The OPS-COM alarm system provides critical real-time notifications for specific events, such as when a flagged vehicle is scanned or a user triggers a security alert. Its primary purpose is to help administrators and field officers rapidly identify and respond to vehicles of interest. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators and details how to configure permissions, attach, manage, and clear plate and vehicle alarms for both profiled users and unprofiled vehicles.
## Setup and Configuration To utilize plate and vehicle alarms, administrators must configure the baseline system settings and assign the appropriate dispatch permissions to administrative roles. ### System Settings 1. Hover over **System Configuration** and click **System Settings**. 2. Navigate to the **Alarms** tab. 3. Configure the **Vehicle Alarm Append Threshold** to set the number of minutes before a new alarm creates a new dispatch log entry instead of appending to an existing one. 4. Configure the **Plate Alarm Dispatch SubID** to establish consistency across your dispatch logs. 5. Enter the approved email addresses into the **Allowed Alert Emails** field to specify which external systems are permitted to populate alerts into OPS-COM. ### Setting up Alarm Permissions 1. Hover over **System Configuration** and click **Admin Management** then **Manage Roles**. 2. Click the **Permissions** button next to the administrative role you wish to modify. 3. Navigate to the **Dispatch** category within the Editing Permissions screen. 4. Enable the **View License Plate alarms**, **Receive License Plate alarms via email**, **View People alarms**, and **Receive People Plate alarms via email** checkboxes. 5. Click the **Save Permissions** button at the bottom of the page to apply the changes. ## Using this Feature Plate alarms are triggered automatically whenever a flagged license plate is scanned or read by the system. ### Understanding Plate Alarms Alarms will trigger from the following sources: - **Fixed Cameras:** Entrance and exit cameras scanning a lot. - **Handheld Violation Entries:** Manual citation entries by officers in the field. - **LPR Camera Reads:** Both mobile and static License Plate Recognition systems. When a Plate Alarm is triggered, an alert appears in the OPS-COM system, and an audible ding sounds for officers using mobile LPR units. If a fixed camera triggers the alarm, the specific camera's name will be listed in the alert.Manually chalking vehicles from the handheld unit does not trigger an alert. Only LPR reads and violation entries initiate the alarm sequence.
### Attaching an Alarm to a Plate Without a Profile Plates can exist in the system without a full user profile if they are initially entered via a new violation, a violation warning, a chalking record, or an incident report.If a plate only has a chalking record associated with it, you must issue a violation to it or link it to an incident to access the vehicle information fields required to add an alarm. Chalking records alone do not provide direct edit access to vehicle details.
1. Hover over **Violations** and click **Vehicles** then **Search by Plate**. 2. Enter the target plate and execute the search. 3. Click the **Vehicle Info** icon next to the search result. 4. Click the **Edit Vehicle** button. 5. Enable the **Vehicle Alarm** checkbox. 6. Enter an actionable note in the **Alarm Comment** field. 7. Click the **Update Vehicle** button to apply the alarm. ### Adding Plate Alarms to Specific Profiled Plates 1. Hover over **User Management** and click **User Search**. 2. Search for and select the user's profile. 3. Click the **Vehicles** tab within their profile. 4. Click the target plate to open the vehicle information window. 5. Click the **Edit Vehicle** button. 6. Enable the **Vehicle Alarm** checkbox. 7. Enter your note in the **Alarm Comment** field. 8. Click the **Update Vehicle** button. ### Adding a Plate Alarm to All Vehicles on a User Profile You can rapidly apply a vehicle alarm to every vehicle associated with a user directly from their primary profile settings. 1. Hover over **User Management** and click **User Search**. 2. Search for and select the user's profile. 3. Click the **Edit** button next to the Basic Profile Information section. 4. Enable the **Plate alarm** checkbox. 5. Enter your alert message in the **comment** field. 6. Click the **Update** button to apply the alarms.The People Alarms and License Plate Alarms for this user will share the exact same message if both are enabled simultaneously on the user's profile
--- ## Best Practices and Considerations - **Clear and Concise Alarm Comments:** **Always use brief, highly actionable comments** (e.g., DO NOT APPROACH - WARRANT, LOST/STOLEN PERMIT, CONTACT OWNER). This ensures essential information is conveyed immediately to officers and administrators without ambiguity. - **Understanding Alarm Roll-Up:** Multiple alarms triggered for the exact same plate or profile are automatically rolled up into a single dispatch log entry within a 30-minute window. This prevents redundant notifications from flooding the system during an active event. - **Permission Management:** **Ensure that only authorized and trained personnel have the ability to set and clear alarms** due to the critical nature of these alerts. - **Regular Review:** Periodically review active alarms and dispatch logs to ensure field officers are responding timely and to manually clear alarms that are no longer operationally relevant.