Chime and Alarm sounds with Ipad running eKeypad

[scottgoodman]

All,

I plan on using 3 iPads, in-wall mounted, throughout my house (door to garage, front door and master bedroom), running eKaypad on all of them. My plan is to connect them to an M1G.

My concern is that I want to have the chime and all typical sounds you get with a normal alarm, and am not sure if the iPad running eKeypad will do so (or will be loud enough, with the iPad speaker installed behind the in-wall cover plate). Does the iPad have enough volume to perform this task?

If not, what Elk item do I need to add to the system to do so?

Thanks

Scott

 

[wuench]

You won't get any of the keypad beeps. You will get all the voice announcements etc that come over your speaker on Output 1, which you can enable/disable on an individual basis. I don't think you'll lose any real functionality sound wise, other than it is nice to beep the keypads instead of have an announcement going out sometimes for subtle alerts and the fact that when some issue occurs the keypads beep continuously until * is pressed while an announcements don't continue indefinitely. So if you don't hear the announcement you may not know something happened without looking at your screens.

I would highly recommend you install at least 1 real keypad somewhere to manage the system.

 

[tmbrown97]

IIRC, you must have at least one real keypad for ElkRMS and eKeypad to "follow".

Another problem I recently discovered - when you get an alert that needs to be cleared with "*", you can't do it from eKeypad - has to be from the physical keypad.

Also of note - with physical keypads, they can each have different function buttons and characteristics - but if you have 3 iPads following a single keypad, they'll all perform exactly the same.

For my own purposes, I planned a different approach - putting keypads right by the front door and garage door and in the master bedroom; with touchscreens in much more central places.

 

[scottgoodman]

ok. plan was to install 1 keypad in a closet by the front door, in case the iPad has some sort of problem.

I am 100% sure I will be disabling the voice announcements.

So there is no way to get a chime/notification noise on the iPad? Just thinking that my son or daughter open the front door, and there is no chime to notify them to disarm the system, without looking at the iPad screen. With our current DSC, the keypad beeps continuously until the system is disarmed, or the alarm then goes off.

 

[ecborgoyn]

I agree with the Work2Play design. Use a couple of hardwired, REAL keypads at the doors for primary security arm/disarm/status/etc. Then use the iPad's for ancillary access. A WiFi linked consumer-grade tablet just doesn't have the 'robustness' of a hardwired, 'for-purpose' keypad.

 

[scottgoodman]

My only issue with this setup, is that I like the idea of having my automation controls at entry/exit points, so I can turn on/off all lights, turn on/off music, adjust temperatures, etc...

I am totally a noob, so maybe I am missing something.

 

[wuench]

You could always file feature requests with the writer of eKeypad to add sound support, he's pretty responsive. There is nothing "native" in the ASCII protocol for sounds, so he would just have to map some sounds to events/control status. Or you could look into other HA software that might be a little more flexible and also work with the M1.

Beeps are a keypad thing. Chimes, alarms and voice announcements come out Output 1 on the speaker. Alarms and troubles also beep the keypads indefinitely until * is pushed. You may want some announcements, it is nice to know what zone is having issues or causing an alarm.

There are also the Elk LCD options which will be a little more integrated, although they may not be as visually appealing as eKeypad. They can control things like lights and HVAC if the you have that connected to the M1. So can the regular keypads but not as easily.

I think you are just going to have to setup an M1 and get eKeypad or other software and see what options suit you before you go mounting stuff. We can tell you how things work but you really need to get your hands on the equipment to see what works best for you.

 

[Jwbarrett]

In ekeypad if you check under manage alerts for each zone you can have it play different sounds depending on what the zone does
Normal,violated,alarm,bypassed,unbypassed this may help with what you want

 

[Del91574]

I agree with the Work2Play design. Use a couple of hardwired, REAL keypads at the doors for primary security arm/disarm/status/etc. Then use the iPad's for ancillary access. A WiFi linked consumer-grade tablet just doesn't have the 'robustness' of a hardwired, 'for-purpose' keypad.

Yep. Also consider if there is a fire alarm or other similar system tied on to the system. Ipads and tablets, while great for GUI's, aren't UL listed for fire alarm or security applications.

 

[tmbrown97]

Good point Jimmy - I completely forgot that feature was added! It'd be a bit much to maintain but at least it exists.

For the OP - I think it comes down to the layout of your house. For instance, I have a square 2-story house; I can leave through the back door, front door, or garage door - but none of those locations are central to the house or areas I'd frequent (maybe near the back door actually if anything since it's by the family room). However, at the base of my stairs is right by the kitchen and right where I'd walk all the time - so right in front of that is where a touchpad makes sense - you see it coming down the stairs or before walking out the front door; it's barely 2 steps out of the way if going out to the garage.

I used to use a table-top control before having kids - it lived on the end table in the livingroom - it was great for lights or temperature.

It just depends on where you think you'll walk to if hitting normal things like adjusting music/temperature.

Another thought too - you don't need to manually adjust temperature and shut off the radio - when I leave my house, I tap the "Away" button on the way out the door. After the countdown timer expires, everything in the house shuts down and the temperature automatically sets back - I don't need to sit and mess with everything first. And if I forget something, I just fire up eKeypad on my phone down the road and fix it.