Smartcom

[H8.IP]

Hi Everyone 

I have just got back into doing Domestic Alarms it’s been 10 years since I have been in the domestic sector Boy have things changed ! Gone it would seem are the days of Redcares and Digi’s

So having installed a Smartcom with the APP on a customers IPAD I found it notifies of setting and unsettling engineer logon e.t.c from the top of the screen when the apps closed but gives no kind of notification when the alarms actually set of this I thought would be the entire purpose of the APP ! Texecom don’t seem to show this as a feature on their demo videos it all seem to be about switching lights on and silly stuff like that

Has anyone else experienced this ?

Is the APP meant to do this ?

Or Is there in true texecom style some weird irrelevant hidden setting somewhere on a back submenu ?

If the App is open the icons all flash but as I said if the app is closed you will have no idea your alarm is going off. I thought I had cracked it by setting up a “recipe” - recipe !! Recipe for disaster if you ask me, I digress sorry , so I setup a cause “IF these Zones activate when fully armed & site is in. Alarm “ then effect is “send a push notification and an email “ however I gather it doesn’t quite work like that and the purpose of this recipe function is turn on the dehumidifier or toaster when system is unset or whatever silly thing like that

If I had designed this sort of APP I would have a setting like “App always runs in background” and when an Intruder signal and in turn a confirmed signal is sent from the panel a great big red flashing  bell icon with a loud siren sound pops up saying “Home alarm activated” . This is the expectation of customers as they are opting for these APPs on their phones rather than paying monitoring fees to ARC,s to call them to if you ask me you can’t beat proper ARC monitoring. 

... So any ideas guys ?

 

[sixwheeledbeast]

You can select the type of alarms that are notified in the reporting options, open/closed is disabled on default so digis, diallers and tap don't rack up huge bills.

I have said this many times before, Texecom menu structure has evolved over a long time and often has many ways to do the same thing. The menus make sense to installers that have used them everyday and definitely aren't irrelevant.

 

Apps for the two popular platforms have to conform to guidelines on battery life, always running in the background would consume the devices battery very quickly.

In addition the phones OS generally disables inactive windows if the app is written to use this, which is why you can have loads of things open on your phone an have no issues.

The way round this battery issue is the push notifications but even they are one way so no guarantees you will receive the message therefore will never beat proper signalling.

[sjsturner]

As above ^^

its in “UDL options”, “program Digi” under “Reports”

you select and de-select the reporting types from there

Edited December 9, 2017 by sjsturner
******* auto correct

[H8.IP]

Thanks Sjturner and six wheeled beast  I will try those things

Tho it still seems odd to me that notifications of connecting to the server , arming and disarming come through when the app is minimised seemingly by default but not when there is an alarm condition , the app recieves something because the icons all flash if youve got the app open then you can hit green padlock (disarm). All I want it to do is for it to use whatever trigger makes the icons flash to flag up a notification this must be a hole in the apps software for this not too happen. I’m no programmer but surely the coding would be like “if site is alarm = flash icons + trigger a notification text = “Alarm activated zone 1” (panel will send which zone triggered). At the moment the + trigger notification seems not within the apps software Capability

can you see where I am coming from ?

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by H8.IP
Got names wrong

[sjsturner]

Sorry, to clarify you are getting pop ups for Set/Unset  engineer Access.

 

but if you create an intruder Alarm event you get nothing?

after doing this and you unset/reset the system do you then get the unset message?

[H8.IP]

Yes I get something like “site just been disarmed” or “Engineer access (the time)”  so if it can send those why can’t is send something like “site alarm activated”.

[sjsturner]

It will do, it just hasn’t been selected, in the options we referred to earlier...

 

[H8.IP]

Ok that would make sense if I was using A digi like the old days but the smartcom works through the Com port 1 and 2 and it’s all IP moduling and There’s no mention of needing to change these settings.

..Sorry mate I’ve always struggled with Texecom even years ago

[PeterJames]

 If the house is worth burglaring I would still be recommending that the system goes through to an ARC you cant rely on the app. People switch off their phone, go places where there is no signal, leave their phone at home, in the car, at their friends, they go places where they cant hear their phones, and all sorts. At least the ARC operator will call the Police if its a confirmed intruder.   

[norman]

Agreed, but only if it has a URN...