Which alarm panel integrates best with HS?

[DLONG2]

Maybe have HS dial to 911 and play a WAV file?

[davidcald]

I'm looking for a way to avoid actually adding more hardware and other components into my security solution. I like the KISS principal and have gotten pretty comfortable with using HS only based security after running it for a good test period. No interfacing to alarm panels required. I understand there are arguments against this but my needs are pretty basic and this so far seems to be working ok. The only real issue is I'd like to interface with a central monitoring service like Alarm Relay, but cant seem to find any solution that would work directly from HS events. These all are meant to be added to an alarm panel unless I've missed something. I'd be happy with internet only comms as my main goal is to get a break on homeowners insurance. It would seem with all the amazing HS plugins developed for interfaces to everything there would be something to send coded messages to a monitoring service. Maybe i'm oversimplifying 🤔.

Anyone know of a solution(s)???

[mulu]

I went with the DSC system because it doesn't depend on any online service. In other words, there are no monthly fees and you don't depend on an internet connection. The biggest issue I have with it is that HomeSeer (@Rupp @rjh) doesn't bother about very basic functionality like being able to trigger when a zone is bypassed/unbypassed. Besides that rather serious issue that HS doesn't care about, the DSC system is rock solid and you will find a lot of help online in case you should need any help.

[DLONG2]

I've been looking at the Qolsys panel and it has some great features. I have read that it can be setup in HS4 as a secondary controller. Does that mean i could use some of these features (GEO fence, arming, disarming, etc) and be able to pass that status back to HS4 to then act on those? I really like the features of this panel and it would certainly fill some holes in Homeseer. Thank you.

I haven't seen where the QolSys panel can communicate with HS, and vice versa. Would be great to be able to get the alarm panel status to HS4. I am guessing the 'secondary' aspect of QolSys might involve the use of a separate z-wave network for controlling lights, etc. It does have the option of geo fencing, but I decided to not use that feature, as my cell phone in anyone's pocket would then become like a door key.

[DLONG2]

I went with the ELK, mainly because of all the built in home automation features and event programming. The ELK lighting, relays, inputs and events still work in case HS crashes or if I (or Windows) really mess up my HS files - yes it has happened more times than I care to remember. I have the ELK touchscreens that Monk posted, but they are small - very unobtrusive, but you have to have good eyesight and no sausage fingers. I primarily use HSTouch as my interface, so the ELK touchscreens are only used for disarming and as a backup control interface.

Ha! Sausage fingers! Never heard the term before.

[mulu]

We have a DSC Powerseries 1864. It's an old fashioned system but it doesn't require any subscription and HS supports it natively (except they STILL Rupp rjh have not fixed the issue that you can't track if a zone is secured or open, plain ridiculous). I our case we don't use the DSC panel. Instead, we have some wall mounted tablets that replace the security panels and the thermostat panels. In addition, if you enter the correct code on the door lock it will automatically disarm the security system.

[IanIreland]

I have a Cytech Comfort II. Initially talking to HS via a plugin but that was limited and the plugin is not going to be developed. Then I moved onto MQTT and it allows two way comms for anything the panel can do. I am now happy!

[WRL]

I just happened across this thread and thought I would add another suggestion for the DSC panel. You can do 16, 32, 48 or 64 zones. I have a 64 zone system covering smoke alarms, heat rise sensors, glass break sensors, motion sensors and of course a lot of door and window sensors. The DSC plugin works very well with homeseer but I don't do any voice activation though I see no reason you couldn't. The control panels are touch screen as well and look good. The downside is that it is a professional system and a bit more complex. I also use the EyesOn module for the DSC panel which gives another way to see status and control the alarm panel. Hope this was helpful.

[balpaugh]

I've been looking at the Qolsys panel and it has some great features. I have read that it can be setup in HS4 as a secondary controller. Does that mean i could use some of these features (GEO fence, arming, disarming, etc) and be able to pass that status back to HS4 to then act on those? I really like the features of this panel and it would certainly fill some holes in Homeseer. Thank you.

[Gadgetman!]

A lot of slightly older(or cheaper) wireless alarm systems actually use 433MHz.
I accidentally added my old Verisure system to my HS3 setup... Yeah, it was that easy to add. '
I still have it listed, with the 'Arm Home - Min', 'Arm Away - Max' amd 'Disable' buttons. Never actually tried if they worked, though.
(Last change is listed as the day I upgraded to a new model)

[taylormia]

"Virtual Goodnight" is a HomeSeer Virtual Device not an Event. Alexa will discover virtual devices. The "Virtual Goodnight" device is used a trigger. When it is turned on with an Alexa voice command, it checks for a condition i.e. if the Alarm is in Ready state....and then performs the actions i.e. turning off lights and arming the Alarm.
Btw, I have stopped using HomeSeer for the last two years and moved to Home Assistant which is so much more powerful....and is free and open source.

[MattMan]

Here's my "Goodnight" Event that uses the Envisalink plugin for our DSC PC-1864 alarm to turn off all lights and monitors and arm the alarm system. The event can be triggered by an Alexa routine by saying "Alexa, Goodnight" which requires the "Homeseer SmartHome" skill.

I had a similar event with HS3. now with HS4 it isn't working. What device are you using for VIRTUAL GOOD NIGHT? Alexa only seems to discover devices and not events, so What device are you controlling from Alexa as Virtual Good night. A switch?

[willride365@gmail.com]

anybody have any updated ideas on integrating a Z-Wave security system into my pie HS4 setup?

[Monk]

The most affordable and easy to integrate would be the DSC. The ElK works equally as well but is on the more expensive side.

Indeed - Elk is more expensive - it does more.

[tenholde]

Followup to my original post. My ultimate objective is to be able to fire off a HS event via Alexa. The event will arm the alarm system, adjust the thermostat for the night, turn off lights, lock the doors. I'm assuming that any alarm system that integrates with HS will be able to be armed via Alexa using a HS event?

I do this easily with ELK and the plugin