Finding a person of interest from a monitoring tile

2025-10-02Last updated

To find a person of interest while monitoring or reviewing video, you can perform an investigation in Security Center SaaS using intelligent search. The investigation information can then be reviewed and used to build a timeline of events including where the person went, who they interacted with, and what happened before or after an incident.

Before you begin

What you should know

Use Intelligent search from a monitoring tile to locate a person of interest when you notice something of interest while monitoring or reviewing video, or when a reported incident includes a date, approximate time, and specific camera that recorded the incident. You can visually track similar-looking individuals across multiple cameras, manually review matches to build a timeline of their movements, and explore nearby activity.
Note:
Intelligent search from a monitoring tile can be triggered from a non-forensic-capable camera, but the results (similar people, nearby activity, and so on) come from forensic-capable cameras with the Enable camera metadata checkbox selected.

Procedure

  1. Launch Genetec Operation web.
  2. In the Tiles view, double-click or drag a camera from the area view into a tile.
  3. Seek to a point of interest containing a person by doing one of the following:
  4. In the video player toolbar, click Intelligent search ().
    Note:
    If you draw the box on an empty area of the camera scene, object detection initiates instead of people detection. If you pause the video or resume playback, you might need to press Intelligent search () again.
    1. Use your mouse to draw a box around the person of interest.
      Intelligent search video player in Genetec Operation showing a person selected for investigation.
    2. Click Investigate person to load results matching the selected person of interest.
      Important:
      The search results and sections displayed in the side pane vary depending on the options you select, and change as you review or interact with video thumbnails in each section. Some of the following steps can be skipped if the section is not in your search results. Some of the steps can be repeated if you need to review multiple videos in each section.
      • To return to previously viewed videos, click Show the previously visited item () at the top of the video player dialog.
      • To return to the previous side pane menu or results, click back () next to the section title at the top of the side pane results pane.
  5. In the Similar people section, review visual matches to see where a person of interest has been detected across different locations and time ranges, helping you to discover sightings and potential movement paths.
    1. Click Show more to expand the Similar people section.
      You can adjust the selected cameras and time range to explore additional matches.
    2. Click the camera icon to select cameras to include or exclude from the similar people detection results.
      Similar people section of the Investigation task side pane in Genetec Operation showing the camera selector options.
      The number in the blue box next to the camera icon indicates the number of cameras you selected for your intelligent search.
    3. From the time range list, select a time range.
      Similar people section of the Investigation task side pane in Genetec Operation showing the time picker options.
    4. In the search results or the side pane, select thumbnails of any potential matches to view in the video player.
  6. In the Nearby activity section, review people and vehicles in the surrounding area before and after the incident to reconstruct the scene, uncover interactions, and provide additional context.
    1. Click Show more to expand the Nearby activity section.
      From here, you can adjust the detection types and the time range to explore additional matches.
      Note:
      If your search involves outdoor cameras and your person of interest might have entered, exited, or interacted with other people in a vehicle, consider selecting People and vehicles.
    2. In the side pane, select thumbnails of any potential matches to view in the video player.
  7. (Optional) Repeat one or more of the preceding steps to refine the criteria and review any other videos that might be a match.
Completing this investigation process provides a timeline of events including where the person went, who they interacted with, and what happened before or after providing additional context about the incident with less manual effort. This helps investigators validate evidence and generate reliable leads with greater confidence.