GC SurgeDocsGetting Started — Your First 30 Minutes
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Getting Started — Your First 30 Minutes

This guide gives you the fastest path from a new GC Surge account to your first live alarm handled in ZenMode. Follow the steps in order — the whole sequence takes under 30 minutes when your cameras are reachable over the network.

Before You Begin

Confirm you have:

  • A GC Surge account, or are about to create one — Step 1 covers registration.
  • At least one camera that is online and reachable over the network.
  • The camera’s IP address or connection details available.
  • At least one person who will handle alarms during the trial (can be you).

Not sure if GC Surge is the right fit for your operation? See Prerequisites & Customer Categories first.

Step 1 — Register and log in (~5 minutes)

  1. Go to the GC Surge sign-up page and complete the registration form: Country code, Email, Phone number, Tenant name, Password, and Retype password. Click Create account.
  2. Verify your phone number: enter the 6-digit code sent to your number via SMS and click Verify code. You can resend the code if needed.
  3. After successful verification, the onboarding wizard opens automatically. Select your preferred language, then click Get Started. The wizard guides you through three steps: Welcome, First Site (enter your first site and camera details), and Surge Account Ready (confirmation). On completion you land on the Configuration page.

Your payment details are not required to start. You will be prompted to add a payment method a few hours after your first login — it must be on file before Day 7 to continue into paid service.

For a full walkthrough of the registration flow, see First-Time Login.

Step 2 — Invite your operators (~5 minutes)

  1. In the left sidebar, go to Users.
  2. Click Invite New User.
  3. Enter the team member’s name, email, and phone number, then select their role: Operator for alarm-handling staff, or Super Admin for managers who need full platform access.
  4. Click Send Invitation. The team member receives an email with a setup link valid for 72 hours.
  5. Repeat for each team member.

You can continue to Step 3 while invitations are pending — operators do not need to accept before you connect cameras.

Step 3 — Connect your first site (~10 minutes)

  1. In the left sidebar, go to Configuration, click ADD, and select Guided Setup.
  2. Choose what you would like to do:Add a new site — set up a new location with its first camera.Add a camera to an existing site — pick one of your sites and add a camera to it.Add multiple new sites and cameras — several sites or many cameras at once using bulk import.
  3. Choose your camera type:A brand from our list (Axis, Dahua, HikVision, NxWitness) — GC Surge sets the camera up for you automatically.My camera can send alarms (API, FTP or SMTP) — your camera pushes alarms on its own. See Adding Devices — Universal Camera Support.Use GC Edge — works with any camera — for cameras that stream video only (RTSP). GC Edge software runs on a PC at the site and triggers alarms from the stream.
  4. For A brand from our list, select the connection mode:Public access (public IP or port forwarding) — GC Surge connects directly and onboards cameras automatically — up to 2,000 cameras in under 4 minutes when cameras are reachable.Private network — a local agent on-site bridges your cameras to GC Surge. The on-site contact receives the Site Key to complete activation — or select I'm at the site if you are physically present (no contact info required).I'm not sure — GC Surge assumes a private network — the safest starting point. The same local agent flow applies as for Private network.
  5. Fill in the camera details (IP, brand, port, username, password) and click Add Site.

For the full steps for each mode, see Setting Up Sites. For a full deployment checklist when rolling out multiple sites at once, see Full Deployment Journey.

Step 4 — Verify your setup (~5 minutes)

After connecting cameras, confirm the platform is receiving alarms before running your first shift:

  1. Open Configuration from the left sidebar. Find your new site in the table and confirm its status shows Active. On the Home dashboard, the Operations Overview section shows updated site and device counts (active / inactive).
  2. Trigger a test alarm on one of your connected cameras — walk in front of the camera or use your camera’s built-in test function.
  3. Confirm the alarm appears in Alarm Center within 30 seconds.

If no alarms appear after 10 minutes, check that alarm forwarding is enabled on the camera side and that the site shows Active status in Configuration. See Setting Up Sites for per-mode troubleshooting steps.

Note on NOVA99x: NOVA99x filtering is always active from the moment you connect cameras — it runs automatically and does not require enabling or configuration.

Step 5 — Run your first ZenMode shift (~10 minutes)

  1. Have an operator open Alarm Center in the left sidebar.
  2. In the Unassigned Sites table, find a site with active alarms and click the Assign to me icon to claim it.
  3. Click the View ZenMode button (eye icon) to enter the alarm processing screen.
  4. Process and close 10–20 alarms. This establishes your first APT baseline — the number you will compare against after NOVA99x is active.

For a full guide to the ZenMode interface and alarm closure workflow, see ZenMode — Operator Monitoring.

Evaluating your trial at Day 7

After 7 days, GC Surge reads your actual results — APT reduction, Cameras per Operator, and alarm volume — and displays them on your dashboard alongside a subscription prompt.

To evaluate your results before Day 7, check:

  • Home dashboard — overall alarm volume and active camera count.
  • Alarm Center (Admin View) — average APT per operator and team throughput.
  • Analytics — alarm trends across the full trial period.

If your APT has dropped noticeably since your Day 1 baseline, the platform is working. If results are not yet visible, the most common reason is alarm volume still below the entry threshold — see Prerequisites & Customer Categories for the minimum thresholds required for reliable gains.

For the full subscription and billing flow, see Subscription Lifecycle — Trial to Paid.

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