Virtual Keypad

Alarm panel manufacturers like Honeywell and DSC, plus some solutions providers offer very slick looking Virtual Keypads that allow you to arm and disarm your alarm panel from the Internet. While they may look sophisticated, you have to remember that all they do at the end of the day is turn your alarm system on and off remotely.

As our IP communication devices do not link into the Keypad wiring, we had to find a universal method of providing the same functionality. This was achieved by taking advantage of a special Zone Type called Keyswitch Arm which is available on a large number of alarm panels. Use *56 Menu mode to program the keyswitch zone and assign it zone type 77 in Ademco Vista 21ip panels. Here is an overview of how we can provide a generic Virtual Keypad from our IP Communicators:

Diginet & ED8

The Diginet and ED8 IP Communicators have a number of digital outputs that can easily be connected into the zone wiring of a zone programmed as Maintained Keyswitch Arm. Both devices have the built-in ability to allow outputs to be triggered from a web page. We added this functionality into our universal Remote Keypad and not only can users arm and disarm their system remotely, they can switch up to 15 other devices on and off too.

DSC T-Link

As the DSC T-Link connects into the Keypad wiring, it provides us with the ability to remotely arm and disarm DSC panels from the universal Remote Keypad in our Virtual Monitoring Platform.

Linksys Solution

Linksys devices connect into the onboard modem and do not have the luxury of digital outputs or keypad wiring to interface with alarm panels. This does not mean that we cannot arm & disarm panels through the Linksys devices, it just means that we need the assistance of an add-on module like this one... http://www.electronics123.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2667/.f

It is a telephone ring detector with a relay. When you press the Arm/Disarm button on our Virtual Keypad, the Virtual Monitoring server makes a brief call to the Linksys device which causes it to ring. The relay connects into the Momentary Keyswitch Arm zone wiring and changes state when ringing is detected. Momentary violation of this type of zone will alternately arm/disarm the partition that the zone is assigned to.

The Linksys also provides our subscribers with the ability to arm and disarm their alarm panel over the Internet if they were already able to do it over a landline using a Remote Arm feature. This is usually provided by an add-on telephone or home automation module like the Escort for DSC panels or VB2 for Linear panels. It is available as standard in panels like the ESP Infinite, Lasershield and Micron Meridian 64.

In summary, our universal Virtual Keypad may not look exactly like your "real" keypad, but it gets the job done.