Create rules for anomaly detections

Last modified: Wednesday February 19, 2025.

Create a rule to alert your operators when Alta Video detects an anomaly.

Watch how to create rules for anomaly detection:

Prerequisites

To use Preset Camera or Date & Time settings, make sure you have configured them before creating the rule.

Task — Create the anomaly rule

1. From the toolbar, open > Rules.
2. Click Add.
3. Type a name for the rule.
4. Click the button.
5. Set the Level of importance.
   High importance rules prioritize the cameras displayed in the Video view when a rule is triggered.
6. Click Next.
7. Select the type of anomalies to be notified about.
   The options are:
   • Unusual time of day
   • Unusual location
   • Unusual velocity
   • Unusual sound
     Where appropriate, select whether to detect people, vehicles or both.

   Alta Video cannot detect anomalies if the Initial training on the relevant camera has not been completed. Initial training usually takes about two weeks.

8. Click Next.
9. Select the cameras to be analyzed:
1. Use Search to help find the required cameras in the list.
2. Click to filter cameras by site name, device group name, and device name, or click to filter by label.
3. If you have predefined them, use Camera presets to simplify adding the same groups of cameras to multiple rules.
   
10. Click Next.
11. Specify your required Date & Time and RULE ACTIVATION settings.
    If you have predefined them, use Templates to simplify adding the same date and time parameters to multiple rules.
12. Click Next.

13. Select automated actions taken by the system when the rule triggers:

    • Pop-up: Show a notification in Alta Video that includes a thumbnail of the rule-triggering video. If required, select Also send a push notification on the mobile app.
    • Email: Send an email message to a system user or user group. You can define an email template and include data from the trigger.
    • External link: Creates a link to the triggering recording that can be shared with non-system users or embedded in an Email or Webhook notification.
    • Webhook: Dispatch a configured webhook including trigger data as the payload.
    • PTZ Cameras: Move pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras to pre-configured positions. This option is only available if PTZ cameras are added to the deployment.
      

    Alarms are only shown to operators that have access to the cameras that trigger the rule.

To configure Advanced settings:
1. Click Advanced settings.
2. To record more video at the end of the alarm, specify the Additional recording time.
3. To merge similar alarms, specify the Merge similar alarms within time.
4. Select how the triggered rule should behave. To trigger an alarm that shows in the Alarms tool, select Security Alarm (default). To trigger as an event that shows in the Events tool, select Security Event.
5. Click Done.
14. Choose to require your operators to acknowledge the triggered rule.
15. Click Done.