FAQ bottom frame

1.1Q What is a video alarm?

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1.1A A video alarm is a message sent to the VisorCENTRAL PC that contains both text information and a video clip. The text information contained in the alarm includes date/time, zone activate and cameras pertaining to that alarm, and the video is a programmable length of captured video from a specified camera.

1.2Q Is the VisorNET software upgradeable?

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1.2A Yes, the VisorNET software can be upgraded, both locally as well as remotely, using the VisorCENTRAL software.

1.3Q What video format does the VisorNET use?

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1.3A The VisorNET comes with Motion JPEG (MJPEG) but can be upgraded using either our H.263 or our latest MPEG4 daughter boards.

1.4Q Can I set more than one IP address on the VisorNET?

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1.4A The VisorNET is programmable for multiple IP addresses.

1.5Q How do I set a VisorNET to factory defaults?

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1.5A You can either reset the VisorNET to factory defaults physically or through the web page. Physically, remove the large metal plate from below the VisorNET. There will be several sets of microswitches; find set SW1 (set with 8 microswitches). With the VisorNET powered off, find the switch 5 in SW1 and switch it ON.

Then power on the VisorNET and wait until the only lights that are lit are ‘S’ and ‘LAN’ (and ‘WAN’ if you have a WAN daughter board installed). Then you can power off the VisorNET, switch 5 back to OFF and remount the metal plate. The VisorNET will now have the default settings.

You can also reset the unit through the web link in the web page of the VisorNET, as seen below.

1.6Q What TCP/UDP ports does the VisorNET use?

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1.6A By default, the VisorNET is set to transmit live video and video alarms to the VisorCENTRAL on TCP port 80; however, both of these transmissions are independently programmable. For audio, the VisorNET uses the H.323 protocol, and these ports can be found in the document "VisorNET TCP/UDP ports" which is available in the documentation section of this website.

1.7Q What are the default IP settings for the VisorNET LAN interface?

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1.7A The default IP settings for the VisorNET LAS interface are listed below:

IP address: 192.168.1.1

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Gateway: (none)

1.8Q At what speed are the alarms transmitted and what is the duration of the transmission?

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1.8A The transmission speed of the alarms depends on the type of transmission interfaces the VisorNET and the central station (VisorCENTRAL) are using. The lower transmission speeds will be experienced using PSTN (phone) lines and the higher speeds will be obtained in a local area network (LAN). For a four second video alarm, the approximated transmission duration is listed in the following table:

Transmission Interface (kbps)	Connection establishment (seconds)	Approximated duration of alarm transmission (seconds)
PSTN-14.4	30	60
PSTN-33.6	30	25
ISDN-64	2-3	14
ISDN-128	2-3	7
ADSL-100 (256)	-	9
ADSL-300 (2 M)	-	3
LAN	-	< 1

1.9Q How do the key positions affect the transmission of alarms?

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1.9A The transmission of alarms is one of the functions that can be triggered when a VisorNET input is activated. These different functions are programmed within each zone and each zone is independently configurable within each of two programming profiles: ‘Day’ and ‘Night’. The configuration of the VisorNET will be determined by the key position. The key’s teeth need to be aligned with the desired position. If the key is in the ‘Day’ position, the equipment will function indefinitely by the zone configuration programmed in the ‘Day’ profile; if that configuration includes the transmitting of video alarms to VisorCENTRAL (the option ‘Send alarm to control…’ as seen below ) an alarm is transmitted when an input of the corresponding zone is activated.

If the key is in the ‘Night’ position, the VisorNET will function in accordance with the programmed configuration set in the ‘Night’ profile.

If the key is in the ‘Auto’ position, the VisorNET will function according to the weekday and time configuration set in the ‘TIMETABLE’.

Finally, if the key is in the ‘Off’ postion, the VisorNET ignores all status changes of its inputs. This disables all zones, whereby disabling all programmed functions of both ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ profiles. That is to say, if the key is in the ‘Off’ position, no alarms will be transmitted or recorded, regardless of the programmed configuration.

1.10Q What does the LED ‘Alarm’ indicate?

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1.10A The LED ‘Alarm’ offers an visual indication of the state of alarm transmission. If the LED is green, this indicates that the alarm is being transmitted. If the LED is amber, this indicates that a connection is trying to be made to VisorCENTRAL. If the LED is red, this indicates that the connection with VisorCENTRAL is not possible and the transmission stays pending.

1.11Q How are the alarms stored?

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1.11A The VisorNET stores the alarms that have occurred in order and will transmit the oldest alarm first. To store the alarm registry, the VisorNET uses non-volatile memory which means that the contents in memory will not be lost when the VisorNET loses electrical power. When the VisorNET regains power, the pending alarms begin to transmit. With regards to the video associated to the alarms, due to the large storage space it is not possible to store in this memory. Therefore, if a VisorNET loses its electrical power, the images that an alarm has associated are lost.

Video Security Product Line	IP Alarm Transmission Product line
VisorNET	MIP
VisorDISK	VisorALARM
VisorCENTRAL
VisorPORTAL
TelsecNVR
VisorEXTENSIONS
VisorAPI

2.1Q What operating systems is VisorCENTRAL compatible with?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
2.1A VisorCENTRAL 6 Suite is compatible with Windows 2000 Pro/Server, XP and 2003 Server.
2.2Q What other software do I need to have installed on my PC for VisorCENTRAL?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
2.2A You will not need any extra software except Sun Java (www.java.com) and Apple Quicktime (www.quicktime.com), which are both free plug-in downloads.
2.3Q What is the functionality of the INPUT and OUTPUT buttons in the VisorCENTRAL WATCH module ‘I/O’ tab?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
2.3A From the I/O tab in the WATCH module, an operator can both sensitize/desensitize the inputs and activate/deactivate the outputs. The idle state of an INPUT is deactivated. In this state, the INPUT button will display a green light as shown in the following image: When the INPUT on the VisorNET has been activated, it will display a red light : The INPUT button can also be clicked so that the INPUT will not trigger an alarm in WATCH. When the button is pressed or clicked on, the button will displayed as shown: The OUTPUT buttons are available for remote activation of those OUTPUTS on the VisorNET. The idle state of the OUTPUT is deactivated. In this state, the OUTPUT button will display a green light : To activate an OUTPUT, simply press or click on that button. The remote VisorNET’s output will activate. Once activated, the OUTPUT button will display a red light :

3.1Q Can I move the saved video to a videotape?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
3.1A The VisorDISK includes both a S-Video and RCA Composite video out connecter.
3.2Q Can I use more than one VisorNET with a VisorDISK?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
3.2A You can associate and record to one VisorDISK with as many as 16 Centers (a center can be up to four VisorNETs using master/slave configuration).
3.3Q Do I have to install the VisorDISK at the same physically location as the VisorNET?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
3.3A No. The VisorDISK is a NVR, which means that it can record from a VisorNET at any location as long as they can communicate using TCP/IP.
3.4Q How do I view the recorded video on the VisorDISK?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
3.4A The recorded video from the VisorDISK can be viewed using any one of four methods. A. Using the VisorCENTRAL application. B. Using the VisorPORTAL with a valid username and password. C. Using the VisorDISK and/or the VisorNET integrated web page. D. Locally using the keyboard, mouse and monitor.
3.5Q Does the VisorDISK record video as well as audio?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
3.5A Yes. The VisorDISK has been upgraded to include the new audio recording feature.
3.6Q What kind of automated recording can the VisorDISK perform?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
3.6A The VisorDISK has both scheduled as well as event driven (i.e. video motion detection, zone activation) recordings. These settings can be programmed down to each camera independently.

8.1Q What is a MIP?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
8.1A The MIP is a small module that can be connected to any CONTACT-ID alarm panel in order to transmit alarm signals over any TCP/IP network (i.e. Internet, WAN, LAN).
8.2Q What happens if the alarm panel tries to send an alarm and the MIP either cannot communicate with central monitoring station, loses power, or fails?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
8.2A If the MIP cannot send the alarm for any reason, the phone line is reopened to the alarm panel so that the alarm can be sent to the central monitoring station. In addition, the central monitoring station will have already received an alarm advising them about the communication failure with the MIP.
8.3Q What alarm panels is the MIP compatible with?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
8.3 The MIP is compatible with any CONTACT ID alarm panel.
8.4Q Do I need any extra equipment to plug in the MIP?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
8.4A All you need to connect the MIP is wiring for telephone and electricity. The MIP can be mounted into your existing alarm cabinet and powered by your alarm panel.
8.5Q How much electrical power does the MIP consume?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
8.5A The MIP uses 550mA at 12VDC.
8.6Q What internet protocols and TCP/UDP ports does the MIP use? Does it work through firewalls and proxies?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
8.6A * For alarm transmission to the VisorALARM receiver and for the polling operations, the MIP uses UDP traffic (instead of TCP) over a port that can be programmed on the MIP. * UDP is a better and more efficient option than TCP for polling operations (allows more than 3,000 MIPs per receiver) and in fact is the recommended protocol by UL and some other organizations. * Each UDP packet is no more than 70 bytes long. * Communication with the receiver is bi-directional, so there are also UDP packets traveling from the VisorALARM receiver to the MIP. * Firewalls usually control INBOUND traffic (the type of traffic that can harm the network), but it usually doesn't limit the OUTBOUND traffic (outbound traffic is generated within the network, so in theory is coming from a secure and identified computer in the network and there is no need to limit it). * Thus, there shouldn't be any firewall related problems when installing an MIP unit at a customer's location. * At the central station it is normal to expect that there will be a firewall. In this case it's a lesser problem as we are now inside the central station and the IT technicians should have full control of their firewall and should be able to program the firewall to allow traffic coming from the MIP units. * Proxies: Proxies usually only affect TCP packets. The MIP and VisorALARM UDP packets should be able to travel through proxies without any problems. CONCLUSION: Telsec's experience working with MIPs (thousands of units installed) we have rarely experienced firewall or communication problems at the MIP side. It is possible to suffer these kind of problems, but because of the way these software elements work (firewalls and proxies) it is not likely to happen (possible but not likely). If an installer finds a problem when installing an MIP, he will definitely have to talk with the IT manager at the location (as said before, these problems will only show up in locations with a VERY restrictive firewall configuration, and in those cases there is always an IT person in charge and that you could talk to. In residential and small businesses installations, were there typically isn't an IT manager, there shouldn't be any problem).
8.7Q What are the IP default settings for the MIP unit?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
8.7A The default IP settings for the MIP are the following: IP Address: 192.168.0.100 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway: 192.168.0.200
8.8Q Can the MIP use DHCP for automatic IP configuration?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
8.8A Any MIP with bios version 2.0 and higher has an integrated DHCP client that will automatically obtain an ip address, subnet mask and default gateway. If the MIP cannot communicate with a DHCP server, then the default IP settings will be used.
8.9Q What are the different methods of configuring a MIP?	<< PREVIOUS	NEXT >>	^ TOP ^
8.9A The MIP can be configured using an analog phone, or a MIP Console cable and a terminal application (i.e. Windows Hyperterminal). A MIP with bios version 2.0 and higher can now also be configured through a LAN connection using telnet.