What makes WAVE different from traditional VMS platforms?
Most older video management systems ship as separate pieces of software: you install a recording server, then a separate management console, then a separate viewing client — often on different machines. WAVE takes a completely different approach. When you install WAVE, the server and client bundle is only 130MB and installs within minutes — and crucially, it’s a single unified application that handles all three roles simultaneously:
1. Recording Server — Running in the background at all times, the WAVE Media Server process is what actually talks to your cameras, pulls in the video streams, and writes the footage to disk. It runs as a service, meaning it keeps recording even when nobody is sitting at the computer or has the client window open.
2. System Administration / Management Tool — This is where you configure everything: add cameras, manage users and permissions, set recording schedules, activate licenses, configure analytics, and check system health. You access it by right-clicking the Main Menu and selecting System Administration (or pressing Ctrl+Alt+A), which opens a dedicated panel with tabs for devices, users, licenses, storage, and updates — all from within the same application.
3. Viewing Client — The main window you spend most of your time in. The Navigation Panel, Resource Panel, and Timeline Panel work together to let you monitor live feeds, browse recorded footage, and manage layouts, all with a drag-and-drop interface.
How do you switch between them?
You don’t really “switch” in the traditional sense — it’s all one window. The client view (your camera grid and timeline) is always the main screen. When you need to manage the system, you simply open the Main Menu (the hamburger/menu icon in the top corner) and select System Administration. A pop-up dialog appears with tabbed sections covering Licenses, Cameras, Users, Storage, Updates, and more. Close it, and you’re straight back to viewing. The recording server itself never needs to be “opened” — it’s always running silently in the background as a system service.
This unified design means an installer can set up, configure, and verify a system all from a single application without juggling multiple tools — and an end-user operator never needs to touch the administration side at all.
🔗 More info: Wisenet WAVE VMS — Hanwha Vision America
