ZenMode - Operator Monitoring

• Genie URL: https://gcsurge-docs.nxgen.cloud/gcsurge/docs/operations/zenmode-operator-monitoring

Covers: Starting Your Shift, Site Ownership, Processing Each Alarm, Why Processing Speed Matters, Key Capabilities, Display Modes, Filters, Best Practices.

ZenMode is the operator’s alarm-processing screen — built for handling one owned site at a time. It opens from within Alarm Center when you assign yourself to a site — it is not a separate sidebar item. NOVA99x has already filtered false alarms before they arrive — what reaches you is a focused, time-ordered view of only what needs attention. Super Admins use the separate Alarm Center (Admin View) to oversee the whole team across many sites at once.

Starting Your Shift

ZenMode opens for a specific site after you pick one from the Alarm Center (Operator View). The full flow is:

1. In Alarm Center, click Start Shift. The shift timer begins and End Shift appears in the top-right corner.
2. In the Sites with Unattended Open Alarms table, click the Monitor now icon on a site. ZenMode opens and the site is automatically assigned to you — the site status changes to In Progress and appears as your Picked Site if you return to Alarm Center.
3. The camera grid and timeline load. Active camera tiles show an event count badge; use the True alarms only toggle in the toolbar to filter by NOVA99x classification.
4. Process alarms as they arrive — new alarms appear automatically, no refresh needed.
5. When done, click End Shift. You are taken to your Operator Performance page — a full breakdown of your shift metrics and charts.

Three things must be in place before ZenMode shows alarm data: at least one site onboarded with an active device (see Setting Up Sites and Adding Devices — ZenMode is empty without active cameras); you are assigned to that site as an Operator; and NOVA99x active — it filters alarms automatically with no setup needed.

Site Ownership

Site ownership ensures only one operator processes a live site at a time. When you click Assign To Me inside ZenMode, the site locks to you immediately. Other operators see the site as In Progress in the Sites with Unattended Open Alarms table and cannot take it.

Taking a Site

Site selection starts in Alarm Center. There are two ways to take a site:

• Monitor now icon — click it on any site with Available lock status. ZenMode opens and the site is automatically assigned to you immediately — a “Site successfully assigned to you” banner confirms it. The Unassign button appears in the header and the Close all alarms button appears in the toolbar. No extra step needed.
• Eye icon (View ZenMode) — opens ZenMode in view-only mode without claiming the site. The site stays Available to other operators. Inside ZenMode, click Assign To Me to lock the site to yourself. The button changes to Unassign and the Close all alarms button appears in the toolbar.

Releasing a Site

To release a site so another operator can take it, click Unassign in the ZenMode header (top-right), or click the red Unassign site button on your Picked Site row in Alarm Center. The site returns to Available status immediately.

Clicking Back to New Alarms does not release the site — it returns you to Alarm Center while keeping the site locked to you.

Troubleshooting Ownership

• Site stuck as taken — if an operator disconnected without releasing, a Super Admin can force-release the site using the red Unassign icon in the Sites with Assigned Operators table in Alarm Center (Admin View). This action is logged in the audit trail.
• Cannot take a site — another operator already holds it. The lock status shows In Progress in the Sites with Unattended Open Alarms table in Alarm Center. Coordinate with them or ask a Super Admin to reassign.
• Super Admin reassignment — Super Admins can reassign operators to sites by using the red Unassign icon in the Sites with Assigned Operators table to force-release the site, then using the Assigned to dropdown in the Sites with Unattended Open Alarms table in Alarm Center (Admin View) to assign a different operator.

Processing Each Alarm

For each alarm, follow this review cycle:

1. Click the event card or timeline item to open the event modal.
2. Review the video clip with a playback timeline to verify the moment of the alarm.
3. Confirm whether the event is real or false.
4. Close the alarm: select a closure tag and add an optional Closure notes before confirming.

Event Detail Modal

Opening an event card or clicking a timeline dot opens the alarm detail modal.

• Breadcrumb — location path: Default Customer > [site] > [area] > [camera]
• Video clip — the recorded footage at the time of the alarm, with camera name, event count badge, and a playback timeline scrubber.
• Close current alarm — closes the alarm currently displayed.
• Close all alarms for this sensor — closes all open alarms on this sensor at once; the Close Alarms modal opens before confirming.
• Copy URL — copies a link to this alarm event.
• ?? / ?? Feedback — rate the alarm detection. Clicking ?? opens the Verification Tags panel — see False Alarm Feedback below.

Closing an Alarm

Every closed alarm requires a closure tag. Tags are defined by your Super Admin under Settings → Close alarm flow tags — the available options depend on what your organisation has configured. An optional free-text Closure notes field can be added for context the tag alone does not capture.

The closure timestamp, tag, description, and operator identity are recorded automatically and form part of the alarm’s audit trail. For sites with multiple operators in a shift, the platform tracks which operator took and closed each alarm.

Close Alarms Modal

The Close Alarms modal opens from two places:

• Close current alarm / Close all alarms for this sensor inside the Event Detail Modal
• Close all alarms button in the ZenMode toolbar — closes all open alarms in the current date/time range

Fields shown in the modal:

• SITE — the site name
• ALARMS TO BE CLOSED — total alarms that will be closed
• ALARM TIME — timestamp of the alarm (shown when closing from the event modal)
• LAST ALARM TIME — timestamp of the most recent alarm in the range (shown when using CLOSE ALL ALARMS)
• TRUE ALARMS — count classified as true by NOVA99x
• FALSE ALARMS — count classified as false by NOVA99x
• CLOSE ALARMS BETWEEN — the time range being closed, e.g. 15:37:43 → 16:07:05 (shown only when using CLOSE ALL ALARMS)
• SENSOR / SENSORS — the sensor or sensors involved
• Closure tags * (required) — select a tag from the dropdown; applied to all alarms in the action
• Closure notes (optional) — free-text field for additional context
• Confirm / Cancel

False Alarm Feedback — Verification Tags

When you click ?? on an alarm event, the platform opens a verification panel to capture why the alarm was a false detection. This feedback trains the NOVA99x model over time.

• STATUS badge — shows the current classification (e.g., FALSE ALARM in red) at the top of the panel.
• Select verification tags — choose one or more tags that describe why the alarm was false. Tags are grouped by category:OBJECTS: Person, Vehicle, AnimalENVIRONMENT: Tree, Rain/Snow, ReflectionSYSTEM: Insect, Unknown
• Add an optional comment — free-text field (up to 250 characters) for additional context, such as “person was staff member” or “lightning pattern.”
• Save feedback — submits the tags and comment. Cancel closes the panel without saving.

Why Processing Speed Matters

Alarm Processing Time (APT) — the time from opening an alarm to closing it — is recorded for every alarm you handle. It feeds directly into your Alarm Center (Operator View) and the Super Admin’s Alarm Center (Admin View). ZenMode is GC Surge’s patent-pending processing engine. It groups correlated alarms from the same site into a single closeable event — 10 alarms become 1 event with 1 close action. Operators process them in parallel, not one at a time. In production at a live monitoring center: 10 alarms averaging 3 seconds each = 30 seconds sequential; ZenMode parallel scan = 6 seconds. up to 5x faster, measured in live deployment.Combined with NOVA99x pre-filtering, GC Surge reduced APT by 85% to 97%, enabling 40% more cameras per operator with no increase in headcount — but capturing those gains depends on maintaining a disciplined review cycle for each alarm.

Key Capabilities

• Focus Zone — a movable time window on the timeline that defines which alarms the operator is actively working. It appears as a shaded band between two vertical yellow markers on the timeline. Alarms inside the band are your current working set; alarms outside are still visible on the timeline but de-emphasised. Enable or disable it with the Focus Zone toggle in the ZenMode toolbar. Super Admins set the default width and position; operators can move and resize it during the shift. Narrow the zone to stay on the latest alarms; widen it to batch-close a longer backlog without losing your live feed.

• Focus Zone — pinned vs. live — the tooltip on the Focus Zone indicator shows three values: the current zone width, the tracking state (live or pinned), and the number of open events inside the zone. Pinned means the zone is anchored to a fixed position on the timeline and does not auto-scroll as new alarms arrive — use it when batch-closing a backlog. When not pinned, the zone follows the live cursor. The open-events count tells you how many unhandled alarms are inside the zone right now.
• Close all alarms — closes all open alarms in the current date/time range and opens the Close Alarms modal before confirming. If True alarms only is enabled, only true alarms are included in the action. When the Focus Zone is enabled, two close buttons appear: Close N alarms (closes only alarms inside the Focus Zone) and Close all alarms (closes all alarms in the current viewing period).
• True alarms only — filters the timeline and camera grid to show only confirmed true alarms. Also updates the Close all alarms button to reflect true alarms only.
• Show Closed toggle — after closing a single alarm or all alarms for a sensor, enable this toggle to view closed alarms on the timeline. Closed alarms appear alongside open ones so you can see what has already been handled. Turn it off to keep the timeline focused on open events only.
• RETURN TO LIVE — jumps the timeline cursor back to the current live position when you have scrolled back in history to review older events. Keeps the timeline anchored to incoming alarms rather than staying on a historical position.
• Focus Zone width selector — a time-window control (shown as a value such as 1m, 5m, etc.) that sets how wide the Focus Zone is on the timeline. A tooltip on the Focus Zone indicator shows the current state. Narrowing it keeps your attention on the very latest alarms; widening lets you batch-close older events without losing your live feed.
• FOCUS NOW — a button in the ZenMode toolbar that immediately jumps the Focus Zone to the current live position and re-centres it on the most recent alarms. Use it after scrolling back in history to review older events — one click brings you back to the live edge without manually dragging the zone. Appears alongside Pause in the toolbar.
• Pause — freezes the timeline and live alarm stream so you can review the current events without new alarms pushing in. Click again to resume live tracking.
• TOTAL / OPEN / CLOSED counters — live session stats in the ZenMode header: TOTAL is the cumulative alarm count for the viewing period; OPEN is how many remain unhandled; CLOSED is how many have been processed and closed. These update in real time and reset when the viewing period changes.
• Viewing Period selector — a dropdown in the top-right corner that sets the time range for the alarm counters and timeline. Quick ranges available: Last 5 minutes, Last 15 minutes, Last 30 minutes, Last 1 hour, Last 2 hours, Last 3 hours, Last 6 hours, Last 12 hours, Last 24 hours, Last 2 days, Last 3 days, Last week, and Last month. For a specific window, use the Absolute Range option with From and To date pickers (DD-MM-YYYY hh:mm).
• Back to New Alarms — returns you to Alarm Center without releasing the site. Your Picked Site stays locked to you (In Progress). From Alarm Center, click the eye icon on your Picked Site to re-enter ZenMode for the same site. To fully release the site so another operator can take it, use the Unassign button (top-right in ZenMode) or the red Unassign button on the Picked Site row in Alarm Center.

Display Modes

ZenMode uses a grid view that shows live camera feeds as tiles. The grid auto-sizes to your screen and the number of cameras assigned to the site. Each active camera tile shows a badge with the count of open events. Cameras with no events show a “No events here” placeholder. Use the timeline above the grid to navigate to specific events.

Filters

ZenMode filter controls are applied directly via toolbar toggles. Filters narrow which events appear in your current view without removing them permanently.

Alarm type

• True alarms only toggle — when enabled, only events NOVA99x classified as real appear in the timeline and camera grid. This is the recommended setting during active monitoring. Turn it off to see all events including false alarms.
• Show closed toggle — when enabled, closed alarms appear on the timeline alongside open ones. Use it to see what has already been handled in the current session. Turn it off to keep the timeline focused on open events only.

Time range

Use the Viewing Period selector (top right) to set the time window for the alarm counters and timeline. Quick ranges: Last 5 minutes, Last 15 minutes, Last 30 minutes, Last 1 hour, Last 2 hours, Last 3 hours, Last 6 hours, Last 12 hours, Last 24 hours, Last 2 days, Last 3 days, Last week, Last month. For a specific window, select Absolute Range and enter From and To values (DD-MM-YYYY hh:mm). Changing the Viewing Period does not affect the Focus Zone, which is a separate shift-configuration window.

ZenMode vs Video Search

• Active monitoring shift — processing incoming events in real time: ZenMode
• Post-incident investigation — finding a specific past event: Video Search
• Evidence review for escalation or client report: Video Search
• High-volume periods requiring fast triage: ZenMode
• New operator in training — learning event types: Video Search first, then ZenMode for production shifts.
• No live streaming or camera patrol: GC Surge is an alarm-driven platform — it does not provide a live CCTV view or camera patrol feed. Operators see a camera feed only when reviewing an active alarm in the Event Detail Modal (showing the camera’s current state at that moment). For general live surveillance monitoring, use GCXONE.

Best Practices

• Review missed alarms at the start of every shift before switching to the live feed.
• Keep the Focus Zone narrow during high-activity periods to stay on the latest alarms.
• Use True Alarms Only when the queue is large to surface only what needs action.
• Use batch close on the timeline for older alarms instead of one at a time.
• Never leave a site taken without closing or releasing it — it blocks other operators from taking it.
• If alarms stop arriving on a site you have taken, check the site status in Configuration before assuming the site is quiet.