Cameras & Management

Surveillance Station aims to be as intuitive and effortless as possible. Featuring support for a wide range of cameras combined with a powerful suite of management tools, Surveillance Station helps you organize, automate, and deploy surveillance systems of all sizes.

Vast camera support

For wide open spaces, such as offices, parking lots, or shopping centers, fisheye cameras provide advantages over standard cameras due to their wider viewing angles1. With support for in-camera or software dewraping, you can separate the video feed from fisheye cameras into easily viewable chunks or 180° panorama views. Alternatively, you can set up a multi-lens camera, take in several video streams and create a wide-angle view. This means you can safeguard more spaces while installing less cameras, thus reducing operating costs.

Specialized camera integration

Synology works with IP camera vendors to integrate advanced camera features, including fisheye, multi-lens cameras, digital input, two-way audio, multiple streams, TV standards, fields of view, bitrate controls, and RTSP/RTP protocols. Support for Mobotix MxPEG video codec uses less computing power and storage space, while still capturing movements in high quality.

ONVIF Support

ONVIF is an open organization that develops a global standard of communication protocols and interfaces of network cameras to increase camera compatibility and interoperability. Synology is one of the contributing members of ONVIF organization and is devoted to developing the compatibility of ONVIF protocol for Surveillance Station.

ONVIF 2.4 with Profile S certified

Surveillance Station follows the ONVIF 2.4 standard, supporting critical features such as multiple streams and two-way audio. With support for ONVIF Profile S, Surveillance Station can communicate with compliant cameras or encoders and save video streams back to a server.

Add a camera with ONVIF generic interface

With support of ONVIF generic interface, adding cameras to Surveillance Station is easier than ever. ONVIF general search interface can provide a complete list including almost all of the IP cameras within the local network, so you can find and add your cameras with a few clicks.

Profile G for edge recording

Edge recording can ensure continuous recording, as video streams are stored on an SD card embedded in a camera when the network connection is lost or unstable. Once a connection is resumed, video recordings will be retrieved back to a server, while the camera continues to record. A Profile G compliant camera or encoder device allows you to configure, request, and control recording of video data on Surveillance Station via the Internet.

Device I/O and image service

With support for ONVIF 2.4, Surveillance Station offers device I/O and image services. Device I/O service allows IP cameras to connect to some analog devices, such as magnetic locks and sirens. Moreover, image services such as day/night mode are implemented based on ONVIF specification, which further enhances the effectiveness of ONVIF support in Surveillance Station.

List of supported features in 2.4

  • Video/audio stream
  • Multiple streams
  • Audio/Tampering detection
  • Two-way audio
  • Digital Input/Output
  • NTP and day/night mode
  • Constant bit rate control
  • Motion Detection
  • PTZ directions

Easy camera setup

The IP Camera panel displays an overview of your cameras and camera groups that are connected to Surveillance Station. The list of cameras is easily sortable according to status, brand, or device so you can quickly find the camera you’re looking for. Whenever you need to change something, all camera settings and recording schedules can be found here.

E-Map

E-Maps are an essential part of a business surveillance environment as they allow your surveillance staff to quickly identify each device’s location on the map. Synology Surveillance Station provides handy tools to create, manage, and visualize your E-Map in order to facilitate your operations.

Get visual guidance with e-map

Use the e-map feature to create a visual and interactive representation of cameras’ physical location. For multi-site or large surveillance deployments, this makes it easier for surveillance personnel to understand surveillance coverage.

E-Map live adjustments

Use the different icons for the IP camera, fisheye camera, I/O module and door controller . Different device’s icon size can be adjusted on the E-Map and device names can be hidden.

I/O module integration

When connected with I/O modules, Surveillance Station can serve as the central hub of various automation devices such as LED lights, electromagnetic locks, infrared motion detectors, and many more.

Cut down your infrastructure costs

I/O modules often provide a good alternative to avoid buying expensive specialized cameras that only have one or two ports. With a convenient interface to handle them, Surveillance Station reduces the initial costs even further and helps you automate tedious tasks to decrease the time spent by your IT staff on maintenance.

Centralize and automate management

Completely integrated with Synology Central Management System and Action Rules, the I/O Module application in Surveillance Station allows you to administrate a dozen triggering methods and have them interact in a smart way with your other devices.

Recording at the edge

By storing videos in a camera’s on-board SD card, edge recording allows cameras to continue recording even when the network connection is temporarily lost or when the server is down2. This ensures your physical environment is always monitored and reduces the risk of video loss due to network or hardware failure. Support for ONVIF Profile G brings a broader selection of supported cameras, including those with ONVIF compliant edge recording.

Versatile deployment options

In addition to offering recording redundancy, edge recording makes it easier to implement a surveillance system in unconventional locations, such as trains, a buses, or aircraft. The recordings captured inside a travelling vehicle may be stored in cameras’ on-board storage. Then, all videos are downloaded after it returns to a station at the end of the day.

Digital output and two-way audio

Surveillance Station delivers integration for specialized camera hardware, such as object tracking, digital output, and two-way audio. Deploy a flexible surveillance system perfectly tailored to your individual environment.

Digital output

Some IP cameras are equipped with digital output, allowing them to connect to and activate external devices, such as alarms or magnetic locks. With support for digital output, you can manually activate such external devices or include them in action rules.

Fisheye and multi-lens cameras

For wide open spaces, such as offices, parking lots, or shopping centers, fisheye cameras provide advantages over standard cameras due to their wider viewing angles1. With support for in-camera or software dewraping, you can separate the video feed from fisheye cameras into easily viewable chunks or 180° panorama views. Alternatively, you can set up a multi-lens camera, take in several video streams and create a wide-angle view. This means you can safeguard more spaces while installing less cameras, thus reducing operating costs.

Event linking, camera patrol, and notifications

Surveillance Station intelligently guards your surroundings with customizable event linking rules, automatic patrol routes2, and immediate notifications sent to your email or smartphone. These features increase efficiency, reduce human error, and close potential security gaps.

Event linking

Create “action rules” to automatically perform specific actions when a pre-defined event occurs. For example, if one camera goes offline, another camera can start patrolling a specified area. Or if a connected door is opened, a nearby camera can automatically take a snapshot or sound an alarm.

Camera patrol

Set up patrols routes to have supported PTZ cameras automatically move along a designated path. This allows the camera to quickly capture footage from different angles. Patrol paths can be included in actions rules, so a camera can start patrolling when certain events occur, such as motion detection.

Notifications

Upon detection of certain events, Surveillance Station can send notifications to specified personnel by means of SMS, email, or push notifications. For example, get a notification when someone tampers with a physical access point or camera goes offline. This lets you stay informed and solve issues even faster.

Privilege and security

A surveillance solution should be equipped with proper privilege control. To ensure simple and uncomplicated management, Surveillance Station offers integrated privilege settings for local accounts. For businesses and large-scale projects, support for Windows AD and LDAP accounts streamlines the integration process. Whichever accounts you are using, your connection is safe and secure with HTTPS and SSL/TLS encryption.

Managers and spectators

Surveillance Station offers privilege settings that differentiate managers’ and spectators’ access rights with flexibility and nuance. Administrators can designate “spectators” with monitor-only privilege and “managers” with camera and e-map management privilege, or set up privilege profiles for individual accounts. They can also specify whether a spectator may access a camera’s live feeds, video playback, audio, or lens control functions.

Windows AD / LDAP support

Enterprise-level surveillance projects require more efficient account management. Surveillance Station supports Windows AD, LDAP, and Trust Domain. Existing accounts and privilege settings can be adopted by Surveillance Station to increase system integrity and management efficiency.