Monitoring Meraki MV Cameras
Sections:
- Lab Topology
- Monitoring Video
- Monitoring Analytics
- Monitoring Network
- Monitoring Location
- Monitoring Event Log
- Monitoring Settings
Resources:
- Video
- Analytics
- Network
- Event Log
- Settings
Overview:
- The MV camera monitoring section from the Meraki Dashboard allows admins to view and manage real-time and historical data for the cameras deployed in the network
- The Meraki Dashboard offers an interface for monitoring camera activity, video feeds, performance metrics, and camera health, providing visibility into the status and operation of Meraki cameras
- In this section, I will demonstrate the different types of monitoring settings available for Meraki MV cameras
Lab Topology
Monitoring Video
Overview:
- The monitoring video page of Meraki MV cameras is only one of the ways that allow users to view, manage, and analyze video feeds
- This page is designed for real time video surveillance, offering live streaming, playback of recorded video, and various camera performance metrics
Monitoring Cameras Menu
Navigation
Overview:
- Meraki uses a simple navigation system that allows admins and users to adjust the operation and behavior of the cameras
- These controls are accessible through the monitoring cameras video page via the Meraki Dashboard
Navigation - Day Selector & Controls
Day Selector & Controls
Day Selector
- Meraki allows users to select the date via a calendar for a specific time period
Now Button
- Used to quickly view the current timestamp
Rewind / Forward Ten Seconds
- Available for analyzing recorded stored video
Increase Playback Speed
- Available for local streaming
Rewind / Forward One Frame
- Available for analyzing recorded stored video
Navigation - Timeline Bar Navigation
Timeline Bar Navigation
- Green Bar: availability of video recording
- Orange Blocks: motion events
Navigation - Digital Zoom
Digital Zoom
- Users have the ability to use the scrollbar or mouse to zoom in and out of video
External Controls
Use Case:
- Meraki offers some external controls such as sharing live feed or exporting stored video with the use of email address accounts
External Controls - Sharing Live Feed
External Controls - Sharing Live Feed
External Controls - Sharing Live Feed
External Controls - Sharing Live Feed
External Controls - Sharing Live Feed
External Controls - Sharing Live Feed
External Controls - Exporting Video
External Controls - Exporting Video
Motion Search
Use Case:
- This feature allows users to search and locate specific motion events within recorded video footage
- Tool makes it easy to find motion instances, eliminating the need to manually scrub through long video recordings to identify key moments
- The Motion Recap feature is optional and can be enabled or disabled from the Quality & Retention profile settings
Important Cisco Notices:
- Motion Recap images turn out best in areas with even lighting, easily identifiable subjects and clean lines of motion
- Lighting Changes; Sporadic Movement; Lots of Movement, are all factors that affect Motion Recap images: Here
Motion Search - Using Motion Search
Motion Search - Region of Interest & Timeframe
Motion Search - Images/Video View
Motion Search - List View
Motion Search - Export Feature
Monitoring Analytics
Overview:
- The monitoring analytics page of Meraki MV cameras is a MV Presence Analytics feature that uses the MV Intelligence engine to analyze the movement of people within the camera's field of view
- This feature provides insights into how people move and interact with a space, allowing organizations to gather data about foot traffic and patterns of behavior
- Per Cisco, this feature is useful for applications such as retail, workspace management, event monitoring, and customer engagement analysis
- Per Cisco, Presence analytics enables the MV security camera to double as a full service sensor for occupancy detection
Presence Analytics
Important Cisco Notices:
- To enable Presence Analytics, cameras are configured by creating a crossing line or an occupancy area to allow for collecting data. After configuration, aggregated historical foot traffic count can be accessed from this page
- Configuring a crossing line counts people crossing in each direction of the defined line
- Configuring an occupancy area monitors the defined region of interest for a particular location
- There are exporting options available to export historical data
Presence Analytics - People Counting
Presence Analytics - Vehicle Counting
Presence Analytics - Defining Occupancy Area
Presence Analytics - Defining Occupancy Area
Presence Analytics - Heat Maps
Overview:
- Heat Maps, part of the Presence Analytics suite, are visual representations that show the relative intensity of movement or activity within the camera's field of view
- These heatmaps are generated using the MV Intelligence engine, which analyzes motion data and visualizes areas with the most and least activity
- Heatmaps provide real time and historical insights into foot traffic and analyze long term patterns and trends such as peak activity times during the day or week
Presence Analytics - Heat Maps
Presence Analytics - Heat Maps
Monitoring Network
Overview:
- The monitoring network page of Meraki MV cameras is a section within the Meraki Dashboard that provides a set of diagnostic tools designed to help admins identify and resolve potential network or camera related issues
- These tools are aimed at ensuring that your cameras and network are operating optimally and that you can quickly detect and fix problems such as connectivity issues or network performance concerns
Monitoring Network Overview
Monitoring Location
Overview:
- The monitoring location page of Meraki MV cameras allows you to identify and organize camera devices according to the facilities they are deployed, facilitating easier management and monitoring, especially in large-scale installations with multiple cameras across various sites
- The Topology sub-section page provides a logical representation of the network topology and connectivity of your cameras within the network infrastructure to better understand how the cameras are connected to the rest of the network
Monitoring Location Overview
Monitoring Location - Map View
Monitoring Location - Satellite Map View
Monitoring Location - Photo View
Monitoring Location - Topology View
Monitoring Event Log
Overview:
- The monitoring event log page of Meraki MV cameras provides a detailed log of events related to the MV cameras
- This page allows you to track important activities and incidents that occur within the camera network
Monitoring Event Log Overview
Monitoring Event Log - Specific Camera View
Monitoring Event Log - Network-Wide View
Monitoring Settings
Overview:
- The monitoring settings page of Meraki MV cameras is a section where you can configure and manage various camera specific settings to tailor the performance and behavior of your cameras based on your surveillance needs
- The various settings included in this page are the following:
- Video Settings
- Quality & Retention
- Low Light Mode
- Motion Alerts
- Wireless Profiles
- Sense
Video Settings
Available Video Settings:
- Rotation
- High Dynamic Range
- Sensor Crop
- Privacy Windows
- External RTSP
Video Settings
Video Settings
Quality & Retention Settings
Overview:
- The Quality & Retention settings are configurations that help determine the video quality and storage retention duration for camera footage
- Meraki offers different configuration methods including assigning fixed quality & retention profiles or manual configurations for a specific camera
Profile Assignment Configuration Method Settings
Profile Assignment vs Manual Configuration method settings
Manual Configuration Method Settings
Manual Configuration Method Settings
Low Light Mode Settings
Overview:
- The low light mode settings for Meraki MV cameras are designed to optimize the camera's performance in environments with poor lighting
- These settings adjust how the camera captures video when there is insufficient ambient light, ensuring clear footage is recorded even in dim or low-light conditions
Low Light Mode Settings
Low Light Mode Settings
Motion Alert Settings
Overview:
- Per Cisco, motion events get triggered when a portion of an area in the MV's field of view is changed, causing motion to be detected
- If this feature is configured, when an event is triggered, an alert will be generated which will be directly sent to the configured email address
- Per Cisco, the motion alert email will include a motion recap image that corresponds to the relevant event in cases when the 'Restricted Bandwidth Mode' of the camera is disabled either through a quality & retention profile or manually
Motion Alert Settings
Motion Alert Settings
Wireless Profile Settings
Overview:
- The wireless profile settings for Meraki MV cameras allow you to define and manage the wireless network settings for cameras that are connected to the network via Wi-Fi, serving as wireless clients
- These settings are used in scenarios where the Meraki Low Voltage Power injector is used instead of physical Ethernet cables to the wired infrastructure
- The wireless profile settings are generally used as the camera's primary uplink connection when not hard wired into the LAN and should not be used as a failover connection when hard wired to the LAN
Wireless Profile Settings
Wireless Profile Settings
Sense Settings
Overview:
- Meraki offers an integrated API to interact with the MV security cameras through the use of MV Sense
- Per Cisco, MV Camera Intelligence is designed to be open-ended, allowing admins to enhance or create an application which features the object detection or light level data from an MV smart camera
- A number of camera APIs are available to use including REST APIs, MV Sense & MQTT, Live Link APIs, & Snapshot APIs
Sense Settings
Sense Settings
