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Setting Up the Avigilon Alarm Feature

← Administration
For the Avigilon Alarm feature to work, administrators must set up communication between Ally and Avigilon. You can complete this set up after the feature is enabled by Ally support. Also, you might want to create a valid SSL Certification. The process you use to connect Ally to Avigilon depends on the version of Avigilon your agency uses. 

Setting Up the Avigilon Alarm Feature for Avigilon 7.4+


If your agency has version 7.4 or later of Avigilon, use the webhooks connection to set up the Avigilon Alarm feature.

To set up the Avigilon Alarm feature:
  1. Make sure that the Avigilon Alarm system is set up. 
  2. In Avigilon, create a new user that is specifically for the Ally connection. For example, ally_api_user. 
    A. The user must be part of a group with privileges to view recorded images and access to all cameras. It doesn't need any other privileges.
    B. Write down the username and password for use later in the setup process. 
  3. Make sure the web endpoint for the Avigilon server on port 8443 is open and running. Write down the full URL for the web endpoint for use later in the setup process.
  4. In Ally, from the Administration dashboard of the App Settings menu, select Integration Settings.
  5. Click Add, and then complete the fields.
    A. Agency: Select the agency the alarms are sent to.
    B. URL: Enter the full URL of the Avigilon server you located earlier.
    C. Username: Enter the username of the user you created specifically for the Ally connection.
    D. Password: Enter the password for the Ally connection user.
    E. Webhooks: Select the checkbox to enable the use of the webhooks.  
    F. System ID: This value is created for you. 
  6. Click Test to check the connection to the Avigilon server. 
  7. Click Save to save the server connection. 
  8. To delete a server connection, locate the connection, and then click Delete.
  9. If you need to cancel all alarms, you can click Cancel All Alarms. 
     

Setting Up the Avigilon Alarm Feature for Avigilon 7.3


If your agency has version 7.3 or earlier of Avigilon, use the listener connection to set up the Avigilon Alarm feature.

To set up the Avigilon Alarm feature:
  1. Make sure that the Avigilon Alarm system is set up. 
  2. In Avigilon, create a new user that is specifically for the Ally connection. For example, ally_api_user.

    NOTE: This user should have limited access because currently the password for the user is stored in plain text in certain parts of the integration.  Currently, special characters can't be used in the password for the listener to work. 

    A. The user must be part of a group with privileges to view recorded images and access to all cameras. It doesn't need any other privileges.
    B. Write down the username and password for use later in the setup process.
  3. If you want to show each camera's location in Ally, set the camera's Location field with the following format:
    "latitude": [LATITUDE], "longitude": [LONGITUDE] where latitude and longitude are the coordinates in the decimal system. For example, " latitude": 40.760780, "longitude": -111.891045.
  4. Make sure you know the IPv4 address of your Avigilon server. Write down the IP address for use later in the setup process.
  5. Make sure the web endpoint for the Avigilon server on port 8443 is open and running.Write down the full URL for the web endpoint for use later in the setup process. 
  6. In Ally, from the Administration dashboard or the App Settings menu, select Integration Settings
  7.  Click Add, and then complete the fields.
    A. Agency: Select the agency the alarms are sent to.
    B. URL: Enter the full URL of the Avigilon server you located earlier.
    C. Username: Enter the username of the user you created specifically for the Ally connection.
    D. Password: Enter the password of the Ally connection user.
    E. Webhooks: Leave this checkbox clear, to use the listener.
    F. System ID: This value is created for you. Write down this value for use later in the setup process.
  8. Click Save to save the server connection.  
  9. On the Avigilon server, install the AllyAvigilonListener, which provides the connection between Avigilon and Ally. Contact Ally support if you need help installing the listener.
  10. During installation of the listener, it requests the connection information. Provide the connection information you wrote down.
    A. REST endpoint of the Avigilon server: Full URL you wrote down in step 5.
    B. Username: Username created in step 2.
    C. Password: Password created in step 2. 
    D. Site ID: System ID you wrote down in step 7.
    E. Latitude and Longitude: Enter the latitude and longitude of the site. These values are used if the camera doesn't provide valid coordinates. 
    Once you provide the information, the listener finishes installing. The connection between Ally and Avigilon is completed. 

NOTE: If you restart the Avigilon server, then you might also need to restart the listener. If the listener isn't running, then alarms aren't sent to Ally.

Creating an SSL Certification


To view alarm videos in Ally, the user's browser needs to trust the Avigilon server's certificate. The best solution for this is the install a valid SSL cert on the Avigilon server. If you can't install the SSL cert, you can create a temporary certification to view videos coming from the Avigilon server. You have to install the temporary cert on every computer that needs to access the Avigilon server. The temporary cert expires after a while (roughly 90 days). You would then need to create the temporary cert and install it on all the computers again. 

        

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