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Modern video surveillance goes beyond simple event recording. Thanks to computer vision, contemporary systems offer advanced capabilities for more tasks than just security – from automating operations to improving efficiency. However, projects requiring video surveillance quite often have specific business needs along with unique circumstances and conditions that generic surveillance with rigid rules fails to meet. Luckily, there are video surveillance solutions, where creating custom video surveillance workflows is possible, which helps users get a system tailored to their needs – and not the other way around. Xeoma video surveillance software is one of such solutions, and in this article we will explore Xeoma’s capabilities for creating custom video surveillance workflows.

What is a workflow

Now, according to Wikipedia a workflow is repeatable patterns of activity, enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information. In video surveillance, a workflow is a sequence of automated actions triggered by specific events or rules. The more flexible these scenarios are, the better they adapt to user needs. Creating fully customized workflows, tailored to unique situations, is a key benefit of video surveillance solutions in today’s world.

What are key components of a workflow in video surveillance

Since a workflow in video surveillance is a scenario where your system detects something – an object or an event – and triggers a needed reaction, then the core components naturally are:

Trigger: what should cause the system to trigger?

Condition: when must the system trigger?

Action: what result is expected?

A basic example is intrusion detection: when a video surveillance system detects movement within its camera’s field of view, it not only starts recording but also launches notifications and other ‘Alert!’ actions to help mitigate potential damage from a breach. Video surveillance software varies significantly in the conditions it can monitor, the responses it can trigger, and circumstances it can work in. Therefore, selecting software that offers maximum flexibility is crucial.

What are examples of custom workflows:

There can be various types of workflows, specific to a goal or an industry they will server a purpose in. Here are several example of how one can create custom workflows in video surveillance:

We have already mentioned intrusion detection in this article. It’s a trivial example of perimeter security – have the system detect movement in the monitored zone in off hours and notify management or security officers about such incidents.

However, to illustrate the power of truly custom workflows, we’ll share a user case we call ‘Preclusive Areas’. One Xeoma user had two cameras: one perfectly positioned to look at a house’s potential entry points, as security professionals advise. The only downside was that it was also prone to catching headlights from passing cars and therefore triggering false alarms. To address this, the user employed a second camera as a reference—checking if movement was genuine before triggering an alert. This approach, using a ‘preclusive area’ reference, helped them achieve reliable video security monitoring without frequent false alarms that would otherwise be keeping them up at night.
Read the case here

State-of-the-art video surveillance is a powerful tool for work time tracking and attendance monitoring. By using an intelligent face recognition module, you can create a workflow to automatically record employee clock-in and clock-out times. Face Recognizer can be trained to remember employees by their face, so when a worker appears before cameras for the first or last time a day, this information can be saved for later use. Read more in our article

Combined with access control automation, this system can function as an automated gatekeeper, allowing authorized personnel (employees and service workers) access while denying entry to unauthorized individuals or those on a blacklist.

Besides attendance tracking, custom video surveillance workflows can be created in Xeoma for a wide range of applications. These include monitoring employee activity, such as identifying excessive idling time. Depending on what the signs of someone idling in your environment are, Xeoma offers versatile solutions:

Restaurant Clients Counter: this module gathers statistics on table occupancy in cafes or restaurants. With this information, management can get an idea of how busy their establishment is during rush hours. It can also be used to know if there are no people in at some streaks of time and maybe reconsider marketing strategies or train workers to do other tasks.

Crowd Detector: this module can tell whether there are not enough people in camera sight. This allows retail store managers to promptly be alerted if there are no consultants ready to help customers in the room.

Loitering Detector: this module identifies individuals or groups remaining in a designated area for extended periods – for example, around a water cooler. This allows managers to track if workers spend too much time idling.

Thanks to its flexibility, Xeoma allows for creation of even more specific custom workflows:

Unique Visitors Counting: this feature inside the Face Recognition module is a multi-purpose feature that can be used in terms of employee monitoring for tracking how many times a nurse checks on a patient in a day.

Text Recognition: this module can both transcribe phone calls and check for specific words or phrases inside someone’s speech so it can be used to track whether a call center worker follows the script and treats callers professionally.

Detector of Construction Site Safety: this module detects whether personnel in camera sight are wearing required safety gear, thus ensuring safety protocols and aiding in compliance with health and safety regulations.

While perimeter security focuses on detecting breaches, video surveillance can significantly enhance other security tasks, particularly through automation. For example, access control automation leverages video cameras to replace or supplement human guards checking passes.

Face recognition technology enables cameras at checkpoints to identify individuals requesting access. By comparing facial features to a database, the system can automatically grant access – such as unlocking a digital lock or rotating a turnstile.

License plate recognition similarly automates vehicle access control. Cameras recognize license plates of incoming vehicles and can automatically open gate barriers for authorized entries. As a custom workflow modification, Beyond simple access, this module can be integrated into the overall process management ecosystem. For example, when a supplier vehicle is detected, the system can automatically gather information regarding the designated loading dock and display it on a screen for the driver to see.

Parking space management: The Parking Spots module allows users to define virtual spaces within a camera’s view and monitor their occupancy. This module can be a valuable component of a comprehensive parking lot solution. When combined with License Plate Recognition, it can also be integrated with parking ticketing machines to streamline access and payment processes.

Video surveillance isn’t limited to security alerts; it’s a powerful tool for gathering data and driving business improvements. Xeoma’s flexible workflows enable a range of custom goals:

VIP Recognition: Xeoma’s Face Recognition technology goes beyond access control. Businesses can use it to identify VIP clients, allowing management to be alerted and provide personalized service.

Customer satisfaction monitoring: Even without constant on-site observation, Emotion Recognition can analyze facial expressions to detect 7 human emotions, providing valuable data on customer satisfaction with service.

Queue management: Utilize the Crowd Detector to receive alerts when queues form, enabling proactive measures like opening additional checkout stations or deploying more staff to reduce wait times.

Shopping behavior analysis: Gain insights into shopping patterns with the Heatmap feature – a visual representation of area popularity – allowing retail managers to optimize product placement and promote key items.

Converting interest into action: Xeoma’s AI features offer remarkable interconnectivity, enabling the creation of custom workflows for highly specific tasks. For example, the Loitering Detector can identify customers who are observing merchandise for an extended period, indicating potential interest. By integrating this observation with the store’s media system, targeted promotional ads can be displayed on nearby screens, effectively converting potential customers into buyers.

Industry-specific custom workflows with Xeoma:

Xeoma’s flexibility enables powerful, tailored workflows across various industries. Here’s how customized surveillance can address unique challenges and unlock new efficient strategies:

Regular video surveillance application in retail helps fight break-ins and shoplifting, thus contributing to loss prevention. However, with custom video surveillance workflows your system can achieve more goals like:

Price tag reading: Reading price tags to make sure the displayed products match the price tag. Xeoma offers a module called Text Recognition for that.

Shelf monitoring: Control of empty shelves to get an alert when you need to restock. Xeoma offers a module called Detector of Abandoned Objects for that.

Customer behavior analysis: Getting to know what attracts customers to use this information to promote priority goods or to adjust assortment. Xeoma offers a module called Eye Tracking and a feature Heatmap for that.

Customer demographics: Knowing your customer – for example, demographics information – to adjust what and how you offer accordingly. Xeoma offers modules called Age Recognizer, Gender Recognition for that.

Campaign performance tracking: Gathering statistics on how well ad campaigns perform, for example, by counting new customers visiting your place of business. Xeoma offers a feature called ‘Unique Visitors Counting’ for that.

Besides perimeter security, a manufacturing business faces lots of threats. Custom workflows help fight them tailored to unique circumstances:

Production line monitoring: Xeoma surveillance has tools to instantly detect if a production line stopped working – from Motion Detector that will react to absence of movement to Sound Detector that will react to absence of sound.

Quality control: Text Recognition can read laser dying on produce and detect if words are misspelled or missing. QR Code Recognition can check if the produce moving on conveyor belt has a barcode. Smart training can help train AI to catch other, specific types of flaws too.

Safety and compliance: Smoke Detector will detect if there are signs of a fire or smoke. Detector of Construction Site Safety will check if workers wear required safety uniform.

Patient safety monitoring: Xeoma’s Slip and Fall Detector can detect if a person falls down and send an instant notification so that immediate help can be dispatched. Color Detector can react to a specific color so it can detect appearance of blood in camera sight. Sound Events Detector can detect a scream or glass break sounds. Besides, the Sound Detector can detect, for example, if a heart rate monitor stopped beeping, which may signalize of a power outage or a patient disconnecting sensors.

Medical regulations compliance: Xeoma offers mask detection so that you get an alert if there are people detected in an operation room not wearing medical masks. Besides, smart AI features can be trained to see if there are redundant (often unsterile) objects in an operation room that must not be there. Stricter access to limited-access areas like drug storage can also be organized with Xeoma’s FaceID module combined with the Smart Card Reader module for double authorization.

Custom goals: AI can be trained to recognize pattern of behavior, too – for example, to check if a doctor has washed their hands. But besides that, Xeoma team often relesses other innovations – like the Heart-Rate Monitor module (currently in the work-in-progress state) that can read a person’s heartrate from a distance with nothing else but a camera pointed at the patient’s body.

With its 100 features and unprecedented flexibility, Xeoma offers a variety of solutions based on specific goals and conditions – including in the demanding environment of healthcare, retail, hospitality, production, construction, and others.

In conclusion:

Customizable workflows are the new standard in video surveillance, enabling businesses to tailor solutions to their specific needs. This flexibility ensures that unique goals can be met and integrated into existing infrastructure. Xeoma video surveillance software offers over 100 features, including 30+ AI-powered video analytics, providing users with precisely the tools they require.

August 14, 2025

Read also:
Video surveillance for business and major systems
Healthcare solutions with Xeoma
Video Surveillance In Retail As Marketing And Sales Tool
Construction site video monitoring system (VMS)
Surveillance in industrial enterprises
Video surveillance in banks
Streamlining your business with video surveillance