About threat levels - Security Center 5.9

Security Center Administrator Guide 5.9

Applies to
Security Center 5.9
Last updated
2022-10-25
Content type
Guides > Administrator guides
Language
English
Product
Security Center
Version
5.9

A threat is a potentially dangerous situation, such as a shooting or an infectious disease, that requires immediate response from the system and the security personnel.

Each threat level is characterized by a name and a color, and is associated with two lists of actions that dictate the behavior of the system. One list is executed when the threat level is set, and the other list is executed when the threat is cleared. You can choose from any Security Center actions to define the threat level, plus some additional actions that are unique to threat levels, such as denying certain cardholders access to areas in your system or forcing certain users to log off from the system.

Threat levels are set by Security Desk users who have the Set threat level privilege when a dangerous situation occurs. Operators can set a threat level on an area or on the entire system (includes all areas).

Unlock schedules during an active threat level

Areas are configured with a security clearance level ranging from 0 to 7 (0 = highest security, 7 = lowest). A security clearance of 7 is the default value, usually meaning that the area does not require a special clearance. Unlock schedules for areas configured with a security clearance level different than seven are bypassed for the duration of the threat. The moment the threat level is cleared, the unlock schedules for these areas resume.

Setting a threat level has no effect on the following:
  • Manual Override unlock schedule commands from Security Desk
  • Manual Unlock commands for specific doors from the Security Desk door widget
  • Temporarily override unlock schedule Event-to-Action
  • REX activation, meaning the REX activation can still unlock the door
  • Unlocking doors from inside the area, meaning that access rules for exiting the area are not affected
  • Captive doors inside the area
  • HW Zone IO linking

Limitations of threat levels

The following limitations apply when using the threat level feature:
  • Threat levels work independently of partitions. Therefore, a threat level set at the system level by the users of one partition might affect the entities belonging to another partition, if the actions have a generic scope (applied to All entities).
  • Threat levels cannot be applied directly to federated areas. This means that when the Federation™ host sets a threat level on a federated area, only the threat level actions are sent to the federated site, not the threat level itself. Local users on the federated site cannot see that a threat level has been set by the Federation™ host.