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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.

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  - 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.
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    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).
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  - 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
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  - 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
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Glossary

Scenario: Responding to a gunman using threat levels

2026-09-02

If a gunman or shooter is spotted, threat levels can be used to block access to areas, trigger alarms, and bookmark camera recordings.

In this scenario, a threat level for responding to a gunman could be configured as follows:

Threat level scenario for gunman in Security Center SaaS.

When an operator sets this threat level in an area, the system performs the following actions:

Sets a minimum security clearance. This reduces the mobility of the gunman, assuming the credential he holds has a security clearance lower than 3.
This configuration assumes that only armed security personnel have a clearance level higher than 3 (between 0-3), and that security operators continue to monitor all doors so they can open them when necessary to allow bystanders to hide in secured areas that the gunman cannot access.
Adds a bookmark called "Gunman Suspected Onsite" to all cameras recording within the area.
Triggers an alarm called "Gunman Alert".
Triggers a physical alarm called "Panic Alarm" on an intrusion detection area.

When an operator clears this threat level, the system performs the following actions:

Restores normal access to all cardholders by setting the security clearance to the lowest level (7).
Adds a bookmark called "Gunman Threat Level Ended" to all cameras recording within the area.
Silences the "Panic Alarm" alarm on the selected intrusion detection area and the siren on the intrusion panel stops beeping. Depending on your intrusion panel and the type of alarm, this action might also acknowledge the alarm.