Glossary

Security video terms, defined

The vocabulary of cloud video surveillance, AI detection and virtual patrolling, each term defined in two sentences the way the industry uses it, with a note on how it appears on Camzify.

Camera tampering

Camera tampering is any interference that stops a camera from seeing what it should: the lens covered or sprayed, the camera turned away, the focus knocked out, the scene changed, or the feed frozen.

A central monitoring station, also called a central station or alarm receiving center, is a staffed facility that receives alarm signals from many protected sites and dispatches the appropriate response.

Cloud video backup

Cloud video backup is the recording of camera footage to storage outside the building as it is captured, so that a stolen, smashed or failed recorder on site takes no evidence with it.

Cloud video surveillance

Cloud video surveillance is the model in which a site's cameras stream to a service in the cloud that records, stores and manages the video instead of a recorder on site.

Cloud VMS

A cloud VMS is a video management system that runs as a cloud service rather than on a server the site owns.

False alarm

A false alarm is an alert raised by a security system for something that was not an incident, such as a shadow, an animal, a lighting change or a staff member who was allowed to be there.

Guard tour system

A guard tour system is a way of recording that a guard visited each checkpoint on a patrol route, usually by tapping a tag or scanning a code with a device that logs the time.

Intrusion detection

Intrusion detection, in video security, is a detection that raises an alert when a person or vehicle enters an area or crosses a boundary where it should not be.

IP camera

An IP camera is a camera that encodes its own video and sends it as a stream over a network, usually with its own address, rather than sending an analog signal down a cable to a recorder.

Line crossing detection

Line crossing detection, also called a virtual tripwire, draws a line on the camera view and raises an alert when a tracked person or vehicle crosses it.

Loitering detection

Loitering detection raises an alert when a tracked person or vehicle remains inside a defined zone for longer than a dwell time you set.

Motion detection

Motion detection is a camera or software function that flags change in the scene, either by comparing pixels between frames or by detecting and tracking an object that moves.

Multi-object tracking

Multi-object tracking is the computer vision process that detects every person, vehicle or object in a camera view and follows each one from frame to frame as the same subject.

Network video recorder(NVR)

A network video recorder, or NVR, is a device on site that receives the streams from IP cameras over the network and records them to its own hard disks.

ONVIF

ONVIF is an open industry standard that lets IP cameras, recorders and video software from different manufacturers work together, by defining how a device describes itself, exposes its video streams and accepts commands.

Perimeter security

Perimeter security is the protection of a site's outer boundary, its fence line, gates and the open ground inside them, so that an intrusion is detected at the edge rather than after someone is inside.

Power over Ethernet(PoE)

Power over Ethernet, or PoE, is a way of delivering electrical power to a device over the same network cable that carries its data, so an IP camera needs one cable and no separate power supply.

PTZ camera(PTZ)

A PTZ camera is one that can pan, tilt and zoom on command, either by an operator or on a preset tour, so a single camera can cover a wide area and look closely at part of it.

Remote guarding

Remote guarding is a security service in which a monitoring center watches a site through its cameras and responds to what it sees, typically with a voice warning, a call to the site or a dispatch.

Remote video monitoring(RVM)

Remote video monitoring, or RVM, is the practice of watching a site's cameras from a location other than the site, usually a monitoring center, and acting on what they show.

RTSP

RTSP, the Real Time Streaming Protocol, is the standard most IP cameras use to publish their live video stream to a recorder or software that requests it.

Security operations center(SOC)

A security operations center, or SOC, is the facility and team from which an organization monitors its sites, cameras, alarms and access systems and coordinates the response to incidents.

Tailgating

Tailgating, in access control, is a second person passing through a controlled door on the credential of the first, so the badge log records one entry while two people went in.

Video management system(VMS)

A video management system, or VMS, is the software that takes in camera streams and records, stores, streams, searches and exports the video, and controls who can see which camera.

Video retention

Video retention is the period for which recorded footage is kept before it is automatically deleted, set by the rules that apply to the site, the sector and the insurer, and by the storage available.

Video surveillance as a service(VSaaS)

Video surveillance as a service, or VSaaS, is a subscription in which cameras stream to a cloud service that records, stores, streams and manages the video instead of a recorder on site.

Video verification

Video verification is the practice of checking an alarm signal against the video from the cameras covering the area before deciding on a response.

Virtual guard

A virtual guard is a security service in which a site is watched through its cameras from another location, by an operator or by software, instead of by a guard standing on the premises.

Virtual patrolling

Virtual patrolling is a scheduled patrol round conducted through a site's cameras rather than on foot: each camera is a stop, each stop has a checklist, and a failed check notifies the assigned guard and is recorded in a report for the round.

Zone intrusion detection

Zone intrusion detection draws a polygon over an area of the camera view that should be empty and raises an alert when a tracked person or vehicle is inside it, regardless of how it entered.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

For the words a buyer meets in a vendor deck, a quote or a monitoring contract. Each entry gives a plain two-sentence definition as the industry uses the term, then how the same thing appears on Camzify, and where it does not.

No. Each term is defined generically first; the Camzify part is kept to one paragraph and says only what the product pages say, including what the product does not do, such as facial recognition or plate reading.

Yes, through the contact page. Terms that come up in demos and quotes are added as they recur.

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