Having been bless to be given the opportunity to be a beta tester for many companies including my employer over the years, I've seen there are always nuances to the various "creations" of manufacturers.
Most have something in common though; they produce at a minimum of "what exists" and try to make it better to get a competitive edge. Leviton seems to not be doing that with the OmniPro which seems out of character. At another company, that would grounds for termination from whomever is in charge, for those in charge that lack ambition and for those without the foresight who are running such a lackadaisical division. This is a fact at most any business. Could you imagine producing a product, let's say a television that is only black and white with a firmware update to later bring sound to the tv?
As you may have seen in another of my posts, I've had issues with the lack of common "modern" features with the OmniPro. While I've been preaching my whole life the idea of easy to use easy to program automation, I would expect to see better products than the notifier, especially given Leviton's reputation for quality and modernism in their other product lines. Granted, HAI had a great idea and didn't take it as far as Leviton can, but I am so surprised by the lack of ideas that are forthcoming I often look at other manufacturer's just to self annoy myself at Leviton's lack of vision.
Case in point - the OmniPro has serial ports and already has an Ethernet port. The notifier through the serial port can send data "to" the OmniPro to sync time with a network time server (NTP) and the notifier can send emails for events but "not" through the OmniPro's Ethernet port. As a beta tester, this idea would have been balked at by all of the beta testers. We would have said something like, "hey. the OmniPro already has an Ethernet port, so why can we not update time directly through the existing Ethernet port, or if for example development responded the OmniPro has no on-board clock signal (electronic oscillator), then the beta testers would have asked about an NTP function of the notifier to update through the existing Ethernet port.
We would have rejected this product out of the gate for other reasons too, while certainly would have welcomed the idea to see Leviton add an old dated idea - using email for communications. Now, when you consider that many alarms system have had for over a decade had the ability to interface directly to an optional GSM module (cell phone technology for those that don't know), as a beta tester, suggested for "improvement" would have been to offer built-in SMS technology on the notifier board, since SMS text messages are a very popular form of notification. This isn't new science, this is older proven technology, so little to no risk.
Additionally, many older GSM modules supported two-way communication. Can you imagine what could be done with two-way communication. That's better than using a walkie-talkie to communicate.
As example, I commonly reference Visonic's optional GSM unit for their alarm system. Visonic's GSM module is very very old technology from I believe over 10 years ago, but surprisingly, supports two-way SMS notification on old outdated security systems. It also supported voice call in and call out notification and communication. It sold at a very reasonable price back in the day too. Visonic's system could call you, tell you what alarm was occurring, allowed you to establish two-way communication through it's speaker system, both personal or from the alarm company calling. It could also call the police or fire dept. directly and provide them your address and what part of the house or building was on fire/intruder alarmed. It could also send you text messages letting you know what event had occurred, what exact sensor was reporting, etc... While you could also call into the unit to establish communication, more importantly, as a leading feature, you could text the Visonic to arm the system, disarm, check status (it would reply to your text message as example), etc... Today we use apps to access features of various home and building systems, but for some, isn't simple truly remarkable?
Today, the OmniPro canNOT do that.
The dependence on email for text messages is OK, but very dated and yes, I too am happy to see this functionality, but why didn't that happen years ago.
The OmniPro should be able, at a minimum, to equal all the technology that already exists today - so as a beta tester, I would ask why are we dependent on an external email server, why do we have to have dual Ethernet connections just to support email and time, and why does the notifier board not have an additional serial port on the board since it has to take up an existing serial port that are available in limited numbers.
The lack of DHCP vs Static IP is another common feature of most any network based technology. It would seem all the beta testers for Leviton have limited experience with common technologies, otherwise, they would have mandated that feature before it was ever released for sale. The same is true of NTP - many businesses and home owners rely on specific time servers. As billions of computer owners know, not all time servers work as well as others and having the ability to assign multiple ones IS very important, especially for those that care about security and don't allow this type of outside network access. Again, an experienced beta tester would have dinged this along with all the other rants here. Supressing multiple events that are the same is another common feature beta testers would have identified as a required improvement.
Physically, a beta tester would have asked what the buttons do and what the power port is for. The manufacturer would have included a warning that the power port was for manufacturing use only. Frankly, Leviton should have used header pins to avoid DIYers that would try connecting power to what appeared to be a power jack. Same goes for the buttons - computer motherboards use header pins with a jumper to reset, so what purpose do buttons that won't be pressed have for being on the board and would add to manufacturing expenses. Similarly, the audio board and notifier board should be combined to save room and to provide communications - email, text, and audio. Why are installers having to guess on how to install this in units with more than one expander? Beta testers would have identified this need for instructions and alternative mounting locations and/or accessories.
Technologically, the notifier would never have made it out the door with the dated technology it provides without modern day features, but that said, updated by serial when you already have a second Ethernet port in use - seriously - beta testers would have complained on that one for weeks. Big updates equal large durations of time with the device out of service and requires no glitches during all that time. That's just asking for trouble and for an installer, means telling the customer that you'll be there longer than you thought and you'll have to cancel appointments all day long so you can wait or I'll be back later wasting time driving around to every location twice. No two-way communication means having no ability to remotely address the OmniPro through email, which seems like it would have been a cool feature request that most beta testers would have noted. Lastly, the inability to update email addresses through a console or touchscreen is crazy. I'm sorry but as an installer or dealer it would make my customers mad if every time they changed email addresses or wanted to use an additional email address they would have to call for service and it could become an obnoxious perhaps even costly task if you get requests for such every week, especially since it would make sense to offer email updates at no charge to keep customers happy.
Now that said, all we can hope is that Leviton will listen to the public, who seems to be their beta testers, and give us dealers and consumers what we need and what other manufacturers do. There are many more improvements needed that I didn't go into on the Notifier Board, but this hopefully will get some ideas going for any OmniPro developer reading this forum.
As a side note, I have two engineering degrees and a degree in welding (i know it's a bit of a strange mix) and so I don't just complain, I like to help, and I know how to help. I run the technology side of a large corporation and still like to get my hands dirty playing with tech toys. Sometimes I feel that the only way to help a manufacturer is to drive sentiment towards some goal. While I don't advocate terminating anyone's employment without some opportunity to improve, I believe that things need to change in this particular division of Leviton. Leviton has the ability to become the foremost authority on all things home automated, and their development will cause other manufacturers to push forward even harder so that in the end, we all benefit. Someday we'll all have Star Trek doors - they make more sense than traditional doors anyway.
So I have a question; how many on this forum are beta testers for Leviton and what other features did you ask for in the Notifier Board that don't exist today? :horse:
