Remote Consoles

G-SIM allows you to share content with Remote Consoles by changing the Viewer content on their screens, sharing information, and even changing the screen layout in the case of an Unmanned Console. There are three types of Remote Consoles in G-SIM

  • Remote Consoles
  • Video Walls
  • Manned Consoles

They are mostly similar, with the Remote Consoles (including Video Walls) giving you more control options, such as changing the screen layout. The reason for the difference is that the Manned Console has someone working at it, and the purpose of the remote control is usually to show the other operator something, not to re-do their screen for them. That is why you cannot change another user's screen layout remotely.

The content of a Remote Console’s screen(s) is determined by G-SIM users (operators or supervisors) who have the necessary privileges, as well as the system rules which may restrict some content, or set some default content views, etc.

Putting content onto a remote console is as simple as dragging it onto the viewer in the remote template view.

What You Can Do On a Remote Console

G-SIM gives you the ability to view quite a number of things on a Remote Console:

  • Any combination of video signals (cameras), maps, and camera sequences (See Guard Tours) can be displayed.
  • These combinations of cameras can be in any pre-defined screen layout for each DVI output (ranging from one camera to many cameras of various display sizes).
  • The video (of any camera) can be viewed Live, Paused, or in Playback (See Video Tools).
  • Camera sequences (Tours) can be viewed in any section of the screen, and any number of sequences could be viewed simultaneously.
  • A reference map that shows the cameras and sensor equipment of a particular area can be displayed. These reference maps can be any digital image, like an overview map, aerial photo, GIS-generated bitmap, a sketch, a diagram, flow diagram, emergency procedure, etc.
  • The Alarm Auto-view feature (See Alarms) could be enabled for one of the outputs, which will show new pending alarms of pre-configured types, with all the associated detail.
  • Default (start-up or restored at request) layouts and favourite layouts with content can be stored at any time from a remote computer.
  • The layout and content of any of a user’s secondary screens can be sent to an Unmanned Console with the click of a button. In this way you could update a Video Wall with one of your secondary screens. Since primary screens contain the interactive UI constructs such as the tabs and the lists, primary screens cannot be sent to a remote console.
  • To clear a remote viewer, simply Ctrl-click in it.

Before You Start

Before an Operator Console can be used as a Remote Console (Manned or Unmanned), it must be licensed and registered, and running G-SIM before it can be remotely controlled. If a new Unmanned Console logs in on the G-SIM server, it will automatically be added and licensed if there are licenses available.

Users must have the necessary privilege in order to share content with a Remote Console. All privileges are managed centrally.

As with all other aspects of the system configuration, this is configured in the Management Console, and we here assume that it has all been configured properly.

Manned Consoles

Manned Consoles are Operator Consoles that are controlled by a user and have been configured centrally to receive content from other users via Remote Sharing. You can share any Viewer content with a Remote Console by sending it directly to its screen.

Remote Sharing

You can share all cameras (Camera List), Tours (Tour List) and Viewer content (except docked Lists) remotely. To do so, click on the Remote Control icon in the main toolbar. This opens up a resizable window which has a drop-down list of remote consoles which are available for remote sharing. Also in this window is a graphical representation in thumbnail form of the remote screen's layout.

When you choose one, the thumbnail updates to show the remote screen's layout as well as the thumbnail images of the cameras in view (if available). To share what is in one of your viewers, simply drag your viewer onto the place of the remote screen image where you want to display it — it's as simple as that.

This is definitely a case of "With power comes responsibility." It is very easy to share what is happening in your screen with another user, but understand that doing so may very well interrupt their work. In a security context that could endanger someone if not done correctly. Here correctly means that they are OK with part of their screen suddenly changing.

Recommendation: In light of the above, it would be best to have a site standard that, say, the bottom right viewer of a particular screen layout is always available for sharing. You can take it further by stipulating that only certain layouts may accept video. Of course, flexibility requires that such limitations can be overridden, which is why we implemented this the way we did — if you are in a crisis situation, you don't want the tool to constrain you by limiting what you can do. It is thus best for operators to work together.

Remote Screen Thumbnail

The Remote Screen thumbnail represents the Remote Consoles screen layout. Move the mouse over each block (i.e. Viewer) to see what type of content (Map, Camera or Tour) is being viewed, as well as its name. This is displayed underneath the thumbnail. If available, the reference frame for that camera will be shown.

Rules When Sharing Content

The same rules when viewing content locally also apply during Remote Sharing:

  • Manned Consoles only: the Tabbed Lists are located on screen 1 and cannot be replaced by Remote Content.
  • You can only clear the viewers of an Unmanned Console remotely.

Remote Consoles

An Unmanned Console is basically a computer that is running the G-SIM user-interface software, but is not manned by a user at its physical location. Instead, it is remotely controlled by one or many users from their own Operator Consoles. As such, it does not have any of the user interface components such as the toolbar or tabbed lists.

Remote Consoles are typically used for video walls, public displays, foyer displays, etc.

Grouping Remote Consoles

It is possible to add a number of Remote Consoles to a group. This will allow a user to send actions to more than one remote station, keeping their content synchronised.

These groups are set up in the Management Consoles.