If you saw Anthony Hizon's post last week, you may have been wondering about that new device he was teasing in the video. Is it a new sensor? What does it do for sustainability and power? Well, wonder no more! We're pleased to announce the new MT40 smart power controller.        Monitor, Measure, and Control    MT40 is an in-line AC wall-powered smart power controller. It connects upstream of the device it's monitoring, in-line with its power supply. MT40 allows user to remotely manage power for the connected device, and monitors and measures several power metrics, including: Voltage (V) Current (A) Apparent power (VA) Real power (W) AC frequency (H) Power factor (a measure of energy efficiency as a %) Energy (kWh) MT40 samples data every 15 seconds, and sends data to the dashboard every 20 minutes or immediately upon threshold violation. Like the rest of the MT portfolio, MT40 uses a compatible MR or MV gateway to wireless connect to the dashboard via Bluetooth®️ Low Energy.   Alerting, troubleshooting, and optimizing energy consumption   So what is MT40 used for, you ask? A lot! Most use cases fall into three categories: alerting, remote troubleshooting, and energy optimization and sustainability.   Alerts can be configured to notify you of anomalous power readings, as irregular power usage can be a sign of improper device configuration or impending device failure. Alerts can also help you identify potential power outages to enable a more efficient response to reduce downtime and impact of lost power From the dashboard, you can remotely reboot devices with the power cycle command. This helps eliminate the need to go on site, or having to rely on non-technical employees to locate and reboot a device that needs troubleshooting. MT40 helps monitor, evaluate and optimize energy usage across devices by benchmarking energy consumption and measuring the effect of sustainability initiatives to reduce energy. MT40 can also be used to turn off devices when they are not needed to further cut energy use.     Get the power in your hands   The new MT40 is available today. We'd love to hear what you think, and how you might use it in your organization! Visit our website to learn more and request a free trial, or dig into the details by checking out the datasheet. If you're headed to Cisco Live in Las Vegas next month, be sure to sign up for BRKNWT-2303 to learn how Meraki MT sensors can help you fast track sustainability and improve operations, and stop by the World of Solutions Showcase for a demo.    ... View more

In a perfect world, video investigations are easy. You know approximately when and where something happened, and it all happened in one spot. So you can simply go to that camera in the Vision portal, use Motion Search, select the area of interest and the approximate time, and you’re done. (Ok, I know. In a perfect world, there wouldn’t be a need for video investigations, but stay with me here!)   Unfortunately, such a utopia does not exist. So we’re left to search across multiple cameras individually to track down answers and piece together an event. Not ideal, but fortunately, there’s a better way!  We have a newly released feature available in the Early Access Program that allows you to search across multiple cameras at one time, Event Search. Event Search allows you to find and track an individual involved in an incident, or a vehicle involved in an accident, across cameras in your network.   With Event Search, you can dynamically select up to 4 cameras from a network to search at one time. Users can select a unique region of interest for each camera, and define search parameters for time as well as event length, and filter for events with people or vehicles. Just as with regular Motion Search, results will be displayed as Motion Recap images and users can scroll through results to find events of interest. Selecting an individual result allows you to go into detail, watching the video clip, exporting it, or downloading the Motion Recap image. If searching multiple days (up to 3 is possible), users can use the drop down at the top to load results for the next day.  To learn more about Event Search, and get started using it, check out the documentation article. Have you already used Event Search on your cameras? If so, please let us know what you think. Your feedback helps us make the Vision portal even better!  ... View more

The new polygon selection tool for motion-based retention areas increases control that admins have when selecting an area of interest. Users can to select the precise area of a doorway, hallway, or even an entire staircase. This precise selection allows organizations the a better ability to exclude adjacent areas that do not contain motion of interest, potentially extending the storage duration for important video.      The new polygon tool can be found by going to "Settings" for the desired camera, then selecting "Quality and retention" and scrolling down "Motion-based retention." When motion-based retention is enabled, you can click and drag on the video tile to select the area of interest. Multiple polygons can be added to create more complex shapes, or select multiple parts of the frame.  To learn more about the new polygon tool, check out the post in the Smart Cameras Forum, or refer to the Meraki documentation.  ... View more

Motionless video is boring to watch, consumes precious time when investigating incidents, and requires a significant amount of storage to retain. To combat these issues, Meraki MV smart cameras offer motion-based retention. With motion-based retention, the cameras retain continuous recording for the previous 72 hours, after which video containing no motion is discarded.    However, not all motion is important or relevant to the business. As a way to increase retention and avoid irrelevant motion, camera administrators can define custom areas of interest such that MV only records motion in a defined area.    In the past, these areas of interest were limited to rectangular shape. While this worked for many applications, like a door, it didn't work so well for others.   Introducing custom polygon-shaped areas of interest! To optimize the motion-based retention, we are excited to announce that all MV cameras now support custom-shaped areas of interest. Camera administrators can draw custom polygon shapes to define specific areas where they would like to record motion.   For example, polygon-shaped areas of interest can be used to capture a section of a doorway or select a specifc area where staff is.        For the adventurous types, polygon-shaped areas of interest can be used to capture the perfect video of wildlife in your backyard 🦌 (if it enters your perfectly shaped area of interest, of course!)   Customers that have already defined an area of interest with the rectangular tool for motion-based retention, the selection will be preserved. However, any changes or edits will need to be redrawn with the polygon tool.     Please note that the polgyon tool is only available for motion-based retention at this time, not other features that enable motion selection, like motion search and motion alerts.    For more information, please refer to the Meraki documentation. ... View more

Available now, Meraki Display is a new Apple TV app for live streaming video walls, now available on the Apple App Store. Meraki Display is a powerful, easy-to-use solution for dedicated video wall monitoring. Alongside the Vision portal and the Meraki mobile app, Meraki Display is another tool for organizations to help ensure safety and security. Meraki Display offers an effortless, plug-and-play installation that allows organizations to deploy video walls without a dedicated PC. The compact form factor of Apple TV and the cloud-first Meraki platform delivers a secure and scalable solution that can be used for a variety of applications, including: 24/7 surveillance from a security control room or back office Active monitoring at reception areas or front desks Deterring unlawful behavior by mounting in public places, like entrances and exit   To get started, simply download and install the Meraki Display app from the Apple TV app store, and log in to your Meraki account with your user name and password. You can navigate between organizations and networks, and select a video wall to start viewing. (Video walls must be created either in the Meraki dashboard or the Meraki Vision portal.)   Meraki Display offers a 30 day free trial when downloading the app, making it easy for organizations to try out. After the trial period, a Meraki Display license is required for each Apple TV installation.  To learn more about Meraki Display, check out the post in the Smart Camera forum, or visit the following articles: Introduction Licensing Hardware guide   ... View more

We are excited to officially announce Meraki Display, a new Apple TV app for live streaming video walls, now available on the Apple App Store. Meraki Display is a simple, dedicated video wall monitoring solution. Alongside the Vision portal and the Meraki mobile app, Meraki Display is another tool for security teams to keep facilities safe.   Where can I use Meraki Display? Meraki Display offers an effortless, plug-and-play installation that allows organizations to deploy video walls without a dedicated PC. The compact form factor of Apple TV and the cloud-first Meraki platform delivers a secure and scalable solution that can be used for a variety of applications, including: 24/7 surveillance from a security control room or back office Active monitoring at reception areas or front desks Deterring unlawful behavior by mounting in public areas, like entrances and exits   Want to get started? Download the app to start your 30 day trial. After 30 days, you can purchase the Meraki Display license (LIC-DISPLAY-XY, where X = 1, 3, or 5).   What if I was part of the public beta? If you are part of the Meraki Display beta, you will still have access to the program until April 19, 2023. Additionally, new installs from the app store are eligible for the 30 day trial.    To learn more about Meraki Display, please visit the following articles: Introduction Licensing Hardware guide ... View more

New updates to the Meraki Vision portal are now available. They are designed to improve navigation and make it easer to find cameras of interest. Changes include: Ability to change organizations within the Vision portal under the top-right user icon   Ability to hover over camera in camera list to show details, including associated tags and model number     Various performance and stability improvements to video playback on the video wall   If the new changes aren't visible to you in the Vision portal, you may need to update your version. Click on the "What's New" icon in the top right of the navigation to view your version, and update to the latest.    The Vision portal can be access directly by going to vision.meraki.com or through the dashboard by going to "Cameras", then selecting "Vision portal". For more information on the Vision portal, please refer to the "Using the Meraki Vision Portal" documentation article. ... View more

We've added new functionality to the Meraki Vision portal. Launched in November 2021, the Vision portal is an experience dedicated to camera viewing and investigations. You can navigate to it by visiting vision.meraki.com or by clicking on the Meraki Vision link under "Cameras" on the Meraki Dashboard.   With the latest updates, you can now zoom into an individual camera while viewing it on a video wall - making an end-to-end investigation much easier! The Vision portal video wall has other enhancements over video walls in the dashboard, including the ability to view full bitrate quality cameras, and export from multiple cameras at once.      Full list of changes are in the Meraki Vision Changelog on our documentation site. Read more about the Meraki Vision portal here as well. ... View more

MV 4.16 beta is now available for MV smart cameras. The new firmware includes updates to: MQTT: renamed desk occupancy MQTT timestamp field to "ts" to align with other message types Object detection: improved accuracy of object detection and performance within zones Motion Recap: improved performance of Motion Recap image generation General stability and performance improvements   You can see your current firmware version by going to Organization > Firmware. To configure your network to try beta firmware, go to Network > Configure > General > Firmware upgrades. To learn more about firmware upgrades, please see documentation.    ... View more

We're excited to announce new functionality for on-the-go users in the Meraki mobile app. It's now even easier to search video using the timeline scrubber. Working alongside skip forward/backward, adjustable playback speeds and motion search, the new timeline scrubber makes it easier than ever to browse and find the video footage you're looking for.    To use this feature, simply tap on the timeline icon above the motion events grid to switch to timeline view. From there, you can: Scrub up and down the timeline Tap on “Go Live” to access live feed Tap on a motion recap thumbnail to start watching from the beginning of that motion event .      Check out the new timeline and let us know what you think! Remember, you can make a wish from the app via Settings > Make a wish. The PM and Engineering teams thank you for your continuous feedback.  ... View more

We have another new update to share today -- occupancy analytics is now available on MV32 cameras with MV Sense. Occupancy analytics includes desk and person detection, with detection coordinates and data updated by the minute to provide a real-time view of office occupancy, historical occupancy data, and desk and meeting room level data.   This new functionality helps address customer challenges to managing office space occupancy safely. It can be used to provide real-time visibility into desk and meeting room availability, as well as answer long-term planning questions, like:  How much office space do we need? How many desks and meeting rooms do we need? What will occupancy be during a “normal” work week? How does it work? Occupancy analytics uses a machine learning model trained to detect desks and people within the camera's field of view. The camera identifies desks, and can determine if there is a person sitting or standing at the desk. The anonymous data is sent over MQTT.      Occupancy analytics can be enabled on MV32 cameras in the “Sense” settings by selecting the  “Desk Occupancy” option from the Object Detection Model dropdown. If MV sense is not already in use on the camera, then you will also need to enable the Sense API and configure the MQTT broker to send occupancy data to. You can learn more about occupancy analytics, including planning requirements, camera coverage, and best practices in our documentation.    ... View more

MV32 now supports occupancy analytics with MV Sense. Occupancy analytics includes desk and person detection, with detection coordinates and data updated by the minute, providing organizations with a real-time view of office occupancy and historical occupancy data, down to the desk and meeting room level.      Occupancy analytics can be enabled on MV32 cameras in the “Sense” settings by selecting the  “Desk Occupancy” option from the Object Detection Model dropdown. If MV sense is not already in use on the camera, then you will also need to enable the Sense API and configure the MQTT broker to send occupancy data to. You can learn more about occupancy analytics, including planning requirements, camera coverage, and best practices in our documentation.    ... View more

The MV team is excited to share some updates with you all today, including our all new MV52 outdoor bullet camera, and the newly out-of-beta Vision portal.  MV52 is an exciting addition to our outdoor camera range, featuring 4k video resolution, an ultra-long-range telephoto lens with a12°-37° degree horizontal FoV, high powered IR illuminators, and 1TB of storage on board. This allows MV52 to deliver the enhanced detail needed to monitor roadways, capture license plates, secure perimeters and open areas, and create safe environments. Also debuting today is the newly updated Meraki Vision portal, with a dedicated login at vision.meraki.com. The new login allows camera-users to access the portal directly, instead of navigating through the dashboard. To make it even easier, Vision portal is available as a downloadable progressive web app (now with its own app icon!). We've added some new features to make it even easier to use, including:  Camera field of view on floorplan to improve navigation between cameras New motion search functionality to more quickly find and review activity Expanded export capabilities, including video wall exports, a global exports page, and a “combine exports” feature to aid in sharing video     You can learn more about today's new announcements by checking out the blog. If you're interested in more details, check out the MV52 on our website, or dive right into with our  Vision portal  documentation.    As always, we'd love to hear what you think. Where do you see MV52 fitting in your organization? Do you like the new updates to the Vision portal? Let us know below! You can also submit feedback about the Vision portal directly, using the feedback option on the top right of the screen.                ... View more

Meraki Vision portal general availability, dedicated login and feature updates   The Meraki Vision portal, the dedicated camera-viewing interface, is now out of beta with a dedicated log in screen, and new features.  User can navigate to vision.meraki.com to log in directly to the Vision portal.     New capabilities include:  Camera field of view on floorplan to improve navigation between cameras New motion search functionality to more quickly find and review activity Expanded export capabilities, including video wall exports, a global exports page, and a “combine exports” feature to aid in sharing video.    For more information about the Vision portal, please refer to the Using the Meraki Vision Portal documentation article. ... View more

Exciting update today for those of you using the Meraki mobile app! (And if you aren't, I highly encourage you to check it out!) We have a new version of the Meraki mobile app, 4.16.0, now available in public beta. If you haven’t already, sign up for the beta here! New Features: Dark mode has arrived: choose your side or let your system preference do it for you. Digital zoom: now it’s possible to zoom in and pan to your target of interest when investigating an incident with MV. Just pinch and drag Adjust video playback speed: you can now speed up or slow down footage! Quickly export video on mobile: users with permission can now export and share footage (up to 1 hour long). Past exports can be found in Settings > Exports.   New Camera-Only Admin Features: The Camera grid is here! Swap between list or grid layout from the homepage. Grid layout has thumbnails which helps to find the right camera view.   Camera grid Exporting video Dark mode   Sign up for the beta here and start using the new mobile app today. We'd love to know what you think. What new features do you want to see next? ... View more

The frame rate for the 20 fps setting is being increased to 24 fps. This affects the “high” video quality setting option available with 1080P video, and the change in frame rate will not affect the bitrate. MV cameras configured with profiles using the 20 fps option will be updated automatically, but may see a brief disruption in recording as the fps is updated.    For MV cameras configured with 24 fps without a profile, a manual toggle of the video quality setting will be required in order for the 24 fps setting to take effect.    For more information on video quality settings, please see MV documentation. ... View more

The Meraki Vision portal version 0.1.3 is now available. New updates and changes include: Adds searchability to the camera list Adds audio with audio on button for video footage from cameras with audio enabled Adds tag visibility (pictured below) Camera tags are now visible in the Vision portal   The Vision portal can be accessed by navigating to Cameras> Monitor> Meraki Vision portal. Please refer to the documentation for more information. ... View more

Several months ago, we released role-based camera permissions, allowing organizations to use SAML/SSO to create camera user roles. With this new update, SAML users can now have multiple camera roles applied to them, as well as a single Network or Organization Amin role. This allows you to simplify your deployment of SAML/SSO by combining the roles that matter most for each user.    This means that if you have a role for Security and a role for Facilities, you don’t have to create a third role to combine the two for a user that is a part of both. Simply assign that user both roles in their SAML role attribute and they will inherit the most permissive rights from each role.   Similarly, Network Administrators can have access to the Meraki Networks with their networking appliances while also having camera viewing permissions for select MDF/IDF cameras inside of your video security Network.   We’re excited to bring these additional capabilities to our users to improve, simplify, and secure the management of camera permissions across a variety of locations and user personas. We would love to hear what you think!   For information on configuring camera roles, please see the Restricting Access to Cameras article in documentation. ... View more