Zone Followers

[Lumpy]

I purchased my unit within the last year. I had access to multiple followers and now I'm limited to 1?

The whole point of me purchasing was to be able to self monitor my system. I only used followers for critical doors & windows.

Kinda sucks now. Useless really with 1 zone follower.

[Carter56]

Envisalerts - Allows for multiple zone followers. Only one is allowed on the basic service.

I would like to follow 3 zones which are bedroom doors. I am requesting that the term "multiple" be expressed in more detail. What is the maximum # of followers? OR is this more dependent on how often a zone is used?

Thanks,

[GrandWizard]

You can enable all of your zones as zone followers with the Envisalerts+ service. Not sure why as if you're trying to log access there are better options.

[BK553]

I think people are frustrated because there are no good alternatives. Many people (including myself) bought this system to replace a monitoring company, and keep a close eye on homes and property. To this end, envisalink works okay. But the trend in almost every other product is cloud based interactions (Nest Thermostat, home automation etc.) with an app and push notifications.

The frustrating part is there is no mobile app that is supported by your company, so notifications (which is what people wanted) come only when an alarm is tripped. You're right, it's exactly what we would have if we had monitoring, but people wanted more functionality than they had before, not the equal amount.

You have an awesome piece of hardware, but you guys really need to think about the software side. Telling someone to "monitor the TPI" locally and log it is beyond what many people want to do. I have a hacky, not very secure mobile app I had to make myself with Tasker on android just to be able to arm/disarm easily. even then, it only works on wifi, and was a pain in the ass to program.

Using push notification to a mobile app would be basically free (for you and the user), and you guys have no reason not to. Web apps and text messages aren't going to cut it anymore for most people anymore.

[GrandWizard]

Hi BK553, please read the Envisalink primer as I think you are missing the majority if the Envisalink's features. Here's a link to it below.

http://www.eyezon.com/?page_id=469

[Pestus]

BK553,

Not to start an argument, but if you are looking to replace a monitoring company with this, and you are having problems with either the features they offer, or how hard it is to get what you need from it, please consider that these folks offer this cloud service for free. Most other interactive service providers in this industry charge large monthly fees for similar functionality.

Being an alarm and security service provider myself, I can categorically say that this is an apples vs oranges sort of issue when talking about real monitoring. If you have very good attentiveness to your cell phones, and you have multiple people receiving these notifications, it comes close, but isn't quite the same. This device is best used as an adjunct to real monitoring, not as a replacement for it. It should be noted that EyezOn does do monitoring too, and they are quite affordable if you are already set up because you don't need a phone line. (A UPS for your modem and router is recommended) Their rates are low, as well. Besides, insurance companies often offer discounts for monitored systems. Monitoring to a certain extent can pay for itself. The fact that insurance doesn't offer discounts for non-monitored systems ought to tell you something, as well.

The other thing is, a professional integrator ought to be able to do the stuff you need done. I have all the patience in the world for those who can do it themselves, but if they wish to do it themselves, but aren't willing or capable of putting it all together... well, I think you know where I'm going with that

On a positive note, the TPI is fantastically powerful. If you go through Grandwizard's link and still aren't satisfied, you should look into a product called Micasaverde Vera. It's a buggy and screwy little network box that is immensely powerful. It has a learning curve to it, but can do any manner of custom notifications. It can do the Z-Wave thing, integrating lights, locks, thermostats etc. It has apps for all sorts of other "Internet of Things" devices, such as Nest, Phillips Hue, etc. The network security isn't too hot, but if you keep your LAN segmented, this thing can be a real beast. I've set a few of these up for clients. The Envisalink + Vera, is a hugely amazing combination. You can have things reacting to other things, allowing for some pretty powerful scenes. It is, of course, a lot of work, but for the price, it beats the pants off of nearly any other home automation product I've seen. It also replicates nearly all the features from expensive industry interactive service platforms out there.

[BK553]

I understand how powerful it is, and I appreciate the TPI documentation. My point I guess is that Eyez-On could, pretty easily, remove the burden of learning programming and cludging together scripts and devices by making a well made mobile app. It is cumbersome to load a webpage and issue a disarm command, then wait for it to send, then manually refresh to ensure the command went through.

With an app, you could have push notifications (instant), geofencing, an up-to-date status page, user-friendly language and indicators, as well integration with other apps through an api that gets it's data from the cloud (eyez-on servers) without requiring people to set up a vpn server on a separate computer to access the envisalink from the internet (non-intranet) side.

I don't know what the company's plans are, and i really do appreciate their service and product. I think there are things that can be done from their side to make it much more accessible and user friendly. I could never recommend it to a non-techie friend or family member. Thanks for reading.

[Pestus]

BK553,

From what I understood, the choice to use a web based portal was to minimize development issues relating to cross platform compatibility. I take your point about there being a need for native apps for iOS and Android, etc. They'd be sharper with more features. On the other hand, I live and work in a government town. This is basically the only product that will work well with all the Blackberry types out there. When people ask me for certain features, I say "what mobile platforms do you use?" Sometimes I can offer stellar features for iOS, or Android, but it's very hit or miss depending on the apps available for each. When they have a DSC or Ademco panel, everyone gets the benefit out of this and no one is left out. I don't have to say "well, you're using iOS so I can't do that.." or "Android isn't as good as iOS for this application". No disappointed government workers, either. It's getting better, but I see an advantage in the cross platform aspect of this, despite it being so clunky.

The next problem is the way they do their networking. Because it polls a few times a minute to their server, and all commands sent are replies to that polling, there's a delay that can not be removed easily. The only alternative to this is to offer firmware that lets a conventional approach be done.. static IP in your LAN, and a port forward. I imagine they wanted to avoid this for support concerns. They could speed up the polling I suppose...

I'd think EyezOn probably could do what you are asking for, but only to a certain extent. Push notifications ought to be really simple if an app was made.. but arming and disarming will always have a delay, if I understand their network design correctly.

[GrandWizard]

Just an FYI. For those that want zero-lag commands and status updates we do offer this in our Envisalerts+ offering. "Plus" customers sit on user limited, dedicated servers that reduce latency to almost nothing in my experience.

If you can't wait 15 seconds for an arm command to execute you should look into this.