Comfort Alarm System

  Current version 2.1.0

 

This plug-in is an interface between the Homeseer home automation software and the Comfort Alarm system manufactured by Cytech Technologies and is distributed by Comfort Home Controls in the UK. www.Comfort.org.uk.

 

It allows Homeseer to receive commands issued by Comfort via either the Serial or Ethernet UCM and action events/scripts as required. Devices are created in Homeseer to represent all the various zones and status items that Comfort reports including full image support for  these. These items are fully configurable so you only have the items you want i.e. you are not forced to have 250 counters when you only intend to use 5.

It has in-built support for logging certain zones like the Door Bell and Phone so rather than just knowing for instance that you missed “x” number of calls whilst you were out, you can see when at what time each one occurred.

To try and keep things as secure as possible the web interface presented by Homeseer has been kept as purely one way just displaying the zones/status items and not allowing control. Homeseer actions are present to perform some minor commands on Comfort but for total control the plug-in exposes routines that can be used by events or scripts. Some are specialised like arming commands that remove the need for login codes to be visible externally but there is also the general purpose “Transmit” routine that allows you to send any command from the RS232 documentation.

It includes full support for bypassing of the input zones with the zone device displaying a warning image whilst they are bypassed.

Due to changes that occurred when Homeseer version 2.0 was released this plug-in will not support previous versions of Homeseer. Although my live system is still using HS2.0.2041 I have HS2.1.88 on my test system and other users have switched to HS2.1 and the plug-in is still functioning correctly

 

At present the plug-in is written in Borland Delphi as a win32 standalone application, so it runs in its own thread along side Homeseer which should keep both systems more reliable. The interface to the Serial/Ethernet UCM connection to Comfort is also handled directly rather than through Homeseer (HS).

 

Key features:-

  • Supports both Comfort I and the latest Comfort II panels.
  • Variable number of zones for each zone type.
  • Supports Inputs, Outputs, Counters and RIO zones.
  • Full support for zone images and custom on/off values.
  • User selectable status zones.
  • Choice of connection via Serial or Ethernet UCM.
  • Sending commands to Comfort is optional for greater security.
  • Monitoring of the connection to Comfort, with automatic re-connection attempts.
  • Devices to mirror the keypad LED's or simulate if your UCM does not support this command.
  • Exit checker to notify if arming fails.
  • Inbuilt user names list for more friendly messages.
  • Ability to automatically use multiple house codes when devices exceed 99.
  • Initial setup can be done by reading the Comfort CCL configuration file to obtain zone names.
  • Transmit function to allow sending to Comfort via HS scripts.
  • Counter zones allow setting of Min/Max values, with triggers when exceeded.
  • In excess of 24 triggers and 12 actions available for HS Events.
  • Support for conditions in HS events.
  • Battery replacement monitoring with regular reminder triggers.
  • Logging of Phone Rings and Doorbell to file with in built function to retrieve lists.
  • Inbuilt support for running HS event when Alarm mode changes based on previous mode and which user actioned the change.
  • Testing routine allows sending commands to control Comfort or simulate commands from Comfort to the plug-in with the commands selected from a list.
  • Full logging support for possible fault tracking.
  • Support for bypassing of zones with visual notification on device.
  • Ability to synchronise the Comfort clock with the PC clock.
  • Support for Comfort's Open Zones notification with simple retrieval of zone names for HS announcements etc.
  • Supports both HS2.0 and HS2.1.

     

    Good news! As from the 10th July 2006 this plug-in is available from the HomeSeer Updater and has it's own dedicated support forum on the Homeseer message board.

Screen shots

Comfort Screenshots    Comfort Configuration Pages