Why is my Avigilon ACC/Unity LPR watch list CSV import failing?
Answered by ANPR AI·Sourced
Short answer
Avigilon Unity and ACC require a very specific CSV formatting structure to successfully import a database of watch list plates. The most common cause of complete import failure is omitting the mandatory "Minimum Confidence" column, which tells the VMS how strict the OCR match must be before triggering a security rule.
Explanation
When importing large databases of authorized or blacklisted license plates into Avigilon's Video Management System, the software maps the CSV columns directly to its internal event database rules. Because Optical Character Recognition is inherently probabilistic and rarely 100% perfect due to environmental dirt, weather, or sharp camera angles, Avigilon requires a confidence threshold for every single plate.
If a plate is read by the camera as "ABC1234" but the algorithm is only 80% confident in that reading, the system must mathematically know whether that partial match warrants triggering the barrier gate or firing a high-priority alarm. If the uploaded CSV file lacks the specific column defining this threshold, the entire import is rejected by the system because the alarm logic cannot be established. Unity supports up to 2 million plates per list, making bulk import formatting critical.
Things to check
- Open the CSV file in a raw text editor (like Notepad) to ensure there are no hidden formatting artifacts, commas, or corrupted headers generated by Excel.
- Verify the column headers exactly match Avigilon's required schema, checking for typos in the word "Confidence".
What to do
Open your CSV file and add a new column titled exactly "Minimum Confidence", as required by your specific version of ACC or Unity. Populate this column with a numerical percentage value (e.g., 50 or 75) for every row. To guarantee the formatting is perfect for your specific software build, it is highly recommended to manually add a single test plate to the Avigilon Watch List via the graphic interface, export that list as a CSV file, and then use that exported file as a flawless template for pasting in the rest of your external database.
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