Glossary

Advanced Systems Format

The Advanced Systems Format (ASF) is a video streaming format from Microsoft. The ASF format can only be played in media players that support this format, such as Windows Media Player.

Advanced Systems Format (ASF)

Acronym: ASF

bookmark

A bookmark is an indicator of an event or incident that is used to mark a specific point in time in a recorded video sequence. A bookmark also contains a short text description that can be used to search for and review the video sequences at a later time.

camera

A camera is a video unit that represents a single video source in the system. The video source can be an IP camera, or an analog camera that is connected to a video encoder.

client administrator

User level that is assigned by either the integrator administrator or integrator user. The client administrator does not have all of the privileges that the integrator user levels have, but the client administrator can allow or restrict client user or remote monitoring user access to the Stratocast™ portal. You can only have one client administrator per client account, but you can register the same username to multiple users.

client user

User level that is assigned by either the integrator administrator, integrator user, or the client administrator. You can only add a maximum of nine client users per client account, not including the client administrator, and they can each be assigned unique usernames or the same username.

Config Tool

Config Tool is the Security Center administrative application used to manage all Security Center users and to configure all Security Center entities such as areas, cameras, doors, schedules, cardholders, patrol vehicles, ALPR units, and hardware devices.

data center

A secure, off-site facility that acts as a centralized repository for computer and server systems, telecommunication equipment, and related storage systems. In Stratocast™, the country that you select when creating or modifying your client accounts is used to choose the closest data center, and helps to establish an efficient connection between your client and Stratocast™.

day-and-night camera

A day-and-night camera is a camera that can be used to record during the day and at night, because it adapts to the amount of ambient light in a given scene. As a result, users can easily make out the images in a scene, regardless of the amount of light that is present.

device

In Stratocast™, a device can be either a video unit (camera or video encoder) or a NAS (network attached storage) volume. You can add a device from the Devices page of the client account.

dual recording

Dual recording is the process of recording and storing recorded videos in the cloud and on an SD card of supported devices simultaneously.

edge recording

Edge recording is the process of recording and storing recorded videos on the peripheral device, thus removing the need for a centralized recording server or unit. With edge recording, you can store video directly on the camera’s internal storage device (SD card) or on a network attached storage volume (NAS volume).

Error (severity level)

The Error severity level indicates that the system event is critical. To have your system continue running smoothly and not incur the loss of information, immediate attention is required. System events and their corresponding severity levels appear on the Health monitoring page and in the health dashboard.

Federation™

Federation™ joins multiple, independent Genetec™ security systems into a single virtual system. With this feature, users on a central system, called the Federation host, can view and control entities that belong to remote systems.

health dashboard

The health dashboard is a pane on the homepage that provides a brief overview of the current health of your system. This dashboard shows a list of the five most recent system events that are active, and also indicates the number of system errors and warnings that are currently active.

identity provider

An identity provider is a trusted, external system that administers user accounts, and is responsible for providing user authentication and identity information to relying applications over a distributed network.

integrator administrator

User level that is assigned by the Stratocast™ cloud administrator. The integrator administrator level has the most privileges. You can only have one integrator administrator per integrator account, but you can register the same username to multiple accounts.

integrator user

User level that is assigned by the integrator administrator. The integrator user has the same privileges as the integrator administrator, except for the ability to add other integrator users. You can have an unlimited number of integrator users per integrator account, and they can each be assigned unique usernames or the same username.

mobile authentication key

A string of user-defined characters that is used to authenticate a user's identity for mobile applications. When connecting to the Stratocast™ mobile apps from a mobile device, users must enter a valid mobile authentication key.

motion detection

Motion detection is the feature that watches for changes in a series of video images. The definition of what constitutes motion in a video can be based on highly sophisticated criteria.

network attached storage

A network attached storage (NAS) is an edge recording storage device that has a dedicated network address and IP address, and provides file storing and sharing capabilities to other devices on the same network. With a NAS, you can expand the hard disk space of your local network and securely store more recordings from more cameras.

network attached storage (NAS)

Acronym: NAS

NAS volume

A NAS (network attached storage) volume is a formatted section on the hard disk of a NAS, which represents a logical storage device that is independent from the other volumes on the same NAS. You can store video recordings from a single camera to a designated NAS volume on your NAS device.

Owner Authentication Key

An Owner Authentication Key (OAK) is a security key that is used to ensure that only the owner or authorized user(s) of a device are able to register the device with a service.

Owner Authentication Key (OAK)

Acronym: OAK

push notification

A push notification is the delivery of information or a message from a software application to a mobile device, without a specific request from the client.

role

A role is a software component that performs a specific job within Security Center or Security Center SaaS.

Security Center

Security Center is a truly unified platform that blends IP video surveillance, access control, automatic license plate recognition, intrusion detection, and communications within one intuitive and modular solution. By taking advantage of a unified approach to security, your organization becomes more efficient, makes better decisions, and responds to situations and threats with greater confidence.

Security Desk

Security Desk is the unified user interface of Security Center. It provides consistent operator flow across all of the Security Center main systems, Omnicast™, Synergis™, and AutoVu™. The unique task-based design of Security Desk lets operators efficiently control and monitor multiple security and public safety applications.

site

A site is a virtual branch of a Stratocast™ account (client or integrator), which represents an actual geographical location. By creating two Stratocast™ accounts and registering the same usernames to both accounts, you create two sites that can be accessed by each of those usernames.

Stratocast™

Stratocast™ is a cloud-based video monitoring system that makes the adoption of network video security solutions easy. With Stratocast™, you can connect to your business wherever you go. Using the Microsoft Windows Azure cloud-computing platform, Stratocast™ eliminates the need for on-site servers. As a result, installation time is reduced and you can begin monitoring your premises quickly.

Stratocast™ account

A Stratocast™ account is a collection of user-related and geographical information for a given company in a given location, and the arrangement with which that company can use the services offered by Stratocast™. There are two types of accounts: integrator accounts and client accounts.

Stratocast™ Control Protocol

The Stratocast™ Control Protocol (SCP) is a lightweight HTTP command and control protocol designed to integrate virtually any device from any manufacturer (except for Axis) into Stratocast™ and must be implemented in the firmware of the device. The protocol is used to enroll devices in Stratocast™ and to control some specific cloud functions.

Stratocast™ Control Protocol (SCP)

Acronym: SCP

Stratocast™ mobile apps

Stratocast™ mobile apps are the mobile version of Stratocast™ that you can use to connect to your system remotely over WiFi or cellular networks. With the Stratocast™ mobile apps, you can monitor your premises directly from your mobile devices.

system event

A system event is a predefined event that indicates the occurrence of an activity or incident. System events are defined by the system and cannot be renamed or deleted.

timeline

A timeline is a graphic illustration of a video sequence, showing where in time, motion and bookmarks are found. Thumbnails can also be added to the timeline to help the user select the segment of interest.

Transmission Control Protocol

A connection-oriented set of rules (protocol) that, along with the IP (Internet Protocol), is used to send data over an IP network. The TCP/IP protocol defines how data can be transmitted in a secure manner between networks. TCP/IP is the most widely used communications standard and is the basis for the Internet. In Stratocast™, all video streams and communication between the cameras, web client and the Stratocast™ cloud use TCP for communication.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

Acronym: TCP

user level

A user level is an access requirement that defines a user's ability to perform certain tasks once logged on to Stratocast™. Excluding the cloud administrator of Genetec Inc., there are four user levels with varying privileges in Stratocast™.

username

A username is an access credential that is comprised of a valid email address from one of the supported identity providers. A username can be registered to multiple Stratocast™ accounts (multi-account username), and must be activated by the user only once before logging on to any of the accounts that the username is registered to.

video sequence

A video sequence is any recorded video stream of a certain duration.

video unit

A video unit is a video encoding or decoding device that is capable of communicating over an IP network and that can incorporate one or more video encoders. Video units are available in a variety of brands and models, some of which support audio and others support wireless communication. The high-end encoding models also include their own recording and video analytics capabilities. Cameras (IP or analog), video encoders, and video decoders are all examples of video units.

video encoder

A video encoder is a video unit that converts an analog video source to a digital format by using a standard compression algorithm, such as H.264, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, or M-JPEG. Using a video encoder with multi-channel inputs, you can digitize the analog video of multiple cameras at the same time.

Warning (severity level)

The Warning severity level indicates that the system event is not critical. Although immediate attention is not required, it is recommended to correct the issue as soon as possible. System events and their corresponding severity levels appear on the Health monitoring page and in the health dashboard.

web client

The client component of a software system that provides access to the system's features from a web browser on the user's machine.