Plate and Vehicle Alarms

Setting

OPS-COM's alarm system provides critical real-time notifications for specific events, such as a flagged vehicle being scanned or a user triggering a security alert. This article guides administrators on setting up the Propernecessary Account Settingspermissions to Viewview Alarms

these

Firstalarms, weas willwell needas how to getattach, manage, and clear Plate Alarms and Vehicle Alarms for both profiles with and without associated user accounts.

Setup & Configuration

To enable administrators to view and manage alarms, proper dispatch permissions must be configured for their roles.

Setting up Alarm Permissions

1. 1. Click System Configuration, Admin Management and click Manage Administration Roles.
   so that we can manage how our admins can view alarms on
   2. Select the system.administrative
      role

      

      From here we can go into the Role weyou wish to managemodify andby clicking its Permissions button.

   3. Within the Editing Permissions screen, under the Dispatch sectioncategory, we can toggle allselect the settingspermissions related to dispatchalarms logs(e.g., andView alarms.Alarms, 
      Clear

      

      Alarms, 

      Add Alarm Comment).

   4. Click Save Permissions at the bottom of the page when you are finished.

Using this Feature

Understanding Plate Alarms 

Plate alarmsAlarms are triggered whenwhenever a license plate with an associated alarm is scanned or read by the system. This includes:

• Fixed Cameras: Entrance and exit cameras.
• Handheld Violation Entries: By officers in the systemfield.
has
• LPR Camera Reads: Mobile and static LPR systems.

When a Plate Alarm is triggered, a "ding" sound is typically made (for mobile LPR units), and an alarmalert attachedappears toin it.the WeOPS-COM system. You can also add a vehicle alarm to a users profile which will be triggered when any plate that user is associated is triggered by any camera or officer reads/scans. 

These alarms will be triggered by Fixed Cameras (Entrance and Exit Cameras), Handheld Violation Entries by Officers in the Field, and LPR Camera Reads. Not only is there an alarm that gets triggered in the system but you can also provideconfigure an email address to send the alarm details to. If a fixed camera was used thentriggers the alarm, the camera's name of that camera will be listedlisted.

on the Plate Alarm. Keep in mind that manually

Manually Chalking Vehicles from the handheld does not trigger thean alert. 

Attaching an Alarm to a Plate withoutWithout a Profile

How do plates get into the system without profiles? 

ThePlates onlycan wayexist for a plate to make it intoin the system without a full user profile isif bythey Issueare initially entered via:

• Issuing a New Violation, Violation Warning, or Chalking Record through the handheld or adminsideadmin asside.
well as by linking
• Linking the plate to an Incident from the adminside.admin Whenside.

If you search for a plate on the handheld that does notdoesn't exist in the systemsystem, you willyou'll see thea black plus symbol which indicates thatindicating the vehicle currentlyis doesnew. not exist. 

If you are onOn the admin-admin side, thenwhen you would need to issueissuing a violation or incidentcreating whichan willincident, giveyou'll youhave an option to add a new vehicle. You are then prompted to update the correct vehicle informationand its information, which is where the alarm can be added. 

Important

Essentially, toTo add an alarm to a plate without a profileprofile, there needs tomust be an existing incident, violationviolation, or warning associated with the plate to add an alarm to it when searching for the plate in the system.plate. If thea plate only has a chalking recordrecord, you will need to issue a violation to theit plateor andlink addit to an incident to access the vehicle information there.fields You haverequired to add an alarm. Chalking records alone do thisnot because when you chalkprovide a plate through the handheld you don't provide the vehicle information on the handheld. As seen in the image below once I added the violation to my plate JROCK and searched the vehicle I was then able to click the vehicle information and add the alarm. 

As you can see with chalking records, we don't have anydirect option to view theor edit vehicle detailsdetails.

but

Steps weto doAdd withan violationsAlarm and incidents. When we click vehicle information withoutto a profilePlate weWithout havea toProfile

1. Find the Plate:
   • Click Violations, Vehicles, and click Edit Vehicle to see the information we need. 
     

     

     Finding the Plate

     To find the plate we want to add the vehicle to without going to their profile we need to navigate to Violations → Vehicles → Search by Plate
     

     .

   

   
   

   From here enter

   • Enter the platePlate weyou wish to add the alarm tooto and(e.g., then"JROCK").
   click on
   • Click the Vehicle Info icon,icon innext thisto examplethe Isearch haveresult.
   added
   a
plate with no profile called JROCK that we will add an alarm to. 




Adding

Add the Alarm to the Plate:

Once you find the vehicle info through the profile, violation, or incident we can click the

• The Vehicle Information window will open. Click Edit Vehiclewhere.
we can add the alarm. 







Step 1: 

• Toggle the Vehicle Alarm, youcheckbox willto knowOn. this is working as you willYou'll see a check-markcheckmark inappear.
the
• Once box. 

  Step 2: Oncetoggled, you click this you will have an option tocan add thean Alarm Comment whichin the provided field. This comment will be seenvisible byto officers and admins.administrators

  when

  Stepthe 3:alarm triggers.

• Click Update Vehicle to haveapply the vehicle alarm appliedcorrectly.
correctly.

When this plate getsis LPRsubsequently scanned by LPR (mobile or fixed camerascameras), youa ding"ding" sound is made so offices in cars will noticebe itmade, alerting officers and canallowing them to write a dispatch report beforeif moving on. needed.

Adding Plate Alarms to Specific Plates

 (with User Profile)

If you know the user associated with the plate you wish to addalarm:

1. User Management, User Search
2. Search for and select the plateuser's alarmprofile.
to, we can do this by going into this users profile from
3. Click the admin side and clicking Vehicles
   tab

   Oncewithin theretheir youprofile.

should
4. You'll see a list of vehicles and the platetheir associated toplates. them. ClickingClick the target plate you wish to alarm. This will bring up a new window with Vehicle Information.
where we can add the alarm. 




See

5. Follow Steps 1-3 from "Adding the Vehicle Alarm under Attaching an Alarm to athe PlatePlate" without(above) to toggle the Vehicle Alarm, add a Profilecomment, and Update Vehicle.
for

instruction visual instructions on adding the actual alarm. 

Adding a Plate Alarm to All Vehicles on a UsersUser's Profile

WeYou can addapply a vehicleVehicle alarmAlarm to all ofvehicles associated with a user's profile directly from their basic profile information.

1. User Management, User Search
2. Search for and select the usersuser's platesprofile.
through their profile by clicking
3. Click Edit next to the Basic Profile Information.
   

   

   section.

Once you are on

4. On the user's profile page, you should see two check boxes calledcheckboxes: Plate alarm and People alarm.
as seen in
5. Toggle the image below. 
   

   

   We can now toggle thePlate alarm andcheckbox addto On.

6. Add a comment that will getbe utilizedused infor thethis alert.
7. Click the Update button when you are finished to putapply the alarmsalarms.
into

affect. Keep in mind

The People Alarms and License Plate AlarmAlarms for this user will share thisthe same message.message (Assuming you haveif both alarmsare toggled on the usersuser's profile)profile.

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Best Practices & Considerations

• Clear and Concise Alarm Comments: Use brief, actionable comments that convey essential information quickly to officers and administrators (e.g., "DO NOT APPROACH - WARRANT," "LOST/STOLEN PERMIT," "CONTACT OWNER").
• Permission Management: Ensure that only authorized personnel have the ability to set and clear alarms due to their critical nature.
• System Settings for Alarms: Review global alarm settings under System Settings (e.g., Alarm Duration, Email Address for alerts, Generic Alarm Append Threshold) to ensure they align with your operational needs.
• Understanding Alarm Roll-Up: Be aware that multiple alarms for the same plate/profile will be rolled up into a single dispatch log entry within a 30-minute window to avoid flooding the system with redundant notifications.
• Manually Triggered vs. Automated: Understand that manual chalking does not trigger alerts, but LPR reads and violation entries do.
• Regular Review: Periodically review active alarms and dispatch logs to ensure timely responses and to clear alarms that are no longer relevant to keep the system efficient.