Recording Options

Use the recording menu to search, watch, export, delete, lock, and unlock recordings. You can also set the storage location and enable the rotation of recordings for unrecognized cameras here.

Smart Search

As you will notice in these screenshots, there is a blue grid overlay on the displayed footage. You are able to point to an area of interest in the picture in order to search for any suspicious movement within. You only have to click on the play button to have the video processed. When anything inside the preselected area is detected, it will be highlighted with a blue square. We would like to point out that although Synology puts an emphasis on the smart search function of Surveillance Station 8, it isn't a new feature since it is also provided in older versions of the app. However, it most likely did receive a significant upgrade with the most current version.

Licence Options

The Camera Licenses menu lists all available licenses. You are able to add new licenses here.

Add-ons

There is an application similar to Synology's Package Center with which you can install various Surveillance Station add-ons. It is a very useful feature because it enhances Surveillance Station's usability by adding to its feature set.

Notifications

You can set up various notifications, including via email and SMS. These notifications can be sent to pre-selected recipients when there is a change to the system's and cameras' status.

Log

A detailed log always comes in handy.

Admin Options

The admin options are depicted above.

Liveview & Various Options

Live View allows you to monitor and control all IP cameras in real time. The Live View Analytics feature even allows you to set up real-time event tracking, which includes the following: motion detection, missing object, foreign object, camera occlusion, focus lost, and no-idle zone. You can even add various alerts through Live View's alert management settings.


Surveillance Station supports optional I/O modules which enhance its surveillance capabilities. You will find the relevant support list here.


There is a dedicated application that provides you with the ability to record and upload audio patterns that can be reproduced by cameras with speakers. A camera can be set to play an audio recording of your choice (e.g. a dog's bark or a siren) once it sees something suspicious.


You are able to upload e-maps of the area of interest.


The provided help app will solve most of your queries.


You can use these options to add users and manage their profiles.

Native Client

The highlight of the Surveillance Station 8 Beta is that you are no longer confined to a browser's window. You can also download and install (or use the portable version) of a native client with exactly the same functionality. Also nice because it gets rid of the resources browsers consume, the result is a snappier interface and a speed boost in Live View and with the timeline.


You have to log into the native client and will afterward be directed to an interface that is similar to that of the browser version of Surveillance Station.


The version of the native client we tried was 1.0.0-0124.


Here are the app's basic options.


The system options allow you to check on the server's details, storage utilization, and an HDD's status, and you have access to network and time settings. You can even upgrade Surveillance Station via the app if an upgrade is available.


Synology provides you with the download links for the native client, for both the installer and its portable versions. You are given the option to pick between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions. You are also able to check on all connected clients and can kill a connection should you want to.

We very much like the idea of a native client since you don't have to deal with any browser compatibility issues and because most browsers nowadays are quite "heavy" on resources. A well-written client app will be snappier while consuming less system resources, which looks to be the case here. We did, however, notice some problems in the form of stalls and freezes while accessing some of the options in the camera configuration menu, which don't seem to be related to the native client but are caused by Surveillance Station directly, since we faced the same problems in Surveillance Station's browser interface. Surveillance Station 8 is still in its beta version, so it is natural for some things not to work as they should. The fact that the new Surveillance Station offers a great deal of functionality you can make use of with even such a budget NAS as the DS416j you've equipped with a number of capably HD IP cameras is great. There is no need to spend a fortune on an incredibly expensive NAS since even a budget NAS can do a decent job in terms of surveillance as long as you don't use it for other taxing tasks while doing so.