FAQ about Security Center Synergis™ - This FAQ answers common questions about the Security Center Synergis™ access control system. - Security Center 5.9

How do I replace an unreachable Synergis unit?

If the old unit is no longer reachable and no backup file is available, manually configure the new unit hardware to match the old one. Disconnect the hardware from the old unit and connect it to the new unit using the same channels.

NOTE: This step isn’t required for Mercury or Honeywell controller integrations.

For more information, see Preparing to replace an access control unit.

How do I remove cardholders from their current area?

From the People counting task in Security Desk, select the cardholders who should not be in the selected area, and click Remove from area ().

For more information, see Counting people.

Why is people counting not working?

Security Center tracks cardholders' movement using seven distinct events, and reports current and past presence in areas through the People counting, Area presence, and Time and attendance reports.

For reports to be accurate, the selected area must be fully secured. Cardholders must swipe their card to enter and exit. Install readers on the side of each door or turnstile used for entry or exit—don’t use REX devices. Make sure cardholders pass through one at a time to prevent tailgating.

To understand how the system tracks people in areas, see Events affecting cardholder movements.

To troubleshoot issues with people counts, check your area topology. Use the Cardholder activities and Visitor activities reports to analyze key events.

For more information, see the following topics:

Why are PIN credentials not working with Mercury controllers?

Mercury controllers have a limitation: a cardholder must have both a card and a PIN credential for the PIN to work. A cardholder can’t have more than one PIN credential. When the reader mode is set to Card or PIN, and the cardholder only has a PIN credential, that credential isn’t synchronized to the controller and won’t work. As a workaround, assign the cardholder a dummy card credential.

For more information, see the first footnote related to Reader setting in Supported Synergis appliance features for Mercury controller integration with Synergis Softwire.

Why can't I unlock doors manually?

The most common reason manual door unlocks from Security Desk fail is a time mismatch between your workstation and the Access Manager server. Sync both machines to the same NTP (Network Time Protocol) server.

Why time synchronization matters

The Access Manager role checks the timestamps of door unlock requests from clients and ignores any request older than 10 seconds to maintain security. It converts all timestamps to UTC before comparison, so time zone differences don’t affect the result. To extend the time window for accepting a door unlock request, see the procedure that follows.

To keep your workstation and the Access Manager server in sync, assign the same NTP server to both machines. See the following procedure.

For more information, see Time synchronization in Security Center.

Procedures

To assign an NTP server to a Windows machine:

Open Control Panel.
Press Windows+R, type control, and press Enter.
Click Clock and Region > Date and Time.
Click Internet Time > Change settings.
NOTE: If the Internet Time tab isn’t shown, your computer is likely part of a domain. In this case, time synchronization is managed by the domain controller. Contact your IT administrator to verify or change the settings.
Select Synchronize with an Internet time server.
Enter the NTP server you want to use.
Click Update now > OK.

To extend the time window for accepting door unlock requests:

Open the AccessManager.gconfig configuration file in a text editor.
The default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\Genetec Security Center 5.x\ConfigurationFiles.
Add the MaximumDelayToAcceptAManualOpenDoor attribute to the <general /> tag.
Set the time value in hh:mm:ss format. A value of 0 sets the time window to infinite.

Example: <general MaximumDelayToAcceptAManualOpenDoor="0:0:30" />
Save and close the file.
Restart the Access Manager role.

Why are my cardholder photos blurry after import?

Imported cardholder photos might look blurry because the system limits the image size based on the Maximum picture file size setting. The default value is 20 KB. Increase this value to 50 KB or higher until the image quality meets your expectations.

CAUTION:

If you're using SQL Server Express, be aware that it limits the database file size to 10 GB. The Directory database stores cardholder pictures, and a high number of cardholders with large picture sizes can cause the database to exceed this limit, which might lead to system failure. To avoid issues, consider upgrading to SQL Server Standard or SQL Server Enterprise Edition.

NOTE: Changing the Maximum picture file size during import replaces the value set in the General settings page of the Access Manager role in Config Tool. The Access Manager uses this setting when uploading pictures from the Cardholder management task. To keep the original setting, change it back after completing the import.

For more information, see Importing cardholders and credentials.

How do I identify my credential format to configure the custom card format in Security Center?

If you don’t know your card format, contact the card manufacturer. If that’s not possible, contact your sales representative at Genetec Inc.

To create a custom card format in Security Center, you need to know the bit structure of your card format. This information is usually provided by the card manufacturer.

If you can’t get this information, we offer a professional service to extract it from card samples. Contact your sales representative at Genetec Inc. to request this service.

For more information, see Creating custom card formats.