It is recommended to include an action of this type in the action lists for all alarms available in the Security

Center . Other

Actions of the Other type are for informational purposes only and used for quick recording the actions frequently used in the alarm response (call to a responsible person, police call, etc.) Actions of this type can be recorded in any step of alarm response.

We recommend to refresh the list of actions of the Other type permanently in order they would correspond to current security policy. Recorded operator comments can be good source for new actions of

the Other type.

The list of response guards used by the Security Center can be modified in the Personnel Manager module.

Cancellations of alarms

In the Cancellations of alarms you can edit the list of reasons recorded in the event of alarm cancellation.

The list of available alarm cancellations is closely connected with an object security policy being used and is of great

importance for enterprise efficiency analysis.

The Security Center software contains several analytical reports which allow you to evaluate reasons for alarm cancellations including evaluation in relation to objects.

In order to make use of these reports you should maintain the list of alarm cancellations in current status, and orderly schedule the use of each cancellation in the operators instructions.

Types of objects

The Type of objects tab is designed to manage the list of object types. Object type is mandatory property of any object. Object type is used to simplify management (sorting, grouping) of objects list for example during object properties viewing or report generation. Object type can be specified in the Object Manager module.

Fields of objects

In the Fields of Objects tab you can modify the list of additional fields which will be available during filling-in the object card.

During generation of fields list you can define their sequence order in which they will be displayed in the object card. If values of any field represents the list of foregone values then you can fill-in this list by specifying corresponding type for the field. In this case the list of values does not limit the possibility to specify a value for the object field manually if necessary.

In the list of object fields there are two fields for which it is recommended to change the list of possible values only. These are the *Object Section Equipment and the *Object Loop Equipment fields. As it follows from their names, they are intended to simplify filling-in the values for Equipment field while editing sections and loops of objects in the Object Manager module.

Personnel manager

In the Personnel Manager you can manage the list of operators and their rights in the Security Center modules, emergency response guards which are used in the Security Center , and the list of local network computers where operation of network workstations of the Security center is permitted.

Operators

The Operators tab is designed to modify the list software operators and their rights in the Security Center modules.

Operator rights are individual for each the Security Center module and depend on operations which can be executed in the module.

Prior to determination of operator rights in a module you should permit an operator to enter this module.

When creating a new operator you can give him the same rights as one of the existing operators has. To do this prior to creation of a new operator you should select from the list of operators the one whose rights you want to copy.

In the Personnel Manager module you may not edit a name and rights of the operator which has entered the module and the Administrator operator.

Present Personnel Manager operator and Administrator operator are only allowed to change password.

Guards

In the Guards you can modify the list of guards which are used in the Security Center software.

Computers

The Computers tab is designed to manage the list of computers where operation of network workstations of the Security Center software and objects accessible from these computers is permitted.

By default each computer where the Security Center software module is started is automatically enlisted. But when limitation permitting to run network workstations of the Security Center only on computers which are included in the list is switched on then you should manually add computers to the list.

If it is necessary you may define for each computer the list of object numbers which are permitted to be loaded by the Security Center modules running in this computer.

Maps of Objects

Using the Maps of Objects module you can create graphic schemes describing an object: a ground map with possible approach lines to an object, object photos, floor plans and so on.

Once a plan of object rooms has been developed you can place security lines scheme on it.

In alarm response mode you can access the function of viewing alarm loops on object maps in the Duty Operator module.

Maps of Objects module does not contain built-in the graphic editor, thus we recommend you to create schemes using outside means. Ready-made images can be pasted in the map from the files of BMP or JPG format as a background picture. When you prepare background picture you should select its size and resolution with regard to possible printing the map of objects: no transformations are made, a background picture is printed according to its parameters.

Once a background picture for the map has been selected it is possible to place zones (signalization loops) on it. For each zone you can select location and dimensions as well as method of its displaying in active and inactive state.

After this you should associate the zone with a code of event which recording will mean the zone activation. Generally, an alarm code corresponding to the zone is selected as such code.

When file of alarm object maps is opened from the Duty Operator module the active map is the map where the zone for which alarm has been received is located. Additionally, an alarm zone can change visually displaying alternatively in passive and active state.

Also, you can specify associated file for the zone. When file of alarm object maps is opened associated file also opens by means provided in the operational system for its file type.

For example, if you specify a document containing important information about an object as associated file this document opens together with the map file.

If the Security Center software is running in network then a map file should be saved to folder readable for all network users. However you should remember that even if this folder is local for a computer where object maps are edited when you perform saving absolute path should be used.

When a new object map file is saved or when it is saved under an alternative name the Object Map field -its value can be viewed and changed in the Object Manager module - is automatically updated.

Duty Operator

Duty Operator is designed to monitor operative state of objects, view incoming events and record alarm response actions.

As with all other the Security Center modules, the Duty Operator module downloads only those objects which use is permitted in the computer where this module is running. You can preset number intervals of objects which can be used at specific network workstation in the Personnel Manager module.

Objects

Main window of the module is split into two horizontal parts. In the upper part of the module main window, object icons are displayed. Icon color represents current state of object. If it is blue the object is under guard, if it is green the object is removed from guard, if it is grey the object is turned off. Red circle or box means that there is an alarm for an object the response for which is not finished yet. In this case red circle means that no actions have been recorded for this alarm yet. Object icons are displayed in the tabs that group objects by the basic states.

You should remember that alarms received from turned off objects are processed by the system automatically, immediately upon receipt. Arming and disarming events which has been from turned off objects do not change their state. Thus, turned off object cant be alarming, armed or disarmed. It is always displayed as a grey icon.

Events

In the lower part of the Duty Operator main window, received events and guards are displayed. Events are divided into three categories each one of which is displayed in the separate tab:

All events

In this tab all events received from objects are displayed, excluding events which has been filtered out. More detailed description of filtering rules is given in the section on the Personnel Manager module.

Alarms

In the Alarms tab alarm events for which response is not finished yet are displayed. As with the All Alarms tab, here only those events are displayed which have been filtered.

Events for object

In this tab events for the selected object are displayed. If necessary, in this tab you can turn on displaying all events received from an object including filtered out events.

In the Guards tab, guards used by the Security Center as well as their current states are displayed.

Alarm response

If an alarm event for an object is recorded at the time when for the same object there is another event with unfinished response then these events are united in the group and further processed together. Just the same these events will be displayed together both during responded alarms viewing and during the alarm reports generation in the Report Manager module.

In the alarm response window all alarms included in the response group are displayed . The list of actions and cancellations recordable by an operator contains all actions associated with event classes which are included in the response group.

Module settings

Access to the Duty Operator module settings is governed by rights which can be preset in the Personnel Manager module. Additionally, you can restrict an operator access to the module settings; also you can inhibit an

operator to close the Duty Operator module. These restrictions can be useful not only for unexperienced operators but for all operating attendants because unintentional module closing or locking module main window by settings window can negatively affect process of alarm response.

General

The Pause at start parameter sets a pause which will be hold by the Duty Operator module at start. The parameter can be useful if labels of the Event Manager and Duty Operator modules are located in the Autoloading or otherwise loaded automatically at the operational system start. To start the Duty Operator module requires running the Event manager module, and starting and full initialization of the latter can require some time.

If value for the Scroll to new event is set then at receipt of new events from objects, the list in the All Events window is automatically scrolled so that new event is visible.

You can adjust a total number of events displayed in the Duty Operator module using the Event display interval . You should remember that the greater is display interval the longer will be the Duty Operator module initialization and the higher will be this module requirements to computer resources.

Alarm response

If at receipt of a new alarm event it is necessary that Duty Operator module alerts operator you should set value for the Activation at alarm parameter.

In case when the Duty Operator module contains alarm for which no actions are recorded for too long time the Repeat alarm sound at intervals can be useful. If non-zero value is set for this parameter then in case of lack of actions at alarm during preset time the Duty Operator behaves as this alarm is newly received: it plays an alarm sound and opens an alarm response window if this is allowed for the alarm response window by the Automatic opening parameter.

Automatic closing and Automatic change to next alarm parameters determine an alarm response window behavior at the moment when a current alarm response is finished. If the first parameter value is set the alarm response window is closed. If the second parameter value is set then the next by time of receipt alarm is loaded to alarm response window. If values are set for both parameters then first the attempt is done to load the next alarm and if it is not present the alarm response window is closed.

Hot keys

In the Hot keys tab you can set key combinations on the keyboard for quick access to basic functions of the Duty Operator module.

It should be noted that hot keys for actions and cancellations are assigned automatically when a list is created. But using the Do not use Alt for actions and cancellations you can waive Alt + digit combination for quick recording actions or cancellations and use only digits.

The Add hot keys to headings permits to display assigned to operations hot keys in the headings of buttons. Dialing

If a modem or any device supporting dialing control via TAPI interface is connected to a computer then in the Dialing tab you can specify the list of devices which the Duty Operator module can use for dialing.

Dialing begins from left-clicking any phone number of an object which is displayed in the object card.

If dialed number is busy the Duty Operator module may redial it if value for the Redial if Line Is Busy parameter

is set.

Andromeda Persona

The Security Center software may be used together with the Andromeda Persona software. Among other things, the object list of the Security Center can be loaded to the Persona whereupon these objects can be placed on the ground map.

Additionally, state changes of objects and guards can be transferred from the Security Center to the Persona so that the Persona could automatically display alarm objects on the map and also display the state of guards which are called to objects.

In the Andromeda Persona you can enable integration of the Duty Operator module with the Andromeda Persona software as well as permit automatic display of alarm objects and guard states in the Persona .

Report Manager

The Report Manager module is designed to create reports on the operation of objects, the Security Center and security enterprise personnel.

In the module the Report Manager report forms a generator is built-in with the help of which you can modify existing reports or create new ones.

Event reports

When you create event reports you should remember about filtration algorithms which are used in events recording. More detailed information about event filtration is given in the section on the Event Manager , here however we would like to note that filtered-out events may be included in the created reports if necessary.

All event reports (unless otherwise stated) are created with regard to the selected objects and event classes. Due to this the reports can be created to fulfill various tasks including specific for the particular security enterprise.

The first three event reports ( 01 - Time Sorting , 02 - Object Sorting and 03 - With Object Grouping ) are designed to view received from the objects events in different representations. It should be noted that if for an object the sections with their own object numbers are created then events from these sections are represented in the event reports. In this case an object number of a section is shown in parenthesis after an object number.

Events from undeclared objects

The 04 - Events from undeclared objects report is designed to view events which the Security Center could not associate with any of existing objects. As with the Events from Undeclared Objects module, this report is intended to identify errors made during the object equipment programming or in the object description in the Security Center . For this report (for natural reasons) objects and event classes selected during its creation do not matter.

Objects without events

Purpose of the 05 - List of objects without events report is dual.

The simplest task is to get using it the list of objects from which not any event has been received within preset time interval. To do this you should select all objects in the object list, and all object classes in the event classes list.

More interesting task - to find, for example, all objects of the Bank type from which not any fault has been received within the last month. To do this you should select all objects of correct type and event classes of the Fault type. The report created with such parameters will contain only desired objects.

Time deviation

With the help of the 06- By time deviation you can verify correctness of automatic field test interval programming and correctness of filling in the Control time field in the object card. When a report is generated an average time interval between events from an object is calculated whereupon it is compared with object control time. If difference of values exceeds threshold preset during the report creation such object is highlighted in the list. Depending on algorithms used by the control panels to calculate time of creation for the next automatic test, in the process of report creation all events with class type not the Test can be excluded.

Event class statistics

The 07 - Statistics report is necessary to calculate number of events of preset classes which have been received from an object within a period. Primarily, this report is useful for identification of objects with various faults. For example, if during a report creation you choose the Fault 220V event class, it is possible to calculate how many times within preset period there were problems with electrical power supply at object. To include in the report only

such objects which really require attention you can preset during the report creation the minimum number of events of each of preset classes which needs to be obtained to include an object in the report.

It should be noted that to use this report effectively user should create individual classes for those events which monitoring is of interest for him.

Sent SMS

Reports belonging to the 08 - Sent SMS - 12 - SMS, grouping by objects group are intended to control operation of the SMS Extender event hadler. With the help of these reports you can obtain information about SMS messages which have been created during handling object events as well as about time of delivery of these SMS messages to recipient.

Channel statistics

Depending on settings with which the 13 - By communication channels report will be created, this report allows you fulfill several tasks. First, it is possible to evaluate which channels are employed by an object and to what extent by means of calculating number of events received from this object over each of communication channels. Secondly, it is possible to evaluate loading of individual channel by calculating number of events received over this channel from all selected objects.

State statistics

With the help of the 14 - Object state report it is possible to calculate number and duration of situations when an object was in the certain state.

Each state of an object in the context of this report is described by two events: the first event signals that the object has changed to known state; when the second event is received it is considered that the object has exited this state. Good examples of object states are power supply fault or communication channel fault.

For example, when electric power supply is interrupted at site the event recording presence of fault is created, and once the fault has been eliminated the event of electric power supply restoration is created. If it is necessary to calculate how many times an object was in electric power supply interruption state, as well as the total duration of this state of the object then during creation of this report you should specify classes of events corresponding to fault and restoration of electrical power supply.

States of interest for the Security Center users may be quite different. In order to use actively this report when working with the Security Center you should create individual classes for those events that record start and finish of .an object staying in the state of interest to a user.

Alarm reports

All alarm events recorded by the Security Center require mandatory response from an operator. If an alarm event for an object is recorded at the time when for the same object there is another event with unfinished response then these events are united in the group and further processed together. Alarm responses are executed in the Duty Operator module. During an alarm response an operator records in the Security Center any actions he has executed in response to alarm. When an operator has finished response he cancels an alarm while recording time and result of response.

Most of alarm reports during the creation permit to verify if it is necessary to include data on alarms for which there were no calls of guards. This is due to the fact that such alarms are considered as technological or false by many security enterprises. Therefore some reports should not contain such alarms, and other reports should contain such reports only.

When an alarm report is created it is necessary to select objects and alarm event classes to be included in the report. If during the report creation it is important to select only those alarms for which certain actions have been recorded then you can directly specify necessary actions of operators.

Standard report and Report for operator

The 01 - For Operator report is intended for viewing alarms in which responses particular operator took part. And with the 02 - Standard report you can view all recorded alarms and actions for them. Additionally, when creating this report you can output only those alarms for which there were no guard calls.

Alarm cancellation statistics

When creating the 03 - By number of cancellations report you can specify minimum number of cancellations which have been recorded within a period. If in this case you select some particular cancellation, for example, the Equipment fault and specify that number of such cancellations must be at least 5, then you can obtain report which contains all objects for which alarms were cancelled not less than 5 times with reason specification as the Equipment fault .

The 03 - Cancellation statistics report is designed to calculate number of selected cancellations recorded within the preset period. With the help of this report you can see which reasons for alarm cancellations are recorded more often than others and to what extent. For instance, you can see what portion alarms take which were cancelled as

false.

In addition to counting total number of cancellations for all selected objects, the report makes possible to detail cancellations for objects in order to see at which objects more false alarms or alarms with guard calls.

Using the 03b - Summary for cancellations report you can see one more variant of cancellations detailing for objects. The report is easier for viewing than previous one but there is one restriction - not more than four cancellations can be included in it. As with the previous one this report allows to make sure visually which objects attract attention in the general list by the causes of alarms taking place at them.

The 03c - Summary for cancellation with comment report allows to select one reason for an alarm cancellation, count number of alarms which have been cancelled for this reason and additionally - to output all comments which have been recorded by operators when responding to these alarms. If an operator alarm response algorithm requires making comments when recording situations accompanying response then this report is very useful for the analysis of alarm causes and problems which appear when responding to them.

The last of summarized reports on the alarm cancellations - the 05 - Cancellations by days - allows to select one reason for an alarm cancellation and count how many times this reason have been used in each day of selected period. In addition to this the report allows to select one additional object characteristic which will also be included in the report.

Let us suppose that with the help of previous reports it has become clear that for a month there were many false alarms for an object. Using the 05 - Cancellations by days report you can find out how these alarms were distributed among days of a month: weather they took place every day or during particular shifts of some persons.

Alarms and events

The 04 - With events report represents a combination of two reports - an event report and alarm report. When creating this report you can select not only events of the Alarm type but also other events. In this case events with the Alarm class type and actions that have been recorded during their execution really determine which objects are included in the report. Events with other class types will be included in the report after the standard alarm report will be created.

Events that have been received before and after an alarm can be useful for identification causes of alarm therefore this report most often is used just for this purpose.

Reports on guarding time

Purpose of .this group of reports consists in providing information about time during which an object was under guard or in specifying weather an object was under guard in the prescribed time.

Time under guard

The 01 - With Total Time report allows to view daily arms and disarms of an object for time period during which an object was under guard as well as time during which an object should be guarded according to the guarding schedule.

When arms and disarms of objects are outputted forced filtration of these events is performed: if several arms have been received in sequence, only the first of them is included in the report. But if several disarms go in sequence only the last removal is included in the report.

The time during which an object had to be under guard according to a schedule does not depend on whether the guarding schedule control is enabled or not. Thus even if the object guarding schedule is not controlled it in case can be used for comparison of supposed and actual time of an object being under guard.

With the help of the 02- In brief report you can obtain simply sum of time during which an object was under guard within given period. This report can be useful in cases when payment for security services depends on time during which an object was under guard.

Security state

There are rather common situations when it is necessary to find out the state of a particular object at definite day and time. To fulfill such task the 03 - Security state report is designed. When you create the report you should select date, time and object security state of interest.

Guards reports

Analysis of guards operation makes possible to evaluate quality of rendered security services and fairness of guards. Moreover, by associating guard calls with objects you can distinguish objects to which response guards are called more often than to other objects and make certain organizational conclusions in regard to these objects.

Guards reports resembles alarm reports, but they are oriented to specificity associated with the guard operation -count of arrival time, average arrival time/ number of calls and so on.

In order to make alarms and guards reports actually useful the alarm response procedure should be associated with actions and cancellation reasons of alarms which are recorded by operators. First, it is necessary to distinguish typical situations which causes alarms. Secondly, it is necessary to create actions and cancellations of alarms in response to these situations. Thirdly, it is necessary to train an operator to identify typical situations, act in accordance with developed for them rules and record just those actions and cancellations which correspond to the emerged situation.

Guards operation

The 01 - Guards operation report is designed to output all alarms within the period for which calls of selected guards were recorded.