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System automation
About automation entities
An automation entity is a repeatable process in Security Center SaaS. It consists of two parts: a trigger that defines what starts the automation, and a response that defines the actions that follow.

Pre-deployment guide
Review requirements, order, and activate your Security Center SaaS system.
Setup guide
Install and connect your Security Center SaaS application.
- Getting started
- User management
- Device management
- System automation
  - What is system automation?
    System automation in Security Center SaaS is a workflow to trigger actions based on schedules or events. It helps administrators manage repeatable tasks with less effort, so they can focus on higher‑value work.
  - Process overview for using automation entities
    To trigger a series of actions manually, on a schedule, or based on events in your system, you can set up automation entities.
  - About events
    An event is a record of an activity or incident that occurred in the system. Security personnel can monitor events in real time and investigate them later. Events can also trigger automations in the system.
  - About schedules
    A schedule is an entity that defines a set of time constraints that can be applied to a multitude of situations in the system. Each time constraint is defined by a date coverage (daily, weekly, ordinal, or specific) and a time coverage (all day, fixed range, daytime, and nighttime).
  - Creating schedules
    To define a set of time constraints for a multitude of situations, such as when a user can log on to the system or when video from a surveillance camera can be recorded, you can create schedules and then apply them to specific entities.
  - Adding audio files
    You can add new audio files that can be played when users receive an alarm in Security Center SaaS, or used with the Play a sound action.
  - About automation entities
    An automation entity is a repeatable process in Security Center SaaS. It consists of two parts: a trigger that defines what starts the automation, and a response that defines the actions that follow.
  - Creating an automation entity
    To begin configuring an automation, you must create an automation entity.
  - Configuring automation triggers
    To determine when an automation runs, you must select and configure a trigger type.
  - Configuring automation responses
    To define what happens when an automation is triggered, you must add response actions to the automation.
  - Advanced settings for automation entities
    Advanced settings allow you to define the automation’s scope, activation periods, and other configuration options in Security Center SaaS.
  - Adding automations to maps
    To allow Security Center SaaS operators to manually trigger automations directly from maps, you can add automations as map objects.
  - Event data
    Event data is the contextual information that accompanies every event. It can be used to add conditions to automation triggers and to contextualize automation responses. Different types of data are available depending on the type of event.
  - Special operators for event conditions
    Special operators can be used to evaluate event data from camera events and custom events for use in automations.
  - Contextualized actions
    For event‑based automations, you can use data from the triggering event to contextualize the response actions. With contextualized actions, a single automation can handle multiple automation scenarios.
  - Understanding threat levels
    A threat level is a predefined scenario that you activate for a specific area or the entire system to manage special situations, such as a business event or emergency evacuation. Activating a threat level triggers a series of actions tailored to the scenario. Deactivating the threat level returns the system to regular operation.
  - Creating threat levels
    To configure a list of actions to activate in special situations for a specific area or the entire system, you can create a threat level.
  - Scenario: Responding to a fire using threat levels
    In case of a fire, threat levels can be used to facilitate evacuation and response by triggering actions to sound a fire alarm, unlock doors, and bookmark camera recordings.
  - Scenario: Responding to a gunman using threat levels
    If a gunman or shooter is spotted, threat levels can be used to block access to areas, trigger alarms, and bookmark camera recordings.
  - Converting event-to-actions to automations
    You can convert legacy event-to-actions to automations using the Automation task.
  - Converting scheduled tasks to automations
    You can convert legacy scheduled tasks to automations using the Automation task.
- Map design
User guide
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Supported devices
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Glossary

About automation entities

2026-09-02

An automation entity is a repeatable process in Security Center SaaS. It consists of two parts: a trigger that defines what starts the automation, and a response that defines the actions that follow.

Automation capabilities

Automation entities provide the following capabilities:


Feature	Description
Conditional triggering	Trigger automations based on event data, sequence, or frequency Use AND or OR logic to define how events are evaluated together Include or exclude specific entities as event sources
Response actions	Run multiple response actions in a single automation, with or without configured delays Run event-dependent actions Tailor actions using event data
Scheduling	Set earliest and latest trigger dates Apply active and exception schedules Define reactivation rules Ignore obsolete events
Map positioning	Trigger automations from maps manually
Organization	Sort automations using folders and partitions
Reuse	Reuse automation logic throughout system deployment

Automation limitations

Automation entities have the following limitations:

Audit trails show that a change occurred, but don’t show what was changed in triggers or responses.
Some invalid settings may not be detected during configuration.
The Use source time zone option is not yet supported for event-based automations. This option is currently only available to event-to-actions.
Activity trails are unavailable.
You cannot set Source to "any related entity".
The Execute response as option is restricted to the user who created the automation.