallback Profile is the amount of time the intercom will wait before falling back to a Farewell Message or other Intercom Profile.
The Farewell message is what will play if the selected Fallback Profile has a different schedule and may be unavailable for periods when the initial profile is available.
An example of this may be, the first Intercom Profile being a Direct Connect profile with a set group of users. If a guest asks for a user which cannot be found as part of the group of users applied to the profile, the fallback profile can be another Intercom Profile set up as Front Desk.
The Fallback Profile allows selection between the Intercom reading the below Farewell Message, or the Intercom moving to a Fallback Intercom Profile to provide the guest with different options or routing.
Related:
How to set up Building Management for the Video Intercom Reader Pro
How to set up Access Groups, Entry Schedules, and Routing Profiles for the Video Intercom Reader Pro
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