AXIS Companion Switch 4CH

AXIS Companion Switch delivers network and power for up to 4 cameras. The switch is used to scale up an AXIS Companion system together with storage on SD cards.

AXIS Companion Switch is pre-configured and does not need to be set up separately.

AXIS Companion Switch can supply up to 4 cameras with PoE. The total amount of power available is 60 W. Each network port supports up to 30 W.

Depending on the power consumption of your cameras you can connect the following combinations:

• 4 x 15 W

• 2 x 30 W

• 1 x 30 W + 2 x 15 W

AXIS Companion is a complete end-to-end surveillance solution designed to meet the requirements of small systems with basic surveillance requirements.

An AXIS Companion solution can consist of:

• AXIS Companion cameras, Axis IP cameras and encoders with firmware 8.40 or higher.

• AXIS Companion recorders.

• Axis system accessories, such as memory cards and switches.

• AXIS Companion software for Windows computers as well as mobile devices and TV streaming devices (iOS and Android).

For video tutorials and web apps, visit axis.com/products/axis-companion/how-it-works

1. Note

   Internet access is required during the system setup.

2. Register a My Axis account

3. Install the hardware

4. Install the desktop app

5. Create a site

6. Install the mobile app

Result of system installation:

• The firmware is upgraded on all Axis devices.

• A password is set for the devices.

• The recordings are enabled with default settings.

• The remote access is enabled.

Register a My Axis account at axis.com/my-axis/login.

To make your My Axis account more secure, activate multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA is a security system that adds another layer of verification to ensure the user’s identity.

1. To activate MFA:

2. Go to axis.com/my-axis/login.

3. Log in with your My Axis credentials.

4. Go to and select Account settings.

5. Click Security settings

6. Click Handle your 2-factor authentication.

7. Enter your My Axis credentials.

8. Choose one of the authentication methods Authenticator App (TOTP) or Email and follow the on-screen instructions.

Illustrated installation guide

1. Install your camera hardware.

2. Connect the recorder to your network via the LAN port.

3. Note

   If you have no recorder, then you need a camera with an SD card if you want to be able to record video.

4. Connect the cameras to the recorder’s integrated PoE switch or an external PoE switch.

5. Connect the computer to the same network as the recorder.

6. Connect the power supply to the recorder.

7. Important

   You must first connect the power cord to the recorder, and then connect the power cord to the power outlet.

8. Wait a few minutes for the recorder and cameras to boot up before proceeding.

1. Go to axis.com/products/axis-companion and click Download to download AXIS Companion Switch 4CH for Windows.

2. Open the setup file and follow the setup assistant.

3. Sign in with your My Axis account.

A site is a single point of entry to a surveillance solution, for example all cameras in a store. You can keep track of several sites through a single My Axis account.

1. Start the AXIS Companion Switch 4CH desktop app.

2. Sign in with your My Axis account.

3. Click Create new site.

4. Name your site and enter your company name.

5. Click Next.

6. Select the devices you want to add to your site.

7. Click Next.

8. Select storage.

9. Click Next.

10. Set tilt orientation, by specifying how the camera is mounted, ceiling, wall or desk.

11. On the Ready to install page, Offline mode and Upgrade firmware are turned on by default. You can turn them off if you don’t want to access offline mode or upgrade your devices to the latest firmware version.

12. Click Install and wait while AXIS Companion Switch 4CH configures the devices.

    The configuration can take several minutes.

With AXIS Companion Switch 4CH mobile app, you can access your devices and recordings from anywhere. You can also get notifications when events occur, or when someone calls from an intercom.

For Android

Click Download or scan the following QR Code®.

For iOS

Click Download or scan the following QR Code.

Open the AXIS Companion Switch 4CH mobile app and log in with your Axis credentials.

If you don’t have a My Axis account, you can go to axis.com/my-axis to register a new account.

QR Code is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Incorporated in Japan and other countries.

1. Sign in to AXIS Companion Switch 4CH on a computer or a mobile device using your My Axis account.

2. Enter the site that contains your devices.

1. Go to

2. Select which camera you want to view.

1. Go to .

2. Use the timeline and calendar to find the recording.

3. Select the camera in the timeline and move the playback marker to the desired time.

4. Note

   When you move the playback marker, the video image is updated continuously. This makes it easy for you to find a specific moment in the recording.

5. Click Play.

1. Go to > .

2. Select start and end times for a recording.

3. Select which devices to save recordings from.

4. To save to a USB drive on an AXIS S30 Series Recorder, select the Save to recorder USB checkbox.

5. Note

   The first partition of your USB device must use an exFAT or NTFS file system.

6. Save the recording.

1. Change the location of your saved recordings:

2. Go to > Settings > File.

3. Change the location under Recordings.

To play a saved recording, open it with AXIS File Player.

When you save a recording, the AXIS File Player will be saved in the same folder. The AXIS File Player has a timeline showing what time the recording was made.

You can validate a recording to confirm that the timestamp and images have not been manipulated after the recording was first saved. For this purpose, a digital signature will be included in the file when you save a recording. You can add a password to the digital signature for increased security.

1. To protect your digital signature with a password when saving a recording:

2. Go to > Settings > File.

3. Under Video format, select Windows Media Format (.asf).

4. Select Show digital signature options when saving recordings.

   Next time you save a recording, the Digital signature window appears, which allows you to select a password for the signature.

1. Validate a recording:

2. Open the saved recording with AXIS File Player.

3. Click Tools and select Verify digital signature.

4. Enter the password, if a password was added to the signature, and click OK.

   A window appears to inform whether or not the recording is valid.

1. Take a snapshot from live view:

2. Go to

3. Click

1. Take a snapshot from recordings:

2. Go to

3. Use the timeline and calendar to find the recording.

4. Select the camera in the timeline and move the playback marker to the desired time.

5. Click to start investigation mode.

6. • Investigation mode allows you to step through the recorded video, frame by frame, to find the exact moment when an incident happened and take a snapshot from that moment.

7. To find the incident, click on the thumbnails to step 30, 15, 5 or 1 frames backward (top panel) or forward (bottom panel). You can also move the slider.

8. When satisfied, click to take a snapshot.

9. • For most cameras the snapshot will contain the entire camera image, regardless of the zoom level. For cameras with a dewarped image, the snapshot will be the zoomed-in image.

1. Change the location of your saved snapshots:

2. Go to > Settings > File.

3. Change the location under Snapshots.

1. Go to > Cameras > Image.

2. Select the camera you want to adjust.

3. You can control the image by adjusting settings like:

• Appearance

• Exposure

• Overlays

• Day & night

• Privacy mask

• Focus & zoom

You can configure the video quality to suit your image quality requirements and bandwidth usage. Video quality settings affect motion recording, continuous recording and the live view.

1. Go to > Cameras > Video quality.

2. Select the camera you want to configure.

3. Edit the Resolution and/or the Frame rate in the high or low profile.

4. Click Apply to save.

When you set up AXIS Companion Switch 4CH system, continuous recording is the recording method that is automatically configured. Continuous recording is most advantageous if you use it together with event notifications based on video motion detection.

1. Send event notifications based on motion detection to your AXIS Companion Switch 4CH desktop app:

2. Go to > Events > Video Motion Detection.

3. Set up a schedule.

4. Under Activation, select the devices you wish to get a notification from.

1. If the motion detection is triggered too often, you can adjust the settings to ignore parts of the view or certain types of events.

2. Go to > Recordings settings > Video motion detection.

3. Select the camera you want to adjust.

4. Select which part of the camera view to include or exclude during motion detection.

5. • Edit the predefined area to include during motion detection.

   • Select Exclude areas and edit the area to exclude from motion detection.

   • Note

     For some camera models you can only add rectangular shapes, and for others you can add polygons.

6. Expand Advanced to adjust the settings of the filters.

7. • Small objects filter: Ignore small objects, such as animals.

   • Swaying objects filter: Ignore objects that only move within a short distance, such as trees or flags that move when it is windy.

   • Note

     The swaying objects filter is not available for all camera models.

   • Short-lived objects filter: Ignore objects that only appear briefly in the image, such as light beams from passing cars or fast-moving shadows.

To turn on event notifications in AXIS Companion Switch 4CH mobile app, see .

If you want to turn off continuous recording and only record when motion is detected, see .

You can make AXIS Companion send a notification to your mobile app when certain types of motion occur in a camera view.

• The motion triggers are based on the following ACAPs:

• AXIS Video Motion Detection

• AXIS Fence Guard

1. Worflow:

2. Make sure the ACAP is activated in your device.

3. In AXIS Companion, go to > Events and select an ACAP.

4. Configure a schedule for when you want to receive notifications.

5. Under Activation, select the cameras you want notifications from.

Receiving notifications on your mobile device:

• Push notifications are sent to your mobile app if you are logged in to your MyAxis account on your mobile.

• When you install the AXIS Companion 4 mobile app, you must accept when prompted with a question if you want to receive notifications. If you want to deactivate the notifications later on, go to the settings of your mobile device, select the AXIS Companion 4 app, and disable the notifications.

1. To turn notifications on or off in the mobile app:

2. Go to > Notifications.

3. Turn Motion detection on or off.

When a notification is sent, it will appear as a popup message on your mobile device. Tap the message to open the playback of the ongoing event.

1. Go to > Users.

2. Click Add....

3. Type an email address and select an access level.

4. Click OK.

5. Note

   If you add a user who doesn’t have a My Axis account, the user will be asked to create an account.

6. The following access levels are available:

7. Administrator	Full access
   Operator	Can access recordings and live view, but can’t make any changes to the site
   Viewer	Can only access live view

If you activate offline mode, you can run AXIS Companion Switch 4CH with limited functionality even if the internet connection temporarily goes down. You will be able to access Live view and Recordings locally without internet connection, but not the Configuration menu to make changes to your site.

To activate offline mode:

1. Go to > Site.

2. Turn on Offline mode.

• What you need:

• AXIS Companion Switch 4CH app installed on your mobile device.

• AXIS Companion Switch 4CH TV app installed from the app store on your Apple TV or Android TV device.

• Your cameras, mobile app and TV app must all be connected to the same local network.

• AppleTV 4 and Nvidia Shield with Android 6 or later.

1. This is how you do it:

2. Open AXIS Companion Switch 4CH mobile app and log in.

3. Go to Devices > and select your external display.

4. Note

   It may take a few seconds before the icon appears.

5. Select the cameras you want to show on your external display.

6. Tap and wait for the configuration to complete.

7. You can view a single camera at a time or create a split view with up to 16 cameras.

8. When AXIS Companion Switch 4CH TV app opens, read the instructions on the screen about how to navigate in the app.

Use corridor format to better utilize the full field of view in a long and narrow space, for example a staircase, hallway, road, or tunnel.

1. Adjust the camera or its lens to a vertical field of view.

2. In AXIS Companion, go to > Cameras.

3. On the row of the camera you want to adjust, click > Image settings.

4. On the Appearance tab, select a suitable angle for Orientation.

5. Click Close.

Add intercoms to your video surveillance system to be able to answer calls from your desktop or mobile app, and to unlock doors.

1. In the AXIS Companion desktop app, go to > Cameras.

2. Click Add devices and add the door station.

   You can now answer the door station with your AXIS Companion desktop app.

1. Connect your desktop app to a door station.

2. Start the AXIS Companion 4 mobile app.

3. Log in to the same MyAxis account as you used for the desktop app.

   You can now answer the door station with your AXIS Companion 4 mobile app.

1. Give other users access to the door station:

2. From the AXIS Companion desktop app, go to > Users.

3. Invite the user to the site.

1. Turn off calls from the door station:

2. In the AXIS Companion 4 mobile app, go to User.

3. Go to Notifications and turn off Door station calls.

1. Connect the device to the recorder’s PoE ports or to an external PoE switch.

2. Go to > Cameras > Overview, > Recorders or > Other devices.

3. Click Add devices.

4. Select the device you want to add to your site.

5. Click Next.

6. Enter a password.

   Use this password to access the web interface of your device or offline mode in AXIS Companion Switch 4CH mobile app.

7. Click Next.

8. Set tilt orientation, by specifying how the camera is mounted, ceiling, wall or desk.

9. On the Ready to install page, Offline mode and Upgrade firmware are turned on by default. You can turn them off if you don’t want to access offline mode or upgrade your devices to the latest firmware version.

10. Click Install and wait while AXIS Companion Switch 4CH configures the device.

    The configuration can take several minutes.

1. Go to > Cameras or > Other devices.

   To remove a recorder, see .

2. Click > Remove next to the device you want to remove.

3. Click OK.

   If the device is connected to a recorder, you need to select if you want to remove the recordings from the recorder.

This device supports SD/SDHC/SDXC cards.

This device supports microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC cards.

This device supports microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC cards (not included). For information about limitations and updates, see the device’s release notes.

For SD card recommendations, see axis.com.

For SD card recommendations, see axiscompanion.com.

SD, SDHC, and SDXC Logos are trademarks of SD-3C LLC. SD, SDHC and SDXC are trademarks or registered trademarks of SD-3C, LLC in the United States, other countries or both.

microSD, microSDHC, and microSDXC Logos are trademarks of SD-3C LLC. microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC are trademarks or registered trademarks of SD-3C, LLC in the United States, other countries or both.

• The control button is used for:

• Enabling the Focus Assistant. Press and very quickly release the Control button.

• Calibrating the speaker test. Press and release the control button and a test tone is played.

• Resetting the product to factory default settings. See .

• Ensuring the camera is level. Press the button for not more than two seconds to start the leveling assistant and press again to stop. The status LED and buzzer signal (see ) assist leveling of the camera. The camera is level when the buzzer beeps continuously.

• Ensuring the camera is level. Press the button for not more than two seconds to start the leveling assistant and press again to stop. The buzzer signal (see Buzzer signal for leveling assistant) assist leveling of the camera. The camera is level when the buzzer beeps continuously.

• Resetting the product to factory default settings. See Hard reset a device or Hard reset a recorder

• Connecting to an AXIS Video Hosting System service. To connect, press and hold the button for about 3 seconds until the status LED flashes green.

• Connecting to a one-click cloud connection (O3C) service over the internet. To connect, press and hold the button for about 3 seconds until the status LED flashes green.

Before you restart, configure or reset your devices, we recommend that you to save a system report.

See Save a system report.

1. Check that your cameras and recorder have power.

2. Check that you are connected to the internet.

3. Check that the network is working.

4. Check that the cameras are connected to the same network as the computer, unless you are remote.

5. Still not working?

6. Make sure that your cameras, recorder and AXIS Companion desktop app have the latest firmware and software updates.

   See Upgrade firmware.

7. Restart the AXIS Companion desktop app.

8. Restart you cameras and recorder.

9. Still not working?

10. Make a hard reset on the cameras and the recorder, to completely put them back to factory default settings.

    See Hard reset a device.

    See Hard reset a recorder.

11. Add the reset cameras to your site again.

12. Still not working?

13. Update your graphics card with the latest drivers.

14. Still not working?

15. Save a system report and contact Axis technical support.

    See Save a system report.

New firmware updates bring you to the latest and improved set of features, functions, and security enhancements.

1. Go to the leader device’s web interface.

2. Go to Maintenance > Firmware upgrade and click Upgrade.

3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

1. In AXIS Companion, go to and Cameras.

2. Click and then select Factory default.

3. Follow the Factory default wizard to complete the task.

1. Select the device you want to hard reset and remove it from the site.

   See Remove a device from your site.

2. Disconnect the power from the device.

3. Press and hold the control button on the device, and then reconnect the power.

   Keep the control button pressed for 15–30 seconds until the status LED indicator flashes amber.

4. Release the control button.

   The process is complete when the status LED indicator turns green.

   The product has now been reset to the factory default settings.

5. Add the device to the site again.

   See Add a device to your site.

1. Switch off the recorder:

   Press the power button on the front of the recorder for 4-5 seconds until you hear a beep.

2. Wait until the recorder is switched off, then turn it over to access the control button.

3. Press and hold the control button. Press and release the power button to start the recorder. Release the control button after 15-30 seconds when the LED indicator flashes amber.

4. Carefully put the recorder back in its place.

5. The process is complete when the status LED indicator turns green. The product has been reset to the factory default settings. If no DHCP server is available on the network, the default IP address is 192.168.0.90

6. Reset your devices connected to the recorder.

   See Hard reset a device.

7. If your hard drive is encrypted, it must be mounted manually after the recorder is reset:

8. 1. Go to the device’s web interface.

   2. Go to System > Storage and click Mount.

   3. Enter the encryption password used when encrypting the hard drive.

1. In AXIS Companion Switch 4CH, go to > Save system report.

2. When you register a new case at Axis Helpdesk, attach the system report.