If you need to replace or upgrade a camera in an existing Stratocast™
account, you can replace the camera and keep the same camera name, plan, and video quality
settings. When replacing cameras, you do not incur additional charges.
Before you begin
- Export all video files to a secure location, and write down the bookmark
times to avoid data loss during camera replacement. This applies regardless
of the recording type used by the camera.
- If the new camera has a memory card, back up the data. The memory card is
formatted when the new camera is added to the system.
- Confirm that the specifications of the new camera are compatible with the
intended video settings. For example, the resolution or dual recording
capability.
- Ensure that you have completed the prerequisite steps for your
camera.
- Ensure that the ports used by the new video unit are open
on the network.
- Ensure that your video unit is not currently added to
another Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS). If it is, contact the
service provider to unregister the video unit.
- Ensure that nobody is modifying the video unit
settings, either on the video unit itself or through the video unit
manufacturer's web page.
What you should know
You can replace a camera with another camera that has more
or fewer features if the new camera's features are supported by the existing plan.
The old camera can be offline or online. If the old camera is recording continuously
to an SD card, ensure that the new camera has an SD card; otherwise the replacement
will fail.
NOTE: Camera replacement is NOT available for:
Additional resolutions for quad view panoramic or fisheye
panoramic are displayed when replacing a panoramic
camera.
Procedure
-
Power on the new video unit, connect it to your network, and wait until it is
online.
-
Click Clients, and then select a client account from the
Number of devices column.
-
On the client's Devices page, find the camera you want to
replace, click the camera menu button (
), and then click
Replace.
-
In the confirmation dialog, type the name of the camera in the box, and then
click Next.
-
From the Manufacturer list, select the manufacturer of
the new camera, and then click Next.
-
Enter the serial number and owner authentication key (OAK) of the new camera,
and then click Next.
-
If an error message is displayed indicating that the resolutions available in
the current plan are not supported by the camera, cancel the camera replacement
and choose one of the following:
- Start again using a camera that has the supported resolutions.
- Change the plan to one that supports the resolutions of the new camera,
and then retry the camera replacement.
-
If an error message is displayed indicating that the new camera is not
supported by the current Edge plan, cancel the camera replacement, ensure that
the SD card is inserted properly in the new camera, and then retry the camera
replacement.
-
In the Video and audio configuration section, set the
following, and then click Next.
- Recording type
- The storage medium (cloud, video unit, or NAS volume) and
recording mode (continuous or on motion) for your video recordings. If you choose a
recording type for video unit storage (for example, Camera continuous), make sure
that your video unit has an SD memory card.
NOTE: If the
Cloud on
motion recording type is used and
Dual recording
is enabled, the following occurs:
- Video recordings that are triggered when movement occurs are stored in the
cloud.
- Continuous recording is stored on the SD card.
For sites with limited bandwidth, users can select the Edge Recording
plan, so that they can record video from any camera to a Network Attached Storage
(NAS) device, or directly onto the camera’s SD card storage. As video is stored to
devices on the local network, no bandwidth is used to record video in the cloud. This
plan requires cameras that support NAS devices or Edge Recording.
On average, a
64GB SD card can typically store more than a month of video. Stratocast™ cannot see the SD card's storage usage, and no defined retention period can be
chosen. The camera will record until the card is full and then overwrite the oldest
footage.
- Resolution
- The image resolution of your video recordings. The available
choices depend on your camera model and your plan.
- Average bit rate
- The average amount of data that is transferred per unit of
time (Kilobits per second). Higher configuration presets (resolution, frame rate, and so
on) require a higher bitrate to stream video, so it requires more bandwidth. You can
refer to this field when planning the Internet connection speed and bandwidth
requirements of your recordings.
- Frame rate
- The number of frames per second (fps) that you can obtain when
recording video. A high frame rate (10 fps or more) produces fluid video and is
essential for accurate motion detection.
- Audio
- The audio mode (Disabled, Enabled for live stream, Enabled for live stream and
recordings) for your video recordings.
- The Enabled for livestream audio option is only available
for Axis cameras that support audio when used with the Cloud
continuous, Camera continuous, or
NAS Continuous recording type.
- The Enabled for livestream audio and recording option is
only available for Axis cameras that support audio when used with the
Cloud continuous recording type.
The sound quality and bandwidth usage vary depending on the camera specification
and settings. The audio format is AAC by default.
IMPORTANT: You must
federate the Stratocast™ client account to a Security Center system to ensure that you can listen
to live or playback audio through the Security
Desk
Monitoring page or from Archive search results.
For information about monitoring cameras with live or playback audio
using the Security
Desk
Monitoring page, see Camera widget.
- Dual recording
- The dual recording mode (Enabled or Disabled) for your video recordings.
- The Enabled option specifies that recordings are stored in
the cloud and on the camera's SD card.
- The Disabled option specifies that recordings are only
stored in the cloud.
IMPORTANT: Dual recording is enabled
by default (and cannot be turned off) for all end user accounts when new Axis cameras
are enrolled that have SD cards in the ready state.
The dual
recording option is not available on the Edge plan. Recorded video on the SD
card can only be accessed from the camera manufacturer's configuration web page or
physically from the SD card.
NOTE: If you do not want
dual recording, contact
Stratocast™ support to disable this function for your account.
-
Select the Go to camera's edit page after enrolling this
camera check box so that you can view and, if necessary, change
the settings for the new camera.
-
Click Replace.