Re-arming alarm after alarm condition

[automateme]

My Elk installation is now complete, and I am testing it over a few weeks before I connect it to the central station. I want to make certain that I do not get any false alarms as a result of our little dog. Sure enough, the little critter managed to trip the "pet immune" motion detector.

 

From my cell phone, I was able to disarm the Elk via the ISY-99, but I was not able to re-arm it. What I found was that upon a burglar alarm condition, you can disarm the alarm, but you are required to put in your code into a keypad so that the Elk can say "Alarm Acknowledged" After that acknowledgement, the alarm can once again be armed. I was wondering if there was a way to acknowledge an alarm remotely through the ISY-99.

 

As I type this, I'm not sure if it is a good idea to be able to acknowledge an alarm remotely so that it can once again be armed. This was a case where I knew exactly why the alarm went off, and I just wanted to turn it off and back on again.

[Michel Kohanim]

automateme,

 

Very interesting ... I think we would have to consult with ELK to see whether or not this is possible or even advisable. I'll forward it to our contact in ELK.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

My Elk installation is now complete, and I am testing it over a few weeks before I connect it to the central station. I want to make certain that I do not get any false alarms as a result of our little dog. Sure enough, the little critter managed to trip the "pet immune" motion detector.

 

From my cell phone, I was able to disarm the Elk via the ISY-99, but I was not able to re-arm it. What I found was that upon a burglar alarm condition, you can disarm the alarm, but you are required to put in your code into a keypad so that the Elk can say "Alarm Acknowledged" After that acknowledgement, the alarm can once again be armed. I was wondering if there was a way to acknowledge an alarm remotely through the ISY-99.

 

As I type this, I'm not sure if it is a good idea to be able to acknowledge an alarm remotely so that it can once again be armed. This was a case where I knew exactly why the alarm went off, and I just wanted to turn it off and back on again.

[dlamb]

automateme,

 

As you have found out, once the ELK-M1G has been disarmed following an burglar alarm, the current firmware requires the entry of a user code to clear the alarm memory. It is to make the user aware that there had been an alarm during the previous arming cycle.

 

To simplify the procedure, we have recently made a change to allow the "star" key to clear the alarm memory following an alarm once the M1G has been disarmed. It is Elk's plan to release the new firmware one day this week.

 

I'll have to discuss this with Universal Devices and see if they will want to add a method which will allow you to send the M1G the user code or a "star" key response following the disarm code entry from the ISY-99. When I have more information I'll post a reply.

 

Regards,

Don Lamb

ELK Products, Inc.

[automateme]

Thanks Don. This ability would probably be very handy during system testing after an installation. I am still wondering how useful it would be on a system that is fully operational, where a burglar alarm condition was a real event.