Meraki MV Camera Profiles

Sections: 

• Lab Topology 
• Quality & Retention Profiles
• Assigning Quality & Retention Profiles
• Wireless Profiles
• Schedule Profiles

Resources: 

• Quality & Retention Profiles
  • Bulk Configuring Quality & Retention Settings Through Profiles
  • Smart Retention & Maximum Retention Limit
  • Motion Based Retention
  • Motion Search & Motion Recap
  • Restricted Bandwidth Mode
  • Audio Recording
• Wireless Profiles
  • MV Wireless Configuration Guide
  • Wireless Functionality on MV Cameras
  • MV Low Power Voltage Adapter (LPVA) Installation Guide
• Schedule Profiles
  • Scheduled Recording

Overview: 

• Meraki MV Camera Profiles are profiles that allow admins to define and manage different settings for their Meraki MV series cameras
• Camera Profiles are particularly useful when managing large numbers of cameras across multiple locations. Rather than configuring each camera individually, admins can apply a camera profile to a group of cameras to ensure consistency and simplify the process
• In this section, I will demonstrate the different types of profiles that can be defined for the Meraki MV camera series

Lab Topology 

Quality & Retention Profiles

Overview:

• Quality and Retention profiles refer to the specific settings that manage the video quality and video retention (how long the footage is stored) for recorded video footage
• These settings can be customized in the Meraki Dashboard to ensure camera performance is optimized and that video data is stored effectively 
• Per Cisco, you can also use APIs to set individual camera settings, or create and assign profiles
• In this section, I will demonstrate defining a quality and retention profile for my Meraki MV series camera

Camera Profiles Menu

Quality & Retention Profile Overview

Quality & Retention Profile Configuration

Configuration Parameters & Features:

Smart Retention

• Longer & more predictable video retention duration
• Simplified video quality settings
• Reduced bandwidth requirements for local and cloud streaming

Motion Based Retention

• By default, an MV device will record footage continuously 24/7
• With motion based retention, only motion events are required to be recorded and stored for review
• This feature improves the video retention capabilities of the camera

Maximum Retention Limit

• This feature is designed to allow users to limit how much footage their cameras can retain
• Per Cisco, some users may want to do this to meet local regulatory laws that restrict how long footage can be retained

Motion Detector Version

• This feature integrates a tool called motion search, and is designed to help users search for and view motion events from the Dashboard
• This tool is ideal for incident reporting and expediting the retrieval of video for said events

Restricted Bandwidth Mode

• Offered by Meraki to give users the option to disable features that require additional bandwidth such as Motion Recap
• Per Cisco, Motion Recap makes finding events through Motion Search faster and more efficient, but the generation of these images requires some additional bandwidth
• Per Cisco, Motion Recap is currently the only feature disabled in this mode and plans to add features in the future

Audio Recording

• By enabling this feature, audio playback is supported when streaming live or historical video on the Meraki Dashboard in addition to playback of exported footage
• Per Cisco, there can be a slight delay in audio playback when viewing video with audio recording enabled

Per Model Configuration

• Per Cisco, different models of cameras have different options available for video resolution and quality
• Adjusting the quality and retention settings above this section will determine the available quality and resolution prior to defining the profile 

Assigning & Unassigning Quality & Retention Profiles

Overview:

• Once you've configured a camera profile, you can assign it to Meraki MV cameras through the Meraki Dashboard
• In this section, I will assign the Quality & Retention profile I have configured to my Meraki MV camera
• Per Cisco, if you have any Cloud Archive licenses, ensure those are applied to the cameras before assigning the profile. Assigning the profile does not assign the license

Assigning Profiles Menu

Assigning & Unassigning Quality & Retention Profiles 

Wireless Profiles

Overview:

• Per Cisco, MV cameras are integrated with a wireless chip that allows them to function as wireless clients, eliminating the need to be connected to the wired switch infrastructure via PoE
• This feature requires a Meraki MV low voltage power injector 
• Per Cisco, wireless settings in the Meraki Dashboard are configured in which the cameras then initially connect to the LAN for configuration download. After this step, the cameras are connected to power and mounted within range of an access point. The wireless functionality on MV works with any brand of wireless access point

Meraki Low Voltage Power Converter

• This accessary converts low voltage (12VDC/24VAC) power supplies into PoE, allowing users to upgrade from analog to IP in just one installation step
• Per Cisco, prior to deploying the Low Voltage Power Converter, pre-stage the Meraki MV camera so that it is running the latest firmware and has it's wireless settings properly configured
• Installation guides can be found on Meraki's site: Here

Important Cisco Notices

• All cameras except MV21 and MV71 support wireless configuration
• Wireless configurations are intended to function as the camera's primary uplink connection, not as a LAN connection backup. The wireless settings are not designed to function as a failover for MV connectivity
• WPA3-PSK is only supported on MV13, MV23, MV33, MV63, MV73 and MV93 series. Please ensure the camera is on MV6.2.2+
• During prestaging of a camera for wireless deployment, it is recommended that the camera stays connected for 30 minutes after applying the wireless profile
• At least two wireless profiles must be applied to cameras. It is not possible to apply only a primary profile. The Meraki MV will prefer the Primary SSID and automatically failover to the Secondary followed by the Backup SSID

Wireless Profile Overview 

Schedule Profiles

Overview:

• Per Cisco, MV cameras are subject to record continuously 24/7. Meraki offers the option to configure recording schedules from the Meraki Dashboard in situations where limited recording schedules are desirable 
• Per Cisco, when a recording schedule is applied to a camera, the camera will only store historical video within the defined schedule. Outside the schedule, the camera will still stream live video but not record historical video. Audio recordings will also be disabled outside of the recording schedule
• In this section, I will demonstrate defining a schedule profile for my Meraki MV camera

Schedule Profile Configuration