Milestone Basis+ 6.5 - Manual (Page 74)

Milestone XProtect Basis+ 6.5; Administrator’s Manual
Note: Before you specify use of external input and output units on a device, verify that sensor
operation is recognized by the device. Most devices are capable of showing this in their
configuration interfaces, or via CGI script commands. Also check the Milestone release notes to
verify that input and output controlled operations are supported for the device and firmware used.
Using Dedicated I/O Devices
In addition to IP video camera devices and IP video encoder devices it is possible to add a number
of dedicated I/O (input/output) devices to XProtect Basis+ (see How to Add a Device on page 32).
For information about which I/O devices are supported, refer to the release note.
When such I/O devices are added, input on the I/O devices can be used to generate events in
XProtect Basis+, and events in XProtect Basis+ can be used for activating output on the I/O
devices. This means that I/O devices can be used in your events-based system setup in the same
way as a camera.
Note: When using some I/O devices it is necessary for the surveillance system to regularly check
the state of the devices’ input ports in order to detect whether input has been received. Such state
checking at regular intervals is called polling. The interval between state checks, called a polling
frequency, is specified in the Advanced window (see page 83). For such I/O devices, the polling
frequency should be set to the lowest possible value (one tenth of a second between state checks).
For information about which I/O devices require polling, see the release note.
I/O Setup
I/O Setup Window
You access the I/O Setup window by clicking the I/O Setup... button
in the Administrator window (see page 26). The I/O Setup window
lets you define input events, VMD (Video Motion Detection) events
and output for devices on your surveillance system. When events
occur, they can trigger one or more actions:
• Input events occur when input from an external input unit is received on a device’s input
port, for example when an external sensor detects that a door is opened. Some devices
also have their own capabilities for detecting motion, for detecting moving and/or static
objects, etc. (configured in the devices’ own software; typically by accessing a browser-
based configuration interface on the device’s IP address), in which case such detections
from the device can also be used as input events.
• VMD events occur when XProtect Basis+ detects motion on a particular camera.
• Outputs are used for activating external output units, for example for switching on lights or
sounding a siren.
The I/O Setup window is used for defining which input events, VMD events and outputs should be
available on your system. Input and VMD events can be used for triggering outputs or for
triggering various actions on the surveillance system itself, such as for starting or stopping
cameras (configured in the Camera/Alert Scheduler window – see page 64) or for moving a PTZ
camera to a particular preset position (configured in the Event window (for PTZ preset positions on
event) – see page 54).
Once you have defined input events, VMD events and outputs, you are able to associate specific
input events or VMD events with specific outputs in the I/O Control window(see page 88), so that,
www.milestonesys.com Page 74 Input, Events & Output