Frequently asked questions

No. Sentinel runs on your own Windows PC and works without the internet. Nothing is sent out unless you turn on a feature that needs it, such as automatic updates or weather alerts. If the internet drops, recording, live view and S.I. keep working.

No. S.I. detection runs on the Sentinel PC itself, on its processor, with no cloud calls. Your video stays on site.

S.I. detection is a tool, not a guarantee. It can miss things and it can flag things that aren't there, so every alert links to the video for a person to check. Weapon detection is assistive only, and small, hidden or night-time weapons are often missed. Plate and barcode reading need a camera placed and focused for the job.

Sentinel works with all major camera brands. It has native drivers for many brands, uses ONVIF for most other cameras, and can take a plain RTSP stream as a last resort. Most brand drivers were built from each maker's published documentation and haven't all been tested on real hardware yet, so tell us your camera models before you buy and we'll tell you honestly where they stand.

No. Today's Windows installer runs S.I. on the processor and doesn't use a graphics card. See the requirements for processor sizes.

Systems come in sizes of 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 cameras. Our measured 8-camera reference PC (6-core Ryzen 5 5600G) runs comfortably. Specs for 16 cameras and up are estimated and not yet tested at that size; larger systems need a bigger PC, and we size those per site.

On the Sentinel PC's drives, for 30 days by default. Retention is set per site on the Sites & Compliance page, and older footage is cleaned up automatically. New cameras record on motion by default, with Continuous and Off as options and a weekly schedule per camera.

Yes. Open /m on your Sentinel address for the phone version. Away from the site, set up Remote Access. Never forward port 8000 on your router.

No. Sentinel runs in any current browser with no plugins, ActiveX or extra programs.

Face recognition is off by default and follows your site's state privacy preset. An admin can turn it on only where the preset allows it. Every face enrollment and search is recorded in the Audit log.

Sentinel installs signed updates from J&J Technical Services by itself during your maintenance window (3:00 AM by default), backs up its database first and rolls back on its own if the new version doesn't start correctly. See Updates.

Only from J&J Technical Services. Call (254) 978-5534. See Your license key for how to enter it.

Spots in a camera's picture that S.I. ignores, such as a flag or a busy road, so they stop raising false alerts. The camera still records them, and weapon and safety alerts are never masked. See Masked Areas.

A Preview feature, off by default, for sky-facing cameras. It tags aircraft, drones, unknown moving lights, meteors and Starlink-style satellite trains. It's identification help only and may miss or mislabel objects.

Yes. Camera and NVR password rotation (Patent Pending) changes each device's password automatically on a schedule you pick, shows the status of every device and keeps an audit you can export. See Account and camera password security.

In development A Linux version is being built. Today Sentinel installs on Windows.

In development A separate edition limited to a vetted brand list chosen by J&J Technical Services, with planned air-gapped operation. It isn't for sale yet. See the security overview.

J&J Sentinel™ is Patent Pending.

Call Sentinel support at (254) 978-5534, email jamey@jandjtechserv.com, or send a message from the Sentinel page. A person on our team answers.