AXIS Camera Station: video surveillance management and much more

AXIS Camera Station provides the foundation upon which to create a validated end-to-end solution based on Axis technology. It perfectly matches the complete Axis product portfolio of IP products and features to offer customers a complete, flexible, and reliable system. AXIS Camera Station is both easy to install and, through its highly-intuitive user interface, simple to use.

The AXIS Camera Station video management software is at the core of the Axis end-to-end solution. The complete solution is comprised of:

• AXIS Camera Station client and server software: handles all communication with cameras, and auxiliary devices in the system, manages user rights and provides interaction with live video and recorded videos as well as system management, maintenance functions and logs
• AXIS Camera Station Secure Entry: inbuilt within AXIS Camera Station software and provides access control functionality when the AXIS A1601 door controllers are added
• AXIS Camera Station Network Recorders: easy-to-install and reliable recording solutions perfectly adapted to Axis wide range of network products
• Mobile viewing app for AXIS Camera Station: delivers remote viewing of live video and recordings as well as live communication with visitors and door control
•  on mobile devices
• Support for the full portfolio of Axis IP-connected products, including video cameras, body-worn cameras, audio devices, intercoms and door controllers, radar
• Access to powerful analytics applications to enhance the surveillance solution, including AXIS License Plate Verifier, AXIS Guard Suite, AXIS Perimeter Defender, AXIS Object Analytics and more.

For systems integrators, the AXIS Camera Station Integrator Suite is a set of tools to help integrators design, deploy and maintain AXIS Camera Station solutions and includes AXIS Site Designer, AXIS Installation Verifier and AXIS Camera Station System Health Monitoring.

Exploring AXIS Camera Station

In broad terms, the capabilities of AXIS Camera Station relate to live video viewing, video playback and search, audio, access control, and system and user management.

Live video viewing

AXIS Camera Station makes it possible to create a customized workspace with instant access to views and cameras in the system and integration of floorplans and external webpages. Ultimate flexibility to suit any operator’s needs is key. Support for multiple monitors (for example to mix live and recorded viewing), user-defined action buttons and programmable hotkeys are all embedded as standard features. Also included as standard are interactive maps, on-screen controls for cameras-specific features such as operating PTZ camera wipers, and operator-selected video stream profiles.

To deliver the highest-quality video viewing experience, AXIS Camera Station enables synchronization of live video from different servers and or sites simultaneously and, with the appropriate client and display, support for UltraHD 4K high-resolution cameras for clear identification of incidents.

Several features – including 360 de-warping, Axis corridor format and multi-sensor stitching – provide a complete view with no blind spots. Operators can define digital pre-set positions of areas of interest, flexible customization of views – combining maps, web pages, cameras and more – and create virtual guard tours to automatically overview any site.

Alarms and alerts can be set up to immediately bring operators’ attention to specific scenes and automatically trigger video recording and audio announcements. Notifications can be pushed to the AXIS Camera Station mobile app, making it possible for operators to respond to and investigate incidents in real-time, and take necessary actions from anywhere.

Enhanced playback and search

AXIS Camera Station also provides rich functionality for video playback. This includes synchronized, simultaneous playback from multiple cameras and from different servers, along with video scrubbing, fast play and frame advance to allow operators to quickly and accurately find sections of video of specific interest.

This is enhanced further by Smart Search 2 which allows operators to quickly search through video material to find persons and vehicles of interest. Smart Search 2 is powered by motion object data from the Axis camera, which can be further processed using machine- and deep-learning methods to quickly classify objects such as people, cars, trucks and bicycles.

Specific sections of videos of particular interest can be annotated with bookmarks, comments and notes and exported to aid investigations and case building. Cases can be packaged in the password-protected zip folder and surveillance cases shared with others thanks to the file player included, making it easy for the recipient to review the findings.

To protect the privacy of third parties captured in video footage, video redaction is included in AXIS Camera Station, offering possibilities to mask people and objects within the video before export.

Support for Axis network audio

AXIS Camera Station enables management of the full portfolio of Axis IP products, which includes a growing number of network audio devices. Audio-in and audio-out are both supported: microphones connected to cameras allow operators to listen in to live scenes, in addition to providing audio recordings, while live talk and pre-recorded messages can be played or triggered through network speakers enabling the operator to proactively deter unwanted behavior as well as address people on site

AXIS Cameras Station features intuitive audio control with the possibility to adjust the volume or mute incoming audio Operators can listen to multiple audio sources and control connected speakers to allow for live communication.

For Axis cameras with built-in speakers and Axis speakers, push-to-talk allows operators to receive audio and provides the ability to communicate live. Once a speaker is enabled for any camera, a speak button in live view is displayed.

Integrated access control

Access control functionality is enabled in AXIS Cameras Station when the AXIS A1601 door controllers are added. Included as part of the AXIS Camera Station user-friendly interface, operators can easily configure door controllers and manage cardholders.

The unification with video and access control makes it possible to verify an entry with video and send instant access control alarms to surveillance staff. It also facilitates investigations by enabling the search of access control events with synchronized video.

Setting up automated actions chains

AXIS Camera Station has a powerful and easy to use action rule engine. Operators can select from various triggers and actions making it possible to set up automated actions. Automated action chains help in many ways, offloading tiring work in front of the screen from the operator, allowing them to proactively intervene only when needed.

It can also be used to improve surveillance and overall business efficiency. For example, activation of a tripwire from AXIS Fence Guard could trigger a recording from multiple cameras, move a PTZ to a specific pre-set position, and also potentially triggering an audio message on a speaker, an output to turn on lights and alert an operator.

System and user management

Cameras and connected IP devices across large systems and multi-sites can be managed easily with AXIS Camera Station, along with the credentials of operators who need to use and manage the system. Microsoft Active Directory can be used to facilitate the administration of users, groups, and device access rights

Customers can connect to multiple servers simultaneously to give a complete view across the system whether on single or multiple sites. Administrators can connect to multiple sites/servers and configure the setting of any device connected to the system, including the updating of device firmware.

Axis Secure Remote Access simplifies access to remote surveillance systems, removing the need for manual port-forwarding and router configurations. The technology uses multiple levels of authentication to establish secure, encrypted communication between a client and the surveillance system.

AXIS Camera Station also supports enhanced device security, automatically generating a secure randomized device password at the maximum length supported by the selected device(s).

Systems can be scaled and performance enhanced by adding more servers to support more connected devices and greater storage requirements.

In addition, several approaches to optimizing storage can be employed. These include managing bitrate with Zipstream, AXIS Average Bitrate – a sophisticated method of controlling bitrate through video compression adapted to ensure defined retention time requirements are always met – and in defining video retention times for each individual camera.

As surveillance technology and the needs of installers and customers evolve, so will AXIS Camera Station, enabling our customers to gain maximum value from their investment in Axis technology.

Source: Axis Communications