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.
How threat levels work
- Activation actions: When a threat level is set, the system performs these actions regardless of the user's privileges and permissions.
- Deactivation actions: When the threat level is cleared or replaced by another, the system triggers these actions regardless of the user's privileges and permissions.
These actions can include any Security Center SaaS actions, as well as actions specific to threat levels, such as denying access to certain cardholders or forcing particular users to log off.
How threat levels affect unlock schedules
Areas are assigned a minimum security clearance level ranging from 0 to 7 (where 0 represents the highest security and 7 the lowest). By default, the minimum required security clearance for an area is set to 7, meaning no special clearance is needed for access.
When a threat level is set for an area with a minimum security clearance level other than 7, the unlock schedules are bypassed. Once the threat level is cleared, the unlock schedules resume.
Setting a threat level in an area with a security clearance higher than 7 restricts the following options:
- Actions to trigger door locks (Trigger output)
Setting a threat level in an area does not affect the following unlocking options:
- Manual Override unlock schedule commands from Genetec™ Operation
- Manual Unlock commands for specific doors from the Genetec Operation door widget
- Temporarily override unlock schedule actions executed by an automation
- REX activation, meaning the REX activation can still unlock the door
- Unlocking doors from inside the area, meaning that access rules for exiting areas are not affected
- Captive doors inside the area
- Hardware zone I/O linking
How threat levels affect partitions
Threat levels operate independently of partitions. A threat level set at the system level by users in one partition can impact entities in another partition, especially if the actions have a broad scope, such as when they apply to all entities.
How threat levels affect federated areas
Threat levels cannot be directly applied to federated areas. When the Federation™ host sets a threat level for a federated area, only the threat level's associated actions are sent to the federated site, not the threat level itself. Local users at the federated site cannot see that a threat level has been set by the Federation™ host.