How does facial recognition work in a VMS?

The VMS detects faces in the live video, compares each one with the identities on your lists and creates an event when there's a match. With Mirasys, that event can trigger an alarm, bring the camera up for the operator and be searched later in Spotter.

Can I add face recognition to my existing CCTV cameras?

In most cases, yes. Smart FR uses video from standard IP cameras connected over ONVIF or manufacturer drivers. What matters is the view: faces need to be visible, large enough in the image and evenly lit.

How does Smart FR avoid duplicate alerts?

It tracks each face for as long as the person stays in view, so it reports one recognition event per person instead of one per frame. It can handle up to 20 faces in a single video stream at the same time.

Is facial recognition allowed under GDPR?

It can be, but the bar is high. Face recognition uses biometric data, a special category under GDPR, so you need a specific legal basis, a defined purpose, a retention period and usually a data protection impact assessment. Mirasys keeps identity data on your own servers in Europe, with per-user access rights and audit trails.

Do I need separate software for facial recognition?

No. Smart FR is built into Mirasys VMS as part of Mirasys AI. Watchlists, matches and alarms are handled in Spotter, the same client your operators use for live and recorded video.

Can I keep using another face recognition engine?

Yes. Events from cameras with built-in analytics come in over ONVIF Profile M and native drivers, and third-party analytics such as VCA connect to the same platform. Use them on their own or next to Smart FR.

Facial Recognition Software for VMS

THE PROBLEM

Nobody can memorise a watchlist and watch forty screens at the same time.

Your operators keep printed photos by the monitors and hope to spot a familiar face in a crowd. When something happens, someone spends the afternoon going back through recordings to work out when a person arrived and which way they went.

Video facial recognition takes that job off their hands. The VMS finds each face on camera, compares it with the people you have listed, and flags a match the moment it happens. Because Mirasys runs it inside the VMS, the alert opens with the live camera and the recording already attached.

Where face recognition helps:

Watchlist alerts

A barred or flagged person is reported as soon as a camera sees them.

Confirm at a glance

The stored identity photo appears beside the face from the camera.

Crowded doorways

One video stream can pick up to 20 faces out of a group.

Post-incident search

Look up recognition events instead of replaying hours of footage.

HOW IT WORKS

Four steps from a face on camera to an alert on screen.

Smart FR works on video from the IP cameras already on your network. Each result shows up in Spotter, the Mirasys VMS operator client, where your team already works.

See

An IP camera covers the doorway or gate. Mirasys connects to it over ONVIF or the manufacturer's own driver.

Track

Every face in view is detected and followed as the person moves, so a single visit stays a single event.

Compare

The face is checked against your watchlists and known identities, kept and edited in the VMS.

Alert

A match raises an alarm and brings the camera up for the operator. The event is saved with both images and the video.

SMART FR

What Smart FR gives your operators.

Smart FR belongs to Mirasys AI, the deep-learning analytics we develop ourselves. Recent releases focused on accuracy and fewer false alarms in real, crowded sites.

One event per person

Face tracking is combined with recognition, so someone standing in view doesn't fire a new alert every second. Fewer false positives, no duplicates.

Up to 20 faces per stream

Groups arriving together are handled in one pass. Useful at entrances, turnstiles and lobbies.

Watchlists and known identities

Create and maintain identity lists in System Manager or straight from Spotter Smart List Management.

Photo quality score

Each identity photo is scored for face image quality when you add it. Photos that are too small or unclear are kept out of matching.

Two images, one decision

The alert shows the identity's default photo and the exact face that matched, side by side for the operator to compare.

Searchable history

Every recognition is listed in Spotter Smart Recognition and Smart Search, one click away from the recorded video.

Identity import

Upgrading from an older Mirasys system? Your existing identities come across, so the lists are ready from day one.

No special cameras

Runs on ordinary IP cameras connected over ONVIF or native drivers. Often there's nothing new to mount at the entrance.

Part of the full suite

Run it next to Smart LPR, Smart OR and Person Search without adding another system.

OPEN BY DESIGN

Already have face analytics? Bring them along.

Mirasys doesn't force a single recognition engine on you. Mix camera analytics, our own engine and specialist software on the same platform.

Analytics on the camera

Cameras from Axis, Bosch, Hanwha and others that analyse video themselves pass their events to Mirasys through ONVIF Profile M or native drivers.

Smart FR from Mirasys

Our deep-learning face engine, running on video from your existing cameras, with identities and alarms kept in the VMS.

Specialist engines

Connect third-party analytics such as VCA and keep the tools your team has already invested in.

ONVIF Profile M

Native camera drivers

VCA analytics

Access control

8,000+ camera models

EXPERIENCE

Built for sites where it matters who walks in.

Mirasys runs in banks, casinos, airports and hospitals. These are the places facial recognition earns its keep.

Casinos & Gaming

Spot barred and self-excluded guests on the gaming floor before they sit down at a table.

Retail

Get warned when a known repeat offender comes back, and trace their earlier visits across stores.

Banks & Finance

Watchlist checks at branch entrances, plus a clear record of who visited and when.

Airports & Critical sites

Monitor busy entry points and restricted zones where many people pass the camera at once.

CAMERA PLACEMENT

Where you put the camera decides how well it recognises.

Most entrances can use the camera that's already there. A few placement basics make the difference. Book a demo and we'll go through your current views and point out the ones ready for face recognition.

Height

Keep the camera low enough to see faces, not the tops of heads.

Resolution on the face

The further away and the wider the doorway, the tighter the lens needs to be.

Lighting

Avoid strong light behind people, like a bright glass entrance at midday.

Walking direction

Point the camera where people walk towards it, such as doors, gates and corridors.

SECURITY & COMPLIANCE

Built for the regulations you answer to.

Surveillance data is among the most sensitive you hold. Mirasys is engineered so security and compliance are built into the platform and not bolted on afterwards.

Data sovereignty

Your footage stays under European jurisdiction.

Encryption end to end

Stream and communication encryption protects your video.

Privacy by design

Built-in privacy filtering and full audit trails keep you GDPR-compliant.

2FA & LDAP

Enterprise access control with two-factor authentication and LDAP synchronization.

FAQ

Facial recognition FAQ.

THE PLATFORM

Faces, plates and objects in one VMS.

Smart FR is one of three recognition tools in Mirasys AI. All of them share the same cameras, the same operators and the same recordings.

Smart LPR

License-plate recognition for access control, traffic enforcement and fast vehicle search across sites.

Learn more about license plate recognition →

Smart FR

Facial recognition with fewer false positives and no duplicate detections for the same face.

Explore all AI & Analytics →

Smart OR

More precise detection of objects, people and vehicles, with fewer false alarms even in busy environments.

Learn more about object recognition →

Facial recognition software that knows who is on your watchlist. Built into your VMS.