The Arcules rules engine allows you to take action on multiple categories of devices and events. From ensuring your devices are online to alerting you when an object or motion is detected, the rules engine can notify you of it all.

Here we will go through the types of rules that can be created within the Arcules platform.

Camera analytic rules can be created to take actions based on integrated edge camera analytics such as Axis Object Analytics. These can be triggered by either a Sensor Alarm, such as a line crossing scenario, or a Counter, such as People in Area scenarios.

With gateway rules you can get notifications sent when the gateway goes offline, or returns online with Health Status events.

HALO sensors can trigger Sensor Alarms for any sensor brought into Arcules, as well as Health Status triggers.

These rules can be triggered based on any physical I/O port on a compatible Axis device, or physical or virtual I/O ports on a compatible Axis camera. This can trigger when the port either goes active, or inactive. This device type can also trigger Health Status events.

These rules can be used to fire off events based on the Normal, Warning, or Maximum values configured on the Occupancy Analytic.

Video rules can trigger on a handful of analytic events such as Motion Detection, People in Region and Vehicle in Region. Video can also fire off Health Status events.

These only apply to customers using the integrated Arcules Access Control, and is in maintenance mode only.

Doors can provide events based on the following triggers:

Door controllers can raise events in case the tampering sensor is triggered.

Readers can raise events in case the tampering sensor is triggered.

Click the plus icon ‘+’  in the top right corner.

This will redirect you to the New Custom Rule page:

You must provide both a name, and a description for your rule to be able to sort and locate the rule within your Rules list.

Choose the specific site and location for your rule under the Where section.

Under the What section, the Device Type will be populated with a selection of the above trigger types, based on the devices connected to your organization.

Then pick the the device(s) you wish to include in the What section.

In this example, we are using a best practice rule of detecting when the gateway device is offline.

There is an option for Add Condition to allow you to add multiple conditions on which to fire the rule. In the example, you may want to know also when the gateway returns online.

Other examples would be for a HALO device where you would want to create a single rule, combining multiple sensor alerts to trigger the rule.

An example of this, would be a school, looking to prevent vaping or smoking in the school bathrooms, so a rule would be created to trigger when the HALO sensors for Vaping, Masking, or THC trigger an alarm state.

You may also select a schedule for when the rule will actively trigger. By default it is set to 24x7. in the dropdown menu of pre-programmed options for when the trigger applies. If using something other than 24x7, click the Advanced Schedule button and ensure you select your time zone of preference for this rule.

Preconfigured Options are:

Additionally if these presets do not fit your needs, select Advanced Schedule to configure a custom schedule.

After configuring the trigger, choose which action will be taken when the trigger is activated.

Triggered actions include:

Sending a notification will deliver a message, based on the recipient's preferences to either email, SMS, or a push to the Arcules Mobile App. It will also appear in the Notifications list on your dashboard if you have that widget enabled.

You will choose a priority for the notification (Normal, High, or Critical). You can assign this notification to be delivered to either individual users, or a group defined in Arcules. You will also enter a Message portion to be delivered as either the subject of the email, or the title of the push notification.

Alarms are events that require action to be taken. Things like an unauthorized person entering a restricted zone or a door being forced open. Be sure to specify the protocol that needs to be taken and assign it to the appropriate group of people. The 'Trigger an Alarm' option will allow a user to view the event that triggered the alarm in the Alarms page. You can leave the checkbox checked to also send a Notification that the alarm has been created.

Triggering an I/O device will allow you to toggle the state of any connected I/O Device's Input channels. This would allow you to have devices connected to the I/O ports of a camera or an I/O Relay module and be able to use sensors or analytics via Arcules to trip a physical device attached to the relay. You can define what I/O Input, which state to trigger, and for how long to remain in that state.

Automatically record video when specific events are triggered, ensuring you always have footage of critical moments. Using triggers such as sensors you can ensure that nearby cameras are recording, beyond what motion detection would record.

Note: It is only possible to have one action type at a time set to "Record Video". You can choose up to 4 video devices when selection this action.

Note for People/Vehicle in Region: We strongly recommend setting up the Record Video action in addition to your desired action types, as these analytics work separately from Video Motion Detection. Otherwise footage may not be available when these analytics are triggered.

You can have the selected cameras record for a time period continuously for up to 5 minutes.

If you have an external system that can receive events via the posting of a Webhook, you can send this data over as an Action on your rules. For configuration and data schema information refer to our Webhook guide.

In this scenario the user has chosen to Send Notification with high priority to the Head of Security, with a custom message attached. To complete the creation of the Rule, click the blue save button in the bottom right corner.

Note: Alarms and notifications will not be sent if the rules were created a few minutes prior to the event.

If you're using email distribution lists, remember to create a user for these emails just like you would for a regular user. For guidance on adding a user, check out our helpful People Article.

Your security is our priority. With these customizable rules, we're excited to help you enhance your security experience, making it more efficient, responsive, and tailored to your unique needs!
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