Audio options in Alta Video
Last modified: Wednesday August 17, 2022.
When used with Avigilon Ava cameras, Alta Video provides several sound-related features, including:
- Audio analytics from Avigilon Ava cameras.
- Recording of sound snippets from Avigilon Ava cameras when an audio rule triggers or a sound anomaly is detected.
- Recording of audio.
- Live streaming of audio.
For compatible third-party cameras, Alta Video allows for the:
- Recording of audio.
- Live streaming of audio.
- Audio talkdown/announcements (for cameras with included or attached Onvif speakers).
In some countries or jurisdictions, there are strict rules about audio recording, particularly the recording of conversations, as this can be consider personally identifiable information (PII) under some privacy legislation.
Ensure that your use of the Alta Video audio features complies with any applicable local and national laws and guidance before configuring these Alta Video audio features.
By default, Alta Video can be configured for audio analytics and the recording of sound snippets from Avigilon Ava cameras.
Live streaming of audio, or the recording of audio (other than for the short period of time around a sound rule being triggered or an audio anomaly being detected) is a licensed Alta Video feature.
Contact your Avigilon Alta Sales Representative or Avigilon Alta Partner to activate your Audio recording license.
Considerations for live streaming or recording of audio
The audio features in Alta Video use a hierarchical scheme of permissions:
- Deployment level — audio settings made at the global deployment level restrict the options available on a per camera, or per configuration profile level.
- Per Camera — per camera settings comply with any configuration made at the deployment level. Deactivating audio settings on an individual camera overrides any audio configuration set within the configuration profile.
In addition, you can set Configuration profiles to enable or disable the audio settings for the cameras that use that profile.
Globally restricting the audio features across your deployment
In some cases you may need restricted or no audio functionality to be available across your whole Alta Video deployment.
To restrict the audio features used across all devices in your Alta Video deployment, see Configure the global audio settings for your deployment.
Restricting the audio features per camera
You might want to disable the audio features for a single camera, for example, in a meeting room. This prevents any restricted features from working on that camera regardless of the configuration profile in use. This therefore prevents accidental audio usage if the camera is moved between configuration profiles.
To configure or restrict the audio features for an individual camera, see Change camera settings in Alta Video.
Enabling audio recording and live streaming of audio for Configuration profiles
From your Configuration profiles, you can enable or disable recording of audio, configure the audio to record, and also choose to live-stream audio. These settings are then applied to all cameras that use the Configuration profile and that do not have per camera audio restrictions configured. See Create Configuration profiles for your devices.
Troubleshooting audio settings
If the audio settings do not appear to be functioning as expected, check:
- That you have an Alta Video Audio recording license for your deployment.
- The audio features are globally enabled for your deployment.
- Your relevant configuration profiles have the audio features enabled.
- Your individual cameras are configured for the audio features you require.
