Read and handle alerts
Noviscan just flagged someone and you want to know what to do about it. This is the page.
Before you start: Noviscan is installed, at least one camera or folder is connected (see Add a camera or a folder) and monitoring is started. A viewer account is enough to read alerts; to archive an alert or name a face, you need an operator, administrator or owner account.
Alerts, Review and Dashboard
- Alerts: the list of what Noviscan flagged for you, with images.
- Review: faces waiting for a name, whether Noviscan alerted you about them or wasn’t sure enough to do so. This screen is waiting for your opinion.
- Dashboard: a chart of detections over time (Suspects, Reviewed, Auto-identified). Clicking a slice opens the alerts for that period.
When Noviscan alerts, and when it stays quiet
Noviscan alerts you for a usable face it doesn’t know. It also alerts you every time a person filed under the reserved name Suspect shows up again.
It doesn’t alert you in these cases.
- The person is on the Whitelist, the list of people whose presence is normal at your place and who are never flagged.
- The face was already recorded in an earlier detection. It isn’t flagged a second time.
- An unknown face appears right next to a person on the Whitelist, at the same moment. Noviscan most likely sees the same person from another angle, or their companion.
- The match is uncertain, or the face is taken at too sharp an angle. It goes to Review, without an alert. A face clearly in profile is simply ignored.
- The person belongs to a group that is disarmed at that hour (a Premium feature, Groups screen). A group stays disarmed until you choose alert hours. An unknown face always alerts, even during a disarmed period.
Read the list
- In the left menu, open Alerts.
- Choose the period: Today, 7 days or All.
- If needed, narrow by camera with All sources, or by person with All names.
- If needed, filter by status: Pending or Resolved.
- If needed, type in Search (name, source, file)….
The Resolved status is set automatically when a face receives a name. It does not confirm that an incident has been dealt with.
<!-- IMG I3-01 : Alerts screen with the filters and three sample alerts -->
What to do with an alert
Archiving an alert sets it aside without erasing it. The archive buttons only appear on alerts filed under the name Suspect.
- On the alert card, click Archive this alert.
- To handle every appearance of a suspect at once, click Archive this suspect instead.
The alert leaves the main list. You’ll find it further down, in the Archived section, followed by the number of alerts. That section only appears when there are some. To bring an alert back, click Unarchive this alert (or Unarchive this suspect).
<!-- IMG I3-02 : alert card with the Archive button --> <!-- IMG I3-03 : Archived section with the number of alerts -->
To name the face, open Review. Under Who is this?, click the person’s name, or + New person to create one. The message Face identified: Name. appears and the alert moves to Resolved. The details are in Recognize people.
<!-- IMG I3-04 : Review screen with “Who is it?” -->
To look at an alert more closely, click its card. The image opens with its source, date and status. With the Premium plan, ▶ Play video also plays the clip, when there is one.
Where alerts arrive
Alerts always appear inside Noviscan. They can also follow you elsewhere.
| Where | Plan |
|---|---|
| Free and Premium | |
| Windows desktop notification (while Noviscan is open) | Free and Premium |
| Telegram, Discord, Slack, webhook (a message sent to an address you provide) | Premium |
In Settings, on the General tab, the Active notification channels section (administrators only) offers three checkboxes: the server console, a file, and Email (SMTP, see config.yaml). Telegram, Discord, Slack and the webhook aren’t in that list. Sending email, like those channels, is set up in Noviscan’s configuration file. In Settings, on the Advanced tab, the Notifications section shows the Active channels, read-only. To set them up, see Advanced settings. For the Premium channels, see Your license and subscription.
The Internet access setting (Settings, General tab) does not turn off the notifications you have set up.
How long an alert stays
Alerts, their images and their videos are not kept forever. The durations are in Protect and manage your data.
What this version does not do
- You cannot delete an alert yourself; Noviscan removes old alerts at the end of their retention period (see Protect and manage your data).
- No export of the alert history.
- SMS, Teams, MQTT and Home Assistant are not available.
If it does not work
- No alerts although the camera works. Check that monitoring is started on the Dashboard, then that the person is not on the Whitelist.
- A known person keeps alerting. They’re probably filed under Suspect, which alerts at every appearance.
- You can’t find the archive buttons. Your account is a viewer, or the alert isn’t filed under Suspect.
Other cases: Fix a problem and get help.
Applies to Noviscan 1.0.0