Ava Aware update: introducing webhooks

We enter 2020 with a new Ava Aware software release. Version 1.3 is packed with features designed to make security operators more responsive and enhance collaboration.

With webhooks, we respond to the needs of modern security teams, with members located in different sites—even different cities—overseeing one or more locations, and not always watching video monitors. Using webhooks, you can alert authorized users to Ava Aware’s alarms and events via Slack, Google Hangouts, Facebook Workplace, Cisco Webex, or any other communication tool of your choice.

Here’s a brief run-through of how easy we’ve made it for the security administrator of a commercial office building to set up webhooks and get real-time alerts in a Slack channel. First, set a new rule. In this case, select the line crossing rule for unauthorized access to a fire escape.

Next, create a new webhook and add the Slack App Incoming Webhook URL corresponding to the channel you want the messages posted. In Payload, you can customize the message to include template fields, such as the link to the video alarm. Finally, select the webhook as an action on the alarm.

The moment a person crosses the line defined on the fire escape, Ava Aware triggers an alarm and instantly sends a message to the security team’s Slack channel.

At a simple click of the embedded link, the users see the live video of the suspicious person who is climbing up the fire escape staircase and his accomplice, who seems to keep a lookout. By the side is a Map view of the area covered by the camera that captured the incident.

Learn more about how to set up and use webhooks from our documentation portal. Discover other features added in Aware 1.3, like tools to enable a camera to be swapped in case of a failure, timelines in Map view, user permissions, and more from our release notes.

Stay tuned for more product releases.

Originally published Jan 15, 2020 updated Sept 01, 2020.