Timezones

TetherX uses timezones at multiple levels to ensure timestamps are accurate and meaningful for your site. Understanding how these work helps you configure your system correctly.

 User Timezone

Each user has their own timezone setting that controls how dates and times are displayed throughout the platform.

Setting Your Timezone

1. Click your profile icon in the top-right corner
2. Find the Timezone dropdown in your profile settings
3. Select your local timezone
4. Click Update User

What It Affects

• Event timestamps - Times shown on events, recordings, and audit logs
• Time of day filters - When you filter events by "Morning", "Afternoon", etc., these are based on your timezone
• Date displays - All dates throughout the platform

 TetherBox Timezone

Each TetherBox has its own timezone setting that determines how it interprets and stores event times.

Setting the TetherBox Timezone

1. Go to Admin → TetherBoxes and select your unit
2. Open the Settings tab
3. Find the Timezone dropdown
4. Select the timezone for the TetherBox's physical location
5. Click Save

What It Affects

• Camera schedules - A camera takes its timezone from its TetherBox, and reads its recording schedule and its notification schedule in it. "18:00 until 08:00" is the evening where the camera is installed.
• Monitored hours - not set here. A site reads its monitored hours in the site's own timezone, which is set on the site. See Site Timezone below.
• Event storage - Events are tagged with the local time at the TetherBox location
• Camera time sync - Connected cameras are synchronised to the TetherBox timezone
• Timelapse organisation - Timelapse images are grouped by local time

 Site Timezone

Each site carries a timezone of its own, and it is the clock the site's schedule is read in. A site can hold more than one TetherBox, so these hours belong to the place rather than to any single unit.

Setting the Site Timezone

1. Go to Admin → Sites and open the site
2. On the details card, below the what3words address, find Time Zone
3. Select the timezone of the site's physical location
4. Click Apply

The line under the control gives the current local time at the site, so you can check your choice against the clock on the wall there. The New Site form carries the same Time Zone field, so a site starts on its own clock rather than being corrected afterwards.

What It Affects

• Monitored hours - the weekly pattern is read on this clock. "18:00 until 09:00" is the evening where the site stands, not where you are reading it
• Dates that replace the pattern - a bank holiday or a shutdown week runs over the site's local days
• The times the schedule reports back - when a message says monitoring ends or resumes, that time is the site's local time, whichever timezone you are reading it in

The line above the weekly pattern names the zone those rules are being read in, so check it there before setting the hours.

 Time of Day Filtering

When filtering events by time of day (Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night, Business Hours), TetherX uses your user timezone to determine what counts as "morning" etc.

Example

If you're in London (GMT) and filter for "Morning" events:

• You'll see events that occurred between 06:00-11:59 GMT
• A TetherBox in New York will show events from 06:00-11:59 GMT (which is 01:00-06:59 local New York time)

This means the filter shows events based on when they happened relative to your timezone, not the TetherBox's location.

 Managing Multiple Timezones

If you manage TetherBoxes across different timezones:

1. Set each TetherBox timezone correctly - This ensures schedules and camera sync work properly for each location

2. Set each site timezone correctly - The site's monitored hours and the dates that replace them are read on it

3. Choose your user timezone - This affects how you view all timestamps. Most users set this to their own location

4. Use date/time filters carefully - Remember that time filters use your timezone, not the TetherBox's

Best Practices

 Time Synchronisation

TetherBoxes keep accurate time through multiple mechanisms and synchronise connected cameras automatically. See TetherBox Time Synchronisation for details on:

• NTP synchronisation with TetherX Cloud
• VPN fallback for restricted networks
• Hardware clock modules
• Camera time sync

 Troubleshooting

Event times appear wrong:

• Check your user timezone is set correctly
• Verify the TetherBox timezone matches its physical location
• Remember: times are displayed in your timezone, not the TetherBox's

Camera timestamps don't match TetherBox:

• Camera time sync runs once daily - changes may take up to 24 hours
• Ensure the camera is accessible via ONVIF or native API
• See Camera Time Synchronisation

Schedule not working at expected times:

• A camera's recording schedule uses the camera's timezone, taken from its TetherBox, and a site's monitored hours use the site's timezone. Neither uses your user timezone
• Verify the TetherBox timezone is correct for its location
• Verify the site timezone is correct for its location: open the site and check the Time Zone control on its details card
• Read the zone named above the rules on the schedule you are editing, which is the one those times are in

Time of day filter shows unexpected events:

• Remember: filters use your user timezone
• A "Morning" event at a remote TetherBox may not be morning in your timezone