*Commend Plugin – Use case examples

Owned by Tom Polman
Last updated: Sept 21, 2022
4 min read

Technical Article | TA-20201002-TP-22

VDG Sense | VDG Integrations | Commend

Below we will show you a practical example of use cases. We will use the simplified schematic of a basic Sense-Command installation.

In this situation, we have a Sense client logged in into a Sense Server. A Commend server with 2 stations, a control desk and an intercom station. And finally a camera device with a view of the intercom. Further more, we have created several layouts.

  • A general overview layout (3×3 grid of video panels)

  • A Commend “Call incoming” layout with several macro-buttons to accept, end or deny calls and a single video panel.

Switching layout on incoming call

intercom station is being used, it is possible in Sense to switch to a designated layout to deal with the incoming call. In this example, we simulate an incoming call to the operator station. The operator layout will temporarily switched to another layout, showing a nearby camera device. After ending the call, the original layout will return on screen.

This can be done by creating the following two macros.

Macro 1:

Condition:

  1. Incoming call request on Commend station

Plugin -> Commend -> ConversationRequested -> [Parameters]

Use wildcards to switch on any call or use specific stations in the Plugin settings parameters to only switch for calls for a specific station.

Action:

  1. (Optional) Save the current layout as “Original layout” to return to the layout after the call

Viewer -> Set original layout

  1. Switch to the designated layout

Viewer -> Switch layout -> [Layout name]

This will cause the layout to switch to the designated layout whenever a call request has been made. To return to the layout after the call has been ended, create the following macro.

Macro 2:

Condition:

  1. The call has ended.

Plugin -> Commend -> ConversationEnded -> [Parameters]

Action:

  1. Return to the Original layout (or any other layout).

Viewer -> Switch layout -> [Layout name] “or” Original Layout

Search conversations

Each call generates an event which is stored in the Sense database. Using the fixed layout ’Sense Search’ the user can search for these events (conversations). See screenshot below for an example:

[screenshot]

Several filters can be used to quickly find the conversation:

  • Start and end date/time
    Timeframe in which conversations are searched

  • Intercom server
    Commend server on which the stations are configured, selection defines stationlists of ’Station 1’ and ’Station 2’ fields

  • Station 1
    All stations of selected Commend server; empty selection is wildcard for all stations

  • Station 2
    All stations of selected Commend server; empty selection is wildcard for all stations

After correctly defining the search parameters the ’Search’ button can be pressed. If the search returns results they are displayed in the ’Search Result’ list on the left side of the screen. Selecting a result (conversation) automatically displays the live and recorded video/audio of the corresponding camera. To playback the audio double-click on the ’Event Image’ to make it fullscreen, enable the ’Audio’ button and press the ’Play’ button.

Custom ICX messages

Signals

Currently interpreted ICX messages are conversation started, conversation ended and call requests. Other uninterpreted ICX messages are processed as ’GenericEvent’ signal in Sense. To create a (viewer) macro open the ’Viewer Macro’ tab and press the ’+’ button in the lower left corner. See below for an example. Fill in the hex message in the ’Value’ field.

Action

Currently supported ICX commands are start and stop conversation. Other (custom) ICX commands can be send using the ’SendCommand’ action. To create a (viewer) macro open the ’Viewer Macro’ tab and press the ’+’ button button in the lower left corner. See below for an example. Fill in the hex command in the ’Command’ field, for instance to trigger an alarm output in the Commend System.