Using the Hanwha TID-600R Intercom with exacqVision

This feature included in 25H1 allows the user to integrate the Hanwha TID-600R with exacqVision Client.

In this example we will step through an example scenario where pressing the call button or using the Touchless call setting on the intercom brings the camera to the attention of the exacqVision operator to trigger a door lock. There is a tutorial video associated with this feature.

The following topics are discussed:

  • Wiring an electric door strike
  • Configuring the device and adding it to exacqVision Client
  • Enabling Two-Way Audio
  • Adding Associations
  • Creating Custom Views
  • Creating an Event Monitoring Profile
  • Enable Persistent Monitoring
  • Configure Event Linking
  • Handling Calls from exacqVision
  • Visitor Operation

You will combine several features and functions within the exacqVision Client. It is recommended that users acquaint themselves with the exacqVision Client prior to use. We provide User Training Videos on these topics.

Wire a Door Strike

The simplest configuration is that of a single electric door strike, or maglock, wired directly to the door controller.

The Hanwha TID-600R can be wired using PoE and installing power and alarm I/O cables. For more information on the many wiring and hardware configurations please refer to the manufacturer’s website or documentation.

Configure the Device and add to exacqVision Client

  1. You will want to use a web browser to log into the device and perform the initial setup, which at this stage usually means setting a non-default username/password, and possibly setting a static IP address.
  2. Navigate to Setup > Intercom > Call Setup and configure the settings if required. To have touchless entry where the user does not need to press the call button, the Touchless call option needs to be enabled. This allows the user to hold their hand in front of the intercom for at least 1 second without having to touch the call button. The Calling time out can also be configured from a minimum of 10 seconds up to a maximum of 180 seconds.
  1. If you do not already know the IP address of the intercom, you will need to discover it on the network.
  2. In exacqVision Client, you can add the device using the Find IP Cameras tab or manually.
    • Click the Rescan Network button and use the filter to search for the required device if you have a large number of devices on your network. Click the Add Selected button and enter the login details. Click OK – a green Connected status should be displayed.
    • You will want to use the IP address in the same range as your exacqVision VMS, however this result may be discovered with ‘ONVIF’ displayed in the ‘Type’ column. Access the discovered IP address in your web browser to set the username and password.
  • Add the device manually by clicking the New button under the IP Camera List in the top half of the page. Select Hanwha Vision from the Device Type Selector. Enter the IP address in the same range as your exacqVision VMS, then enter the Username and Password credentials before clicking Apply to add the device. The device should display a green Connected status in the IP Camera List before continuing.

Enable Two-Way Audio

  1. Expand the Add IP Cameras node from the navigation tree.
  2. Select the Audio Inputs/Outputs node nested beneath the Add IP Cameras node.
  3. The resulting list displayed will show each intercom device listed twice. Note the column, titled Audio. One of these rows shows ‘TID-600R A1’ while the other displays ‘RTSP Audio Out.’ For easier identification we can apply our own labels here. We change ‘Audio Out’ to ‘Talk’ and change ‘Audio’ to ‘Listen.’
  1. Find the Record Enable column. Place a check in the box for both of these rows for the device. This enables two-way audio functions within exacqVision Client.
  2. Press the Apply button to save your changes. Use the Talk and Listen buttons to verify audio is functioning and adjust the audio gain as desired in the intercom’s web browser interface.

IMPORTANT: Client workstations intended for use with two-way audio devices MUST have a microphone enabled. Two-way audio menus and controls are disabled or hidden until a microphone is recognized by the operating system. Each client workstation used for two-way audio must have its own microphone.

Add Associations

You have the option of using soft triggers and audio controls from the top toolbar in live view, but these will open dialogues showing all system options. Controls that are used frequently and directly related to the specific camera being displayed in a panel may be easier for operators to use when added as Association buttons within the camera panel.

  1. Select the Associations node from the navigation tree.
  2. The panel along the left lists existing cameras. Find and click to select the intercom.
  3. From the Available Controls panel, we select the ‘Listen’ option we relabelled earlier and click Add. There will be two controls labelled ‘Talk’ that we relabelled earlier. Select and add the one showing the microphone icon.
  4. So that your exacqVision operators can unlock the door remotely, you can set up an Event Linking, for this example we are going to add the control labelled ‘Soft Trigger – Unlock’.
  5. You should now have four Associated Controls listed. You may wish to edit the Button Style listed.
    • Sustained requires a click on, and another click to turn off.
    • Momentary functions only while a user is pressing down the button which will also prevent a user from accidentally forgetting to lock the door or leaving a microphone on.

You may refer to the User Manual or Associations training video for more information on customizing your Associations.

  1. Click Apply to save your changes when done.

Create Custom Views

In this example we will create a View to display when triggered, rather than changing a single video panel. Learn more about these two options in the Event Monitoring training video. To make this work, we will create two custom Views to use later when creating an Event Monitoring profile. Refer to the Views training video if you need more details on performing these steps.

  1. Select the Views node from the navigation tree.
  2. Click the New View button, then enter a descriptive name. In this example, we name our view ‘Intercom View 1′.
  3. Select a layout for the view from the layout toolbar above. This view may have a single panel layout showing only the camera view from the intercom, or you may use a multi-panel layout displaying the intercom and other cameras showing the entry from different angles.
  4. Use the Available Items panel to find your intercom camera and drag it to the empty panel in the layout. If using a multi-panel layout, fill the other panels as you like.
  5. Because the Associations are already displayed, an exacqVision operator may easily enable/disable each when viewing in Live mode. However, if you’d like the Microphone or Speaker to be on automatically upon the view changing, you may also drag one of these onto the layout as well. Only one may be active.
  6. Click Apply to save you changes when done.
  7. Since we are changing the entire view displayed in Live mode, we will also want to create a view that is displayed when the intercom is not in use.

Create an Event Monitoring Profile

Next you will create the Event Monitoring profile that changes the view displayed while in Live mode.

  1. Select the Event Monitoring node from the navigation tree.
  2. Click the New button under the Profiles panel to begin creating a new profile.
  3. Enter a descriptive Name under the Profile Configuration panel. Our example will name this ‘Intercom’.
  4. The option you select for the Show Event List menu will depend on your intended use.
    • Never is the less obtrusive option as it hides the Event List from popping up in our view. The trade off for this is you will probably want to set Timeout later so the View changes back to the default display after a given amount of time. Without this, the displayed View will remain on the intercom camera.
    • On Event will pop open the Event List window which some users do not like. However, the benefit of this is the exacqVision user can decide when to return to the default View and the View will not change in the middle of being used simply because a timer ended. When the event is cleared the Event List window will disappear.
    • Always will always be displayed whether or not the intercom is being utilized.
  1. Checking the Show Newest Event box is optional. This feature is most useful when many possible events are included in an Event Monitoring profile. An example may be a site with multiple intercoms, in which case checking this box will change the view to display the station with the most recently pressed Call Button.
  2. As mentioned previously, this example will use ‘View’ from the Type field. Refer to the Event Monitoring training video for more on the ‘Video Panel’ option, which does not require creating custom Views.
  3. Under Client Actions in the middle of the window is where you will create the actions that occur when triggered by various events. Our first row, currently labelled ‘Unknown’ should already be highlighted because we are creating a new profile.
  4. From the Event Type panel list, select Input Trigger.
  1. In the Event Source section, select the Call Button option.
  2. In the Action Type section, select the Switch View option. Note that you could also opt to make your default display a Tour, which is covered in the Tours training video.
  3. In the Action Target section, select the required view.
  4. Click the Apply button to save your changes.
  5. If Persistent Event Monitoring is already enabled, a notification will be displayed that you’ve modified the profile. Click the Yes, re-launch button. Otherwise, a message will be seen when you enable Persistent Event Monitoring.

When an event is activated, it will learn the layout and switch the views. The first time you set this up, it has no idea how many monitors you have, what size things are and what layout is used – it learns the layout after the first time but for the first time, the view will be displayed in full screen.

Enable Persistent Monitoring

Intercoms integrate especially well with the Persistent Event Monitor feature in the exacqVision Client.

  1. Navigate to the Client page and enable the Persistent Monitoring checkbox. You can select a Profile from the dropdown list.
  2. This will start the Persistent Event Monitor. It may be minimized but cannot be closed. It will persist if you close the client.
  1. When an event in the profile triggers, the Persistent Event Monitor will unminimize itself and move to the foreground.
  2. The associations on the video will allow the user to answer the call by pressing the mic button to talk out through the speaker on the intercom.

The server settings and event linking will always work to record even if the client is not connected. Any connected client may answer – even from a normal view or panel in live.

Different clients can have their own event monitor profiles to listen to different subsets of intercoms or monitor important areas.

Configure Event Linking

  1. Navigate to Event Linking and click the New button.
  2. Select the Input Trigger option. A number of options will be displayed:
    • Call Button
    • Call In Progress
    • Input 1
    • Input 2
    • Proximity Sensor
    • Tamper Switch
  1. Configure the Event Source, Action Type and Action Target as required.

Handling Calls from exacqVision

  1. Using the exacqVision Client software, browse to Live mode.
  2. By default, the panel along the left side of the window displays a list of Live Cameras. Using the options at the bottom select Views to update this panel to Live Views.
  3. The Live navigation panel lists System Views, User Role Views, User Views, and System Tours, which includes any Views created earlier in the process of configuring our profile. Towards the bottom is a list of Event Monitors.
  1. Find the name of the Event Monitoring profile you created. Again, our example was named ‘Intercom View 1’. Drag this profile to the cameras panel to the right.
  2. You should now be viewing your default View. When the Call Button on the intercom is pressed the View will change to display the intercom camera view you created earlier.
  3. The Association icons we added earlier can be seen at the bottom corner. The intercom will continue to ring until an exacqVision user presses the Talk button or the configured ring timeout is reached.
  1. Press the Talk button to transmit audio from your client workstation microphone to speak to intercom users. Press the Listen button to hear intercom users speaking.

    Note: Audio from Talk and Listen actions may be buffered, presenting a delay. Practice with the system to gain a feel for this on your network.
  2. If you have correctly wired a door strike, maglock, or other electronic locking mechanism to the intercom, pressing the icon for the output will unlock the door.

    Note: Door controls may be customized within the intercom’s web browser interface.

Visitor Operation

  • A visitor using the intercom may simply press the Call Button to activate the Event Monitoring profile, as created above.
  • The use case detailed in this article does not prevent the intercom from being used for SIP calls.

    Once a SIP server has been configured within the intercom’s web browser interface, a SIP call may be initiated by pressing the Call Button.

    Note: When used together with SIP, any press of the Call Button will continue to trigger an Event Monitoring profile configured to do so.