Cameras app: face-recognition cameras for attendance, security, and playback

In user language: for people who need to watch the gate, record clock-in and clock-out, and watch for people who should not appear — all inside a workspace. Open Cameras, add face-recognition network cameras, and register people’s photos. People allowed through are recorded for attendance as they pass; security either admits only people who are allowed to appear, or watches only people who should not appear. A violation can send SMS and/or email to named contacts. Video defaults to recording on this machine and can be replayed by time. Tell the app assistant “who clocked in today” or “play the gate recording from 3 pm”, and it acts within your permissions.

For the user-facing product notes, see [help/product-features/platform-camera.md](/docs/help-platform-camera); for a plugin-apps overview, see [help/product-features/platform-plugins.md](/docs/help-platform-plugins).

Date: 2026-09-02

The takeaway (read this first)

Cameras appears on the apps desktop of the selected workspace. The cameras are still your devices; what you connect here is access, clock-in/out, and alerts — not a second, mismatched surveillance platform.

Unlike opening each camera’s own web page, the app assistant acts on what you say. You do not have to remember which tab to use:

• Attendance: the first recognition of a person allowed through that day is clock-in; a later recognition at least five minutes after that is clock-out. Say “who clocked in today” to see it.
• Security: the workspace picks one mode — admit only people who are allowed to appear, or ignore everyone else and watch only people who should not appear. Every page shows the current mode; you do not have to re-select it after you close the app.
• Alerts: after a violation, send SMS and/or email to named contacts (you can enable only one). SMS is a string of digits as a reminder; email includes a snapshot and an explanation.
• Live and playback: open Live for the current view. Video defaults to this machine’s disk; pick a time to replay. A violation also keeps about 15 seconds before and after.

In one sentence: the cameras stay the same; what happens at the gate is finished on the workbench.

flowchart TD
  A["Open Cameras on the apps desktop"] --> B{"What should this sentence do"}
  B -->|"who clocked in today"| C["Report clock-in and clock-out for people allowed through"]
  B -->|"any unhandled security alerts"| D["List unhandled alerts"]
  B -->|"play the gate recording from 3 pm"| E["Playback by camera and time"]
  B -->|"switch security to admit only listed people"| F["Change the workspace mode; every page sees it at once"]
  B -->|"add a camera / register a person"| G["Write into the current form; you confirm before save"]

Who this is for, and what it solves

It fits people who already get work done in a Cadau workspace and also need to watch the gate: duty staff, HR attendance, plant or office security.

Typical situations:

• The guard knows faces, the roster lives somewhere else, and asking who came today still means flipping through records;
• Someone who should not appear walks by before anyone notices, notices still chase through WeChat, and snapshots are hard to find;
• After an incident you know it was roughly afternoon, but you have to scrub through a long recording;
• You want to tell the assistant one sentence and see attendance or a moment in time, without learning the tabs first.

This release does not cover shop-floor line cameras, cloud storage, or drawing alert zones inside this app (those are still drawn on the camera’s own web page). It also does not auto-sync the HR roster.

Two security modes — pick the right one first

The workspace picks one mode. Every page shows it in the header:

You do not re-select after closing the app or a camera. Say “switch security to admit only people who are allowed to appear”, and the assistant acts within your permissions.

Usage examples

Example 1: clock-in and clock-out at the gate

An admin adds the gate camera and sets its purpose to attendance. Front-face photos of people in this area are added as allowed through. When a colleague passes the frame, the first recognition that day is clock-in; a later recognition after a five-minute gap is clock-out. HR tells the app assistant “who clocked in today”, and the assistant reports from that day’s records.

Example 2: the plant only watches people who should not come

Security mode is Watch only people who should not appear. A few front-face photos of people who must not enter are added. Everyone else passing does not bother the duty desk; when those people appear, an alert is kept, and you can send a string of digits to the duty phone and an email with a snapshot to the mailbox. Duty staff open the alert and tap “play this clip” for about 15 seconds before and after.

Example 3: after an incident, replay by time

You know it happened around 3 pm today at the gate. Tell the assistant “play the gate recording from 3 pm today”, or open Playback yourself and pick the camera, date, and time. Continuous recording defaults to about 7 days; location and retention days can be changed in Recording settings.

What you can say to the assistant

Say what you want done, and it acts; ask “how / how do I” and it explains the steps.

While you are filling add-camera or people, you can say an address, name, or path; the assistant writes into the current form. It does not write to the store until you say save.

Notes when adding a camera

The camera and the computer running this app must be on the same LAN. The callback address is this computer’s current LAN address and the Cameras app port — not loopback, and not the Cadau entry URL. After you change Wi-Fi, opening the app updates it automatically.

After save, tap Test connect; reading the device name means commands work. Opening Live and seeing the current view means the live stream works. If Live or Playback never appear, this machine needs ffmpeg.

Related: Plugin apps — appears on the apps desktop like HR, warehouse, compliance, and email