DSC integration and iVera

Apps & Remote Access Unmaintained
#1

Hello

I’m looking to move into a new house and starting with a blank canvas.

Thinking about z-wave and Vera for the home automation

Also keen to get an alarm system which can be integrated.

I’m looking at getting a dsc alarm wanted to check some of the functionality

Once connected to Vera can you see which sensor has tripped an alarm?

Also can you arm/disarm and see the status from ivera?

Hoping this is all simple stuff

Cheers

#2

Hi

It’s been a while since you posted this but I too am now looking at replacing my alarm panel to allow integration with Vera / z-wave.

Did you have any luck with the integration of a DSC panel? If so did it work OK with iVera?

We use iVera heavily and would like to be able to get an alarm panel that we could arm/disarm and have a quick glance at the status of the panel without having to log into the full client / Vera.

I would be happy to hear any experiences (good or otherwise) you have had :slight_smile:

Cheers

#3

Not sure if the alarm panels are supported with iVera. The app has not been developed in some time and I have a feeling it will not receive any new updates. It looks like the developer abandoned the app.

  • Garrett
#4

[quote=“garrettwp, post:3, topic:169461”]Not sure if the alarm panels are supported with iVera. The app has not been developed in some time and I have a feeling it will not receive any new updates. It looks like the developer abandoned the app.

  • Garrett[/quote]

That’s what I was afraid of :frowning:

Would you know of any other good apps that are compatible with the DSC panels / any alarm panel?

It would be good if someone was able to take over developing the app as it wasn’t cheap (25 bucks) and we use it a fair bit.

#5

Look into Automator.app and Homewave. Both developers are active on the forum.

  • Garrett
#6

[quote=“garrettwp, post:5, topic:169461”]Look into Automator.app and Homewave. Both developers are active on the forum.

  • Garrett[/quote]

Thanks, will check them out

#7

In iVera, you’ll be able to see the individual sensors (i.e. zones), as they are (represented by) standard devices. But you won’t be able to see the parent devices (i.e. partitions).

So no full support. And unlikely it will be added, as @garrettwp indicated.

#8

[quote=“oTi@, post:7, topic:169461”]In iVera, you’ll be able to see the individual sensors (i.e. zones), as they are (represented by) standard devices. But you won’t be able to see the parent devices (i.e. partitions).

So no full support. And unlikely it will be added, as @garrettwp indicated.[/quote]

Thanks for the info, I could handle that limited support if it also allowed you to arm or disarm via the iVera app too. Do you ow if it allows this?

Although unlikely to be used alot I would just prefer if it could all be done with the one UI.

#9

Not out of the box. Perhaps your best bet is Automator.app.

#10

[quote=“garrettwp, post:3, topic:169461”]Not sure if the alarm panels are supported with iVera. The app has not been developed in some time and I have a feeling it will not receive any new updates. It looks like the developer abandoned the app.

  • Garrett[/quote]

Appears further development of the iVera app is back on track :slight_smile:

A new beta has been released to us beta testers with new features and bug fixes.

#11

I’d kind of given up hope of iVera being developed further so started using Homewave. Its kind of like in this extended beta phase (much like siri!) but seems to do what i want it to.

I’m using a DSC along with my vera and it does work great. As mentioned before, each of the sensors appear in homewave but the actual partition does not.

I created 3 scenes on vera to do what i wanted:
1 scene was to activate the alarm in Stay mode
1 Scene was to Activate the alarm in Away mode
1 Scene was to Deactivate the Alarm.

These were mapped to Scene buttons in Homewave. Fairly straightforward. Now i wanted to have a function where i could see the status of the alarm, but as Homewave doesn’t support the Partition status, had to think a bit more out of the box.

For this to work, you need to have a virtual switch.

I created 2 scenes in Vera. First scene checks the status of the Partition and if Alarm is Active, sets the virtual switch to “On”. The second scene does the same thing, but checks if the alarm is inactive and sets the switch to Off.

I have then got this switch at a button in Homewave. So at a glance i can see if the alarm is active or inactive and then am able to Stay Arm, Away Arm or disarm the system. The virtual switch does take time on Homewave to catch up (2-4 seconds) but it works. Not pretty but does what i want it to.

Hopefully support will be extended to alarm panels in these apps.

any questions give me a shout and i’ll share some advice and screenshots with you.