E-mail Notification on Disconnected Camera

Camera Software Actions
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Here is a description of how you can setup cameras to monitor the presence of another camera and send an e-mail notification if the camera stops functioning.

Let’s assume you have two cameras, A and B:

Camera A configuration

  1. From http://ip_cam/admin/ipprofiles create an IP Notify profile as follows:

IP Notify Profile Name: IamAlive
Predefined Configuration: Custom Configuration
Destination Address: <camera_B_ip_address>:8000
Send Order: Parallel send to all
Transfer Protocol: RAW TCP/IP
Notification Data: Plain text
Message: Hi there, I’m alive!

  1. From http://<ip_cam>/control/event_tim create a Periodi Event (every 10 seconds)

  2. From http://ip_cam/admin/actions create an Action Group that sends the “IamAlive” IP Notify when the Periodi Event occurs (every 10 seconds)

This way camera A will send an IP Notify to camera B every 10 seconds.

Camera B configuration

  1. From http://ip_cam/admin/emailprofiles create an Alarm E-mail profile as you want to get the notification

  2. From http://ip_cam/control/event_msg create an IP Receive event on port 8000. Put the text “Hi there, I’m alive!” (without quotes) in the “Message” field for the comparison.

  3. From http://ip_cam/control/event_met create an Event Counter event.

Event Count = 5
Condition = Less
Event to Count = IP Receive
Minimum Delay = 5
Maximum Delay = 60
Action Type = First.

  1. From http://ip_cam/admin/actions create an Action Group that sends the Alarm E-mail profile if an Event Counter occurs.

If camera B doesn’t receive at least 5 messages from cameara A within 60 seconds it will send the e-mail.

Introducing More Cameras

With multiple cameras it is the next camera in the chain that is waiting to receive the notification and if it does not come in time then triggers the action. For example you have two cameras A and B. Camera A sends to Camera B, then to A again. If camera B then goes off-line, Camera A is waiting for the notification because its next in line to receive it, not because it sent it.

This can be viewed if we introduce Camera C. A > B > C > A etc. If camera B then goes offline, it is Camera C that triggers the action since it is waiting for the notification and has not received it in time. Camera A does not need to know if Camera B has received the notification.

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