Platform enhancements in Security Center 5.10.0.0 - Security Center 5.10.0.0

General enhancements

New SQL Server 2019 Express Edition

You can now upgrade your database server to SQL Server 2019 Express Edition through the Security Center Installer.

For more information on the required conditions, see Installing the Security Center main server.

New look and feel for Security Center help

The help that you access by clicking F1 in Config Tool and Security Desk is now available in responsive webhelp format. The Security Center Administrator Guide and Security Center User Guide help files include the following improvements:

• Flexible HTML5 layout that adapts to any device
• Autocomplete search feature
• Increased rich media for more interactivity
• Modern, intuitive design

Deactivate default Admin account

You can now deactivate the default Security Center administrator account in Config Tool. When using third-party authentication for Security Center users, we recommend deactivating all local user accounts to ensure every account follows the same authentication policies.

Report results

The default maximum value for the report query is now 50,000. The previous limit was 10,000.

Monthly and yearly recurrence for scheduled tasks

You can now schedule tasks that recur on the same day every month, or the same day every year.

For more information, see Scheduling a task.

Observer info for health reports

A new column, Observer entity, has been added to the Health history and Health statistics reports. The Observer entity column tells you which entity (role, server, unit, and so on) reported the event. This additional piece of information gives you a better understanding of what is happening in the system, allowing you to resolve issues faster.

For example, a camera that fails might be reported as Connection to camera stopped unexpectedly by the Archiver, but as Entity is offline by the Directory. But if the Archiver doesn't report anything, we can suspect that the Archiver is down.

Improved UI for event-to-action configuration

You can now select a Domain in the Config Tool Actions configuration page to limit the choices of source events to the ones related to the selected domain. The domains you can select are:

• All
• Access control
• ALPR
• Intrusion detection
• Video

Record fusion and data ingestion

Data ingestion

You can now import data from external sources into Security Center without having to develop any code. Through the new Record Caching Service role, you can define custom data types as any combination of strings, numbers, timestamps, images, and even Security Center entities. New data can be imported through a flat file or manually input on a map. The ingested data can be used to trigger events and perform correlation analysis, and can be displayed on maps and dashboards. For more information, see About data ingestion.

Data correlation

You can leverage the data ingested through the Record Caching Service role to derive useful intelligence using the new Records investigation task. For more information, see Using correlation to derive useful intelligence.

Map enhancements

Map object import

Importing map objects is no longer limited to AutoCAD files. You can now import map objects from other file types, such as JSON, CSV, XLSX, and so on. With this added flexibility, your security team can now leverage the work done by your facilities team by importing the file they maintain about the location of cameras and other security devices as a flat files, and automatically update their positions on Security Center maps. For more information, see Importing map objects from flat files.

Geocoding support

You can now zoom in on a specific map location by entering a street address on the Maps task in Security Desk, thanks to our new geocoding support. Geocoded searches are supported for the following map providers: Google, Bing, and Esri. The first two geocoding services are web hosted, so an Internet connection is required. For Esri, the geocoding service is hosted on the ArcGIS server and therefore can be hosted locally. For more information, see Maps toolbar.

Updated Esri ArcGIS Runtime

ArcGIS Runtime SDK v10.x has been retired and is no longer supported by Esri. Starting with Security Center 5.10.0.0, the Esri map provider now uses ArcGIS Runtime SDK v100.8. The new SDK is installed automatically by Security Center, and no longer requires a separate installation package. This update retains full backward compatibility with existing Esri maps.

For more information, see Connecting Map Manager to the Esri ArcGIS map provider.

Display output relay states

The state of output relays is now visible on maps. Normal (), Active (), and Unknown () states are indicated by a color dot over the relay icon. The color representing Normal and Active states can be customized or hidden, if required.

For more information, see Adding output relays to your maps.

Extended range for the camera's FoV

It is now possible to configure the maximum distance of a camera's field of view (FoV) beyond the limit of 500 meters.

Enhanced federated entity support

You can now do more with federated entities on the map. For details, see Federation™ enhancements in the following section.

Federation™ enhancements

Multi-level PTZ handling

PTZ locking has been enhanced for federated cameras. Incoming PTZ commands now include the user level, user ID, and system ID for every level of the Security Center Federation™ that the commands passed through. This allows the Archiver to prioritize PTZ control for remote users based on their own user level, instead of the user federating the local system.

Federated I/O status and actions

You can now monitor the status of federated input pins and output relays on maps. You can also trigger federated output behaviors on federated output relays from a map.

Federated camera commands

You can now send specific commands to federated cameras, such as arm and disarm a camera for video analytics.

Multicast optimization

For better IP management and to avoid potential wasted network traffic, we added a separate Media Router range for local and federated streams.For more information, see About the Media Router role.

Web Client enhancements

Security Desk layouts

Layouts created in the Security Desk Monitoring task are now found in the Web Client's Monitoring task Area View tab. Layouts previously saved in the Web Client are found in the Layouts tab.

IMPORTANT: Web Client supports a display limit of nine tiles.

Create credentials

You can now create credentials through the Web Client from either the Cardholders configuration window, or the Credentials tab.

IMPORTANT: Web Client only supports PIN and manual entry methods.

Configure access rules

You can now add, modify, and delete access rule through the Web Client Access Rules tab.

Media Gateway multi-role support

You can now select which specific Media Gateway role you want to use through the Web Server role Properties tab.

Intrusion detection enhancements

Initiator info on intrusion detection area activities

A new column, Initiator, has been added to the Intrusion detection area activities report to indicate who or what triggered the activity event. For example, if you configured an event-to-action to trigger the action Disarm intrusion detection area on Access granted (to cardholder) event, then the cardholder would be the initiator of the Intrusion detection area disarmed event. You can also filter the report by Initiator.

Trigger intrusion alarms through virtual inputs

It is now possible to trigger an alarm on any intrusion detection area with the Trigger intrusion alarm action, regardless of the model of the physical intrusion panel being used. This is made possible through the creation of a new type of intrusion input, called Virtual input ().

A virtual input is a physical input on an intrusion panel that is wired to a physical output on the same panel. The said input must also be configured to raise an alarm that can be received by Security Center. With this setup, you can trigger an alarm on the panel with any Security Center event. The source of the event used to trigger the alarm is treated as the source of the alarm.

For example, if you create an event-to-action to trigger the action Trigger intrusion alarm on Access denied (at a door) event, the door where access is being denied would be shown as the alarm source in your Monitoring task and on the map. If on top of that, you configure a second event-to-action to trigger the same action on Access denied (to cardholder) event, the cardholder would also be shown as the alarm source when the event occurs.

For more information, see Configuring Security Center to trigger intrusion alarms on any intrusion panel.