During a hardware installation, problems can arise. Issues can be caused by the network, physical environment, component failure, misconfiguration, or improper installation techniques. This guide covers ways to solve and prevent installation challenges by presenting a best-practice deployment approach in the field. It also suggests a simple staging process intended to mitigate costs and complexities related to post-install troubleshooting. The six parts to deployment are:

Note: Verkada Technical Support requires a support access token to troubleshoot Verkada cameras. This token can only be generated by users who have admin permissions in the organization containing their cameras.

Verkada cameras require connectivity to the Verkada Cloud and NTP servers located on the internet. Without network connectivity, the platform will have limited functionality and may report inaccurately in Command.

Before installing a Verkada system, the network environment needs to support the following protocols and services:

Refer to this KB for more detail on network requirements.

Verkada Technical Support will ask to troubleshoot these services when there is a network issue. The troubleshooting process can require a packet capture of network traffic to analyze the root cause.

Note: Cable integrity is important to supply PoE and data to a camera. Cable termination, interconnects, distance, and bends must all be taken into account.

Each Camera requires PoE power to function. Make sure your network switch has enough PoE power to support all of the connected cameras at full power draw.

Don’t forget: Cameras use less power during the day. When cameras switch to night mode, the IR emitters activate to illuminate the scene for better visibility. The IRs increase power draw. If multiple cameras are connected to the same PoE switch, the PoE draw can increase significantly at night. If the switch does not have enough power to deliver to all the cameras, some cameras will go offline. A telltale sign of your switch not having enough power is that cameras will go offline each night around the same time as other cameras on the same switch when entering into night mode.

An easy way to spec power on a switch is to multiply the number of cameras connected by 30 Watts which is the maximum power delivered by PoE+. For example, if you had 10 cameras you would calculate like this:

10 cameras X 30 Watts = 300 Watt PoE budget on the switch

Note: Full power draw can be found on the datasheet for your camera model. Remember, each switch port should be able to supply the maximum amount of power required by the camera.

Staging devices helps you to avoid the costs and difficulties of troubleshooting a faulty camera after it has been installed (such as needing a lift to physically access the camera). Staging involves confirming the devices function correctly before they are installed at their intended locations. Once a camera is staged correctly, further troubleshooting can focus on the physical and network environments.

Stage devices as follows:

Note: The plastic protective film on the camera dome should not be removed before installing at the actual end location.

Verkada Technical Support recommends investing in a mobile staging environment to test and upgrade devices before installing them at their final install location. A mobile staging lab can be transported in a case and shipped to a site before installation. The staging lab is made up of the following components:

Typically your staging lab will use the customer network for internet access. It is good practice to include a 5G mobile hotspot router in your staging kit so the cameras can get internet access when the customer network is not prepared or is having issues.

Pro Tip: Verkada Technical Support recommends not using a firewall in your staging environment because blocking the camera’s traffic could result in additional troubleshooting. The staging lab should only contain what is necessary for the cameras to operate.

Once staging is complete the cameras should be ready to install in their intended locations. You can find step-by-step guides to installing each camera model here. When you install cameras be sure to take into account image quality during the day and the night when determining orientation and placement.

Pro Tip: Verkada Technical Support recommends using the Verkada Command Mobile App during the installation process. You will be able to see the camera stream on your phone which will allow more accurate placement and orientation of the device when installing it in its final location.

Keep the following in mind when installing cameras:

The most important aspect of an installation is delivering a working solution to the customer that they can maintain and get help on when you leave. This means demonstrating to them that they have access to all of the devices they purchased and that the devices are fully functional. Complete the checks below to demonstrate that the installation was successful before you leave the site.

When installing cameras into production, issues may surface that were not present during staging.

Pro tip: Before contacting Verkada Technical Support for camera troubleshooting assistance:

Most issues yield LED behavior that suggests a probable root cause. Below are the LED statuses, their associated causes, and remediation steps. The LED is located on the front bezel of any Verkada camera.

What if the camera worked in staging, but doesn’t work when installed in the install location?

First, try to eliminate the core network as the issue. With your mobile testing kit, you can test using your mobile hotspot, taking the customer network out of the equation.

This simple battery of tests uses your laptop and the IP address used by the camera to confirm the network is configured to work with Verkada.

If any of the above requests fail, work with the network administrator to permit outbound connections:

Checking network bandwidth

Run an Internet speed test to confirm the network has adequate upload and download bandwidth. You should have enough upload bandwidth to support the number of cameras the customer plans to view simultaneously.

If all the above tests succeed yet the camera LED continues to flash blue, reach out to Verkada Technical Support.

Device Firmware Updates & Integrity

Verkada releases regular updates to its firmware. These updates enhance security and functionality, and they are included at no cost as part of your cloud license.

 

Scheduling firmware updates

Firmware is pushed automatically, if you would like to schedule firmware updates to happen during a certain time of day follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to the Settings tab of the camera you want to schedule updates on

2. Select General

3. Toggle on Schedule Firmware Updates

4. Set the desired window for when updates should occur

   Note: The update window needs to be a minimum of 2 hours and the camera may reboot during this time

Automatic failover

To ensure failsafe updates, each Verkada device is equipped with a dual-partition firmware bank. In the unusual event that a firmware update fails, the device will automatically revert back to the previous version of the firmware, and try the update at a later time.

 

If you have any questions, please email us at support@verkada.com.

 

Firmware integrity checks

Verkada runs a firmware integrity check periodically on all cameras to ensure there hasn’t been any tampering with our firmware. If a device were to fail an automated check, our security team would be notified immediately and you will be contacted.

 

Does my camera stop recording during firmware updates?

We take extra care to ensure failsafe firmware updates and minimize service interruptions. Your camera will go offline for a few moments as the software update process is being finalized. These updates should occur during our regularly scheduled maintenance windows so service interruptions are minimal.

Changing a Camera’s Orientation

Rotate and flip your camera’s feed to match the installation angle or if it’s upside down

In most cases, you’ll want to install your camera with normal orientation so that the video stream in Command appears as you’d expect. Some install locations may benefit from being installed in a non-standard orientation to maximize the field of view.

 

For example, a camera may be installed at 90 degrees to capture a full view of a long hallway or stairwell.

 

In these cases, you’ll want to rotate the orientation of your camera in Command.

 

Configuration Steps

1. Select the desired camera

2. Select the Settings tab

3. Select the Device tab

4. Under Orientation click Change and select the desired option

5. Select the desired orientation and select Save

 

 

Verkada Fisheye Mode

The CF81-E supports the following Fisheye Modes:

• Panoramic – Provides a 180° panoramic view which is best when the camera is wall mounted

• Four-Way Split – Splits out the panoramic view into 4 sections for a 360° view used mainly when the camera is ceiling mounted

• Pan/Tilt/Zoom – You can decide to show the video feed either as a 360° view, as a tiles view with different angles, or explore the video with your digital PTZ functionality

Note: Click here to learn more about the CF81-E modes.

 

To change the fisheye mode follow the steps below:

1. Select the desired camera

2. Select the Settings tab

3. Select the General tab

4. Under Fisheye Mode click Change and select the desired option

    

   

    

5. From the dialog box, select the desired mode and save. The camera will reboot to implement this change.

 

Privacy Regions

Privacy regions allow you to block out part of the camera’s field of view

Privacy regions allow a user to configure portions of a camera’s view to be blocked out. Areas blocked by a privacy region will be blocked out on the camera’s live feed and in historical footage.

 

Note: you will need to have Site Admin permissions to configure privacy regions for a camera.

 

Creating and Deleting a Privacy Region

Navigate to the camera you want to configure, then select the Settings tab

 

Select the Privacy tab, then select Mark Privacy Regions

 

To create the region, use the grid in the dialog box; click and drag over the area you want to hide. You will see a black box drawn over the area.

 

To delete the region, select the X on each configured privacy region in the dialog box.

 

The changes will save automatically. Once the camera updates (typically under a minute), you can expect your live feed to contain the privacy regions.

 

Privacy regions are not retroactive. The camera may take a minute or two to update its configuration, after which you will see the privacy region on the camera’s live feed and associated historical video going forward.

 

Note: the D80 does not support privacy regions.

Using Focus and Optical Zoom

Optical Zoom and Focus on D30, D50, CD51, CD61, CB51, and CB61

Verkada’s D30, D50, CD51, CD52, CD61, CD62, CB51, and CB61 cameras are equipped with a varifocal lens to zoom and focus. Optical zoom is meant to adjust the field of view during installation, not for continual adjustments. To zoom in on live or historical view you’ll want to use digital zoom.

 

Note: Zooming or focusing a camera requires Site Admin permissions.

 

Optical Zoom

• Select the camera

• Select the SQ/HQ menu in the bottom left-hand corner of the video player

• Select Optical Zoom

• Use the slider to adjust the zoom

Note: It may take 30-45 seconds to fully complete the zoom adjustment and auto-focus cycle.

 

Auto Focus

Fix blurry images with Auto Focus

A camera will attempt to intelligently focus on several regions automatically. In the event an image is blurry, rerun autofocus to bring the image into focus.

• Select the camera

• Select the SQ/HQ menu in the bottom left-hand corner of the video player

• Select Auto Focus

• Wait while the camera intelligently focuses the image

Fixing a blurry image with a custom focal point

If the image is still blurry after running autofocus or you want to select a certain object as the focal point, you can set a custom focal point.

• Select the camera

• Select Settings

• Select the Devices tab

• Select Custom under Autofocus and choose Change Focus Point

• Select the desired focus point from the grid, the changes will autosave

   

Manual focus

• Select the camera

• Select the SQ/HQ menu in the bottom left-hand corner of the video player

• Select Manual Focus

• Use the slider to manually focus the camera

• Wait a while the camera focuses the image

Troubleshooting

If none of the steps above work, try zooming in slightly and then run the autofocus feature.

• Select the camera

• Select the SQ/HQ menu in the bottom left-hand corner of the video player

• Select Optical Zoom

• Click the + button on the far right twice

• Wait for the optical zoom to adjust

• Run the autofocus by clicking the Autofocus button in the SQ/HQ menu

• Wait for the autofocus to finish

   

Using Sites and Sub-Sites

Sites and Sub-Sites divide your cameras into groups to manage permissions

Sites

Verkada makes it easy to keep all of your cameras organized by site within your organization. Users can only see cameras in the sites they have been granted permissions to. This allows you to scope which cameras are accessible to each user or group. Because site permissions are broken down into roles, you also have the ability to specify the type of access each user or group has to the cameras within a site (viewer or admin). Please see the article on user permissions for more information.

 

Creating a Site

1. Select Cameras from the All Products menu in the top left-hand corner

2. Select Manage Sites in the top right-hand corner

3. Click Create Site in the top right

4. Name your site and click Add

Adding Cameras to an Empty Site

1. Select Cameras from the All Products menu in the top left-hand corner

2. Scroll until the empty site is shown

3. Click the +camera icon

4. Select Move Cameras to this site and add the cameras you would like to move

5. Select Add New Cameras to be taken to the Add Devices page with this site preselected

Moving Cameras to a New Site

1. Select the checkbox in the top left-hand corner of the camera’s feed on the home page

2. Once the camera(s) have been selected, a bar will appear at the top of the page

3. Use the Select Site dropdown box to select the destination site to move the cameras to

4. Select Move camera(s).

Sub-Sites

Sub-sites are used to grant permissions to one or more cameras within a site. This eliminates having to create a new site each time you need to scope permissions to one or more cameras. A sub-site can be nested in other sub-sites providing a hierarchy of permissions for better access control.

 

Creating a Sub-Site

1. Select Cameras from the All Products menu in the top left-hand corner

2. Select Manage Sites in the top right-hand corner

3. Hover over the site you would like to create a sub-site for

4. Select Add Sub-site on the right-hand side

5. Name your site and click Add sub-site

Deleting a Site or Sub-Site

Note: You cannot delete a site or sub-site until all cameras and sub-sites have been removed.

1. Select Cameras from the All Products menu in the top left-hand corner

2. Select Manage Sites in the top right-hand corner

3. Hover over the site you would like to delete

4. Select the bin icon on the right-hand side

5. Select Delete to confirm

    

Change the location of the camera

Instructions on changing the map placement of a camera

Changing a camera’s location affects two things – the camera’s position on the map and its time zone. You can change a camera’s location from the camera’s settings page or from the Devices page.

 

Note: When a camera’s location is changed the camera will be removed from any floor plans it is currently on.

 

Change a Camera’s Location from the Settings page

1. Select the camera

2. Select Settings

3. Select General

4. Under Location select Change to update the address

5. A map and search bar will appear, enter the address of the location in the field and select it from the dropdown menu.

6. Select Save to apply the change

 

Change a Camera’s Location from the Devices Page

1. Select Devices from the All Products menu in the top left-hand corner

2. Select the camera for which you would like to change the location

3. Select the Location box in the camera details panel on the right

4. A map and search bar will appear, enter the address of the location in the field and select it from the dropdown menu

5. Select Save to apply the settings

    

Bulk change a Camera’s Location from the Devices Page

1. Select Devices from the All Products menu in the top left-hand corner

2. Select the checkbox next to any camera you would like to change the location on

3. Select Edit Settings at the top of the page

4. Next to Location select Change

5. A map and search bar will appear, enter the address of the location in the field and select it from the dropdown menu

6. Click Save to apply the settings

Note: Changing a camera’s location to certain jurisdictions may limit the people analytics features of the camera (i.e. gender search, face detection, and person of interest).

Camera Stats

Check motion, online status, and bandwidth consumption with camera stats

Camera stats can be used to check trends of the following information over a period of time:

• The volume of motion activity in the frame

• Camera connectivity

• Camera uptime

• Bandwidth consumption

Navigating Camera Stats

Check camera stats by selecting a live camera stream and navigating to the Stats icon under the live view. The default timeline is 24 hours but it can be changed to a week or month to see stats over a longer period of time.

 

Motion activity

The Motion timeline shows the volume of motion detected in the frame over a period of time. You can move your cursor over the timeline and see the stats associated with the motion.

 

Camera connectivity

The online timeline shows the camera’s connectivity to the Verkada cloud over a period of time. Blue bars indicate the camera was connected to the Verkada servers while red indicates the camera lost connectivity to the cloud. Place your cursor over the timeline to see the date, time, and outage duration.

 

The uptime timeline shows the period of time a camera was powered on and recording. Under most circumstances the two charts will be the same, however, if a network interruption is occurring the uptime will remain blue. Significant differences between the uptime and online timelines may indicate a local network issue.

 

Bandwidth Consumption

Traffic Out and Traffic In show the upload and download bandwidth consumption over a period of time.

 

 

Traffic Out indicates the camera upload bit rate. The following data contributes to the upload bit rate; thumbnails, metadata, streams, archives, and cloud backups.

 

Traffic In indicates the camera download bitrate. The following data contributes to the download bitrate; firmware downloads, configuration changes, as well as commands sent from the cloud such as a reboot request.

Devices Page Overview

An overview of the devices details from the Devices page

The Devices page allows for quick navigation through your Verkada devices. Here you will be able to add devices to the org, see device information, change a camera’s site location, and reach individual camera live streams. Devices are also sorted by the site that they are placed in for easy visibility.

 

Add a device

At any time you can add a device to your organization by clicking + Add Devices button on the top right-hand corner.

 

Change devices view from sites to a list

At any time you can change the device page view from the Sites view to a List by clicking the list button on the top right corner.

 

In the List view use the triple dot icon in the top right-hand corner to add/remove columns from the view.

 

Change a device’s site location

Once a device is selected, you will be able to change its site location by clicking Site then selecting the pertaining site for the device to be, click Save to confirm.

 

 

Change a device’s physical address

Once a device is selected, you will be able to change its physical address by clicking Location then enter the desired address and select it from the drop-down, click Save to confirm.

 

 

 

Bulk changes

Lastly, the Devices page can be used to make bulk changes to a site. Currently, we support the following bulk option:

• Site

• Location

• Motion events

• Tamper events

• Crowd events

• Data storage location

• Analytics features

Simply click the check box next to the cameras you wish to change and select Edit Settings, you may also bulk delete cameras by selecting Delete.

 

Find a Camera’s MAC Address

Find your camera’s MAC address in Command

Note: All Verkada MAC addresses start with E0:A7:00

 

In some cases, such as for troubleshooting, static DHCP assignments, firewall whitelists, etc. it is useful to know the MAC address of the camera.

 

There are two main ways to find your camera’s MAC address:

1. Printed on the camera label – On the bottom of each camera is a label containing the serial number, a quick-add QR code, as well as the MAC address.

   

    

2. Camera Info Page – Once the camera has come online in command, you can find the MAC address from the camera’s info page:

   1. Select the devices tab

   2. From the list of devices, select the camera in question

   3. You will find the MAC address on the camera info section on the right

Note: Viewing the camera’s MAC address from Command requires the Org Admin permission level.

 

People Heatmaps for Floorplans

People heatmaps offer a more detailed view of activity within a building by displaying a history of individuals’ movements on floorplans using color-coded contours. This feature can help businesses better understand how their spaces are being used, such as identifying high-traffic areas and analyzing traffic patterns and behavior.

 

In order to use people heatmaps you will need at least one floorplan uploaded with cameras placed on it. The cameras will need to be calibrated to set up regions of interest.

 

Note: People analytics needs to be enabled on a camera before it can be calibrated.

 

How To Access

1. From the Home page select the Map icon in the bottom right-hand corner.

2. Select the desired building and floor you want to view.

3. In the top right-hand corner, People Heatmap should already be selected. If not, select the dropdown to select it from the menu.

    

   

    

4. From here, you can select the desired time interval in the bottom right-hand corner. The default is 1 hour but you can increase it up to 1 day.

    

   

    

   You can also select a date and time from the calendar menu in the middle of the page.

    

   

    

    

5. In the bottom left-hand corner, you can play a time timelapse to see people’s movement over time.

Example of the timelapse feature

Deleting a Camera

Instructions for deleting or factory resetting a camera

Organization Admins and Site Admins have the ability to delete a camera. Deleting a camera can be used to accomplish two things:

1. Remove a camera from your organization

2. Erase all recorded footage

IMPORTANT: Deleting a camera from Command will erase all of its recorded footage and it will not be able to be recovered!

Deleting a Camera

Sometimes you need to remove a camera from your account either because you want to use it in a different organization or it is no longer needed. Follow the steps below to delete a camera from your organization.

Note: If you plan to re-add the camera, make sure you document the camera’s serial number.

1. Select Devices from the All Products menu in the top left-hand corner

2. Select the camera(s) by clicking on the check box on the left

3. Select Delete

4. Enter the verification code and select Delete

Deleting cameras from the Command App

1. Press and hold the camera you want to delete

2. Select Edit Device

3. Select Delete Camera

4. Enter the 4-digit code to confirm that you want to delete the camera

 

Resetting a Camera

If you need to erase footage on a camera and start over, follow the above steps to delete the camera. Once the camera is removed from your organization, follow the steps in this article to re-add the camera to your Command account.

 

Note: This option resets the camera name, site, settings, and map location

Calibrating Cameras for Floorplan Heatmaps

Instructions to calibrate cameras for the heatmaps feature on floor plans

In order to use people heatmaps on floorplans, you will need to calibrate the cameras you want to see heatmaps for. People heatmaps will only show on a floorplan for motion detected by cameras that have been calibrated.

 

Note: Before calibrating cameras please ensure that you have enabled people analytics on all cameras you wish to calibrate. Cameras will need to be placed on the floorplan map for them to start collecting motion data. If a camera is removed from the floor plan, this will reset its calibration.

 

For best results, the camera’s field of view should be pointed straight down towards the floor/ground as much as possible. An angle of at least 70 degrees from the horizontal is recommended.

 

Process

1. Select Floorplans on the top right-hand corner of the Home page

2. Select the floorplan you wish to calibrate cameras on

3. Select the camera you wish to calibrate and select the Calibrate for heatmap button

    

   

    

4. In the floor plan, click and drop 4 points to select the area where you wish to track people’s motions with the camera.

5. In the camera view, click to drop 4 points in the same order and for the same area as in the last step to complete the calibration.

    

   Note: The sequence of the dropped points is important and should be identical between the floor plan and the camera floor footage. The video below illustrates how to calibrate cameras with dropped points in the correct sequence.

Compatible models: Certain models like D30, D50, or D80 which don’t have analytics can’t be calibrated. Additionally, certain camera settings which disable analytics are also not compatible with calibration like CF81s on ePTZ mode or cameras used for LPR.