Sterling Donnelly Posts

When Honeywell first invited us to be a part of the beta program for their new Lyric Controller security system in 2015, one of the first things we noticed was that the wireless door/window sensors that came with the system were much bigger than the existing wireless door/window sensors that work with all of the other Honeywell wireless security systems. At the time, Honeywell said they were working on a smaller version door/window sensor and we are excited to finally announce that those smaller sensors are now available!

One of the major advantages of the Lyric security system over other wireless security systems is that the Lyric supports a new line of bi-directional, encrypted sensors that are more secure than the existing 5800 Series sensors. The SiX Series sensors utilize 128-bit AES encryption and communicate on a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio frequency channel directly to the Lyric system. This advanced technology makes it much more difficult for a savvy intruder to be able to "spoof" or hack the wireless SiX Sensors in an attempt to gain access to the protected property without setting off an alarm. While the sensors use a similar frequency that WIFI routers will use, the sensors communicate right to the Lyric's built-in wireless receiver and don't use the WIFI network in the home for sensor communications. Honeywell developed the SiX Series technology themselves and even put in specialized protocols designed to scan nearby networks to prevent possible WIFI interference. Before the Lyric system and SiX Series sensors were released, there weren't really any good options for wireless security systems that utilized encrypted sensors but encrypted sensor technology is a growing trend in the industry and we encourage everyone that has a non-encrypted system to consider upgrading to add an extra layer of security to your home.

The original SiX Series door/window sensors that were available when the Lyric system first launched were the SiXCT sensors. The SiXCTs are 3.13 inches long, 1.61 inches wide and 1 inch deep (depth of the sensor out into the room compared to the mounted surface) which is fairly large when you consider that you may want to have one installed on all of your home's doors and windows.

The new SiXMINICT door/window sensor is only 2.44 inches long, 1.25 inches wide and 0.45 inches deep off the mounted surface making for a much less intrusive sensor and much more aesthetically pleasing installation of your Lyric system with encrypted sensors protecting your doors and windows. The magnet for the SiXMINICT is also smaller than the magnet for the SiXCT. The SiXMINICT magnet is 1.5 inches long, 0.44 inches wide and 0.44 inches deep off the mounted surface while the SiXCT magnet is 1.5 inches long, 0.44 inches wide and 0.69 inches deep. The SiXMINICT and magnet provide a much flatter design so that the sensor and magnet blend into your door and windows and frames much better than the original SiXCT and magnet.

While the SiXMINICTs are much nicer looking, please keep in mind that the don't offer the same ability as the SiXCTs to wire in a wired sensor to the SiXCT so that it can act as a pass through wireless transmitter to send the alarm from the wired sensor to the wireless Lyric security system. In re-designing the smaller sensor, there wasn't enough room to add in the internal screw contacts that the SiXCT has for the option to wire in a wired device so the SiXMINICT can only be used as a regular sensor with the included magnet.

We have updated all of our Lyric wireless security system kits so that they include the newer, smaller SIXMINICTs instead of the older, bigger SiXCTs and we even put together a value 5-pack of SiXMINICT sensors that can save you on your system purchase if you need more sensors than are included in the kit you're ordering or if you need to add encrypted protection to 5 or more new doors/windows.

We believe encrypted sensor technology is only going to become more and more popular and we are excited to see that Honeywell is going to build out their line of SiX Series sensors so that hopefully there will eventually be an encrypted version of every 5800 Series device they offer now. Make sure to keep an eye on our blog as we will continue to let you all knwo about any new SiX devices that are released by Honeywell.

I'm sure many people were disappointed to see the Lyric MR4 firmware get released last month and have the firmware update NOT include the Lyric / Apple Homekit integration that has been promised since the Lyric first debuted at ISC West back in 2015. We've been as frustrated as our users and potential customers have been that have been waiting anxiously for the Homekit integration to the Lyric system, and since Honeywell was at the mercy of Apple releasing the approval for the functionality to be made available, even Honeywell wasn't sure exactly when it was coming.

With all that said, we're excited to announce that as of this week, a Lyric running MR4 firmware can now integrate with Apple's Homekit!

We just found out about the release and we haven't been provided with all the details on the functionality the integration allows but once we get more information from Honeywell and do some testing ourselves, we'll be posting more about this awesome update to the Lyric system!

In the mean time, if you want to confirm your Lyric can do Homekit, just press Security > Tools > enter Master Code > Advanced and if you're on MR4, you should see a Homekit Reset button that wasn't there previously.

If you aren't seeing that button, you should check the System Information tab to see if you're on the MR4 firmware (01.04.07178.491) and if you aren't you can either ask your alarm monitoring company to remote upgrade you or if you have the right firmware version to allow a local firmware update request, you can go to Security > Tools > enter Installer Code to see an option for 'Update firmware' which will get you up to the latest version.

Last month, Honeywell released a new critical firmware update for the Lyric Controller - 01.04.07178.491 for the American version (shown below) and 01.04.07181.491 for the Canadian LCP500-LC version:

You can request the update on your Lyric system, if you aren't upgraded already, by pressing Security > Tools > entering your Installer Code and then pressing Update Firmware. If you are an Alarm Grid monitored customer, you can also have us send a firmware update to your system remotely. This MR4 firmware brings new functionality that our users have been asking for since the Lyric Controller was first released, new features that were not yet available and fixes to some known bugs.

Quick SiX Programming Mode

While this new feature won't help those that already have their Lyric system fully setup, the addition of a new SiX sensor enrollment mode allows new Lyric users to greatly reduce the time it takes to program SiX Series sensors to the system. Of course, the new SiX Programming option would certainly also be helpful for anyone that has an existing Lyric and is looking to add multiple new SiX devices to their system.

The Lyric has always offered a batch enrollment mode, available within the Zones programming screen, that allows you to learn in a group of SiX devices by simply powering on or activating each sensor. However, you would then need to go in and manually edit each zone by selecting the zone number and clicking Edit, tweaking each programming option and then saving the changes as you would if you were learning in one single sensor.

Now, with the new SiX Programming mode (found by pressing the down arrow once you enter programming mode on a Lyric with the MR4 firmware)

(SiX Programming option on second page of Lyric programming)

you can simply power on (either pull the battery tab or insert batteries) or activate each SiX sensor you want to learn in to the panel to have them all auto learn to the panel and show a screen with all the new learned in devices

(SiXCT and SiXPIR activated in SiX Programming mode)

and you can highlight and click Edit right from that screen to bring up a new screen that shows you all of the device settings so you can set all of your new zones and settings much more efficiently.

(SiXPIR and SiXCT edit screens in SiX Programming mode)

The new SiX Programming mode can save you hours depending on how many SiX devices you need to learn to your Lyric. Keep in mind though, just like with the batch enrollment mode, you can't enroll a SiXFOB to your Lyric using SiX Programming. You still need to use the Keys section of the Lyric programming to enroll a SiXFOB.

Easier Instant Arming Mode

For as long as we can remember, Honeywell systems have supported an Instant arming mode which allows a user to arm the system so that the system's alarm activates as soon as a zone is triggered, even if the zone is normally an entry/exit zone. Instant arming is helpful for ramping up the security of your system when you know that no one should be entering the home (at night or when you go on vacation for instance). Instead of an intruder being able to open your main front door without the alarm going off right away, Instant arming ensures that the Lyric goes into full alarm mode as soon as any door or window is opened. As long as you remember to disarm from a key fob or TC2 before an authorized user needs to enter the property, Instant arming is a great way to enhance your protection at key times.

When Honeywell developed the Lyric they didn't provide an Instant button on the Security screen and many users lamented the loss of Instant arming. The Lyric does in fact allow for Instant arming if you use the Arm Custom option which gets you to a screen where you can de-select the Entry Delay and arm the system so that delayed zones activate the alarm as soon as they are violated but it isn't a great user experience. We had a good amount of feedback from users that had upgraded Honeywell systems that supported Instant arming to the Lyric and were disappointed that arming in that way was more difficult on the Lyric. Thankfully, Honeywell has heard our cries and with the MR4 firmware, you'll notice when you hit the Security icon on your Lyric screen there is an Entry Delay: On/Off toggle at the bottom left of the screen.

If you want to arm Instant (motion detector zones turned off but all other zones active with no entry delay even if programmed as an entry/exit zone), simply tap the Entry Delay words until it shows OFF and then tap Arm Stay and enter your code. If you want to arm Maximum (all zones active with no entry delay even if programmed as an entry/exit zone), simply tap Arm Away with the Entry Delay set to OFF and then tap Arm Away and enter your code.

Skybell Doorbell Chime

You may have noticed if you press Tools and enter your Master Code and then the right arrow, there's a Skybell Setup button. If you did, you probably have wondered why pressing it does nothing. For some reason Honeywell released the Skybell Setup button on a previous Lyric firmware but didn't add the true functionality of the button until the new MR4 firmware. You could still pair a Skybell with a Total Connect 2.0 account but the Skybell wouldn't integrate with the actual Lyric system at all.

Now, pressing the Skybell Setup button allows you to integrate your doorbell camera (the round Skybell HD and Skybell Slim HD) to the Lyric Controller so that if someone presses your Skybell's doorbell, the Lyric sounds one of it's unique Chime tones. You can choose which Chime sound you want during the Skybell Setup process.

Smoke Maintenance Signaling

With MR4 firmware, the Lyric can now trigger a maintenance trouble signal if a connected SiXSMOKE detects that it's sensing chamber has too much dust or dirt for the detector to function properly. Similar to programming a loop 2 maintenance trouble zone for a 5808W3 smoke detector, you'll now know in advance if any of your connected Honeywell smoke detectors need cleaning.

Support of Yale Assure Locks

The Lyric's Automation controller provides support of Z-Wave locks so that you can program the system to auto-arm when you lock your door or auto-disarm your system when you unlock your door. If you have Total Connect 2.0 you can even remotely lock/unlock your doors. We recommend Yale, Kwikset and Schlage locks when connecting Z-Wave locks to your Lyric and with the MR4, the Lyric now officially supports Yale's range of Real Living Assure Locks, the YRD216, YRD226 and the key-free YRD246. We'll have these new Yale Z-Wave locks up on our site in the Home Automation section soon.

Fixed Lyric Keypad Bug

Sometime prior to MR4, we found that if you had an LKP500 Lyric keypad connected to your Lyric system and you had the Lyric's Voice setting disabled, the Lyric keypad would not provide the expected entry tones (beeps when you violate an entry/exit zone warning you that you need to disarm the system to avoid an alarm activation) even if the Entry Tone feature was enabled in the keypad settings.

Once your Lyric is on the MR4 firmware, if you like your system's Voice setting disabled, because you don't want to hear the main panel's voice announcements, you'll still be able to have your auxiliary keypads beep at you to warn you that you must disarm your system when coming home. As it's easy to forget your system was armed if your keypad doesn't beep at you, this is a critical fix for any Lyric user that prefers not to have the Voice setting enabled.

Fixed Lyric Thermostat Bug

We had a customer that noticed that once he connected his Lyric thermostat to his Lyric system, the Lyric was excessively pinging out to the Honeywell servers. We reported the strange IP behavior to Honeywell's engineers and after some testing they were able to replicate the issue and assured us that a fix would be coming. Our customer decided to remove the Lyric thermostat integration from his system for the time being.

Once MR4 was released, we had our user test the Lyric thermostat integration to his Lyric system and this time there was no unusual pings from the panel on his network so we are confident that this Lyric bug has been squashed.

Dealer Branding

The last change that MR4 firmware brings to the Lyric system is the new dealer branding feature. With this new feature, a Honeywell Lyric dealer's company splash page will show as one the Lyric slideshow images as long as the feature is enabled. Any Alarm Grid monitored client will see this image scroll through on their slide show:

In addition to the slide show page, the dealer branding also shows up as a small company logo on the bottom left of the Lyric home screen that you can click to get to a contact information page in case you need to get in touch with us for support.

If you have any questions about this feature of any of the new features and updates and fixes that the latest Lyric firmware brings to Honeywell's aware winning system, please let us know in the comments below or email us at support@alarmgrid.com.

While the recent Honeywell Lyric security system MR3 firmware release brought enhanced functionality and improved performance to the Lyric controller, Honeywell's engineers unearthed a strange occurrence where the Lyric system would send a false APL report after the first system disarm following a system reboot.

Certain conditions had to be met for the false APL alarm to occur. The Lyric Controller had to have a Lyric-3G or Lyric-CDMA cellular communicator installed and activated. Also, the system's arm away, arm stay and disarm reporting had to be disabled (that reporting is on by default and here at Alarm Grid, we always encourage leaving that reporting enabled). As this was a unique anomaly with a very specific and unique configuration that had to be present for it to occur, Honeywell didn't realize the bug until after the MR3 firmware was released. As the firmware causes the panel to reboot once the update was complete, their technical support team quickly heard reports of the phantom APL alarms once the MR3 was released and the engineering team worked quickly to implement a patch fix.

You may have noticed that your Lyric system wasn't allowing you to update to MR3 firmware between when that firmware was released and today. That was because they pulled that firmware back once they uncovered the APL bug.

The new firmware version 01.03.06586.482 which was released today implements the patch fix to the bug and all Lyric controllers should be able to be firmware updated once again.

We encourage all Lyric users (especially those that did get the MR3 firmware update before it was pulled back from Honeywell) to update their system firmware and we've been told Honeywell will start forcing firmware updates to all installed Lyric panels over the coming weeks.

With heavy hearts, we are sorry to announce that the Total Connect 2.0 service, powered by Honeywell, no longer supports the slide show feature.

While most Total Connect 2.0 users probably never even knew this feature existed, it was a pretty cool option for turning a LYNX Touch security system (models L5100, L5200, L5210 and L7000) into a digital picture frame.

From the TC2 Locations module, you could edit the house icon and click on the 'Edit Slide Show' button to upload images to your account from your computer. Honeywell's servers then download to the LYNX Touch system associated with that TC2 account/location (as long as the system had an ILP5 or L5100-WIFI internet communicator installed and online). Once the images were downloaded to the system, you could use the master programming mode (Security > More > Tools > enter Master Code) to go to the Slide Show option and setup your images to display on the panel's touchscreen when the system was sitting idle.

Honeywell indicated that the feature was removed due to "cyber security concerns" and while you can no longer use your LYNX Touch system as a digital picture frame, the new Lyric Controller does still offer the Slide Show feature. You just have to use a USB stick to load the images to the Lyric locally as the feature has been removed from Total Connect 2.0 on all systems. We have an FAQ on how to use the slide show feature on a Lyric system online at https://www.alarmgrid.com/faq/how-does-slide-show-... and if you have a LYNX Touch system now that was using this feature and want to discuss upgrading to a Lyric, we'd be happy to help. You can email us at support@alarmgrid.com or call us M-F 9-9 EST at 888-818-7728.

Honeywell has recently announced a change in the way that their Total Connect 2.0 video surveillance feature will work and the change will be implemented on or about April 19th (next Wednesday).

Currently, if you have Honeywell AlarmNet IPCAMs, you have the ability to view them remotely and have them record 10-second video clips based on a change in pixelation if you have the right Total Connect 2.0 service plan. We offer the TC2 video features without a contract required through our Self Platinum and Platinum plans at https://www.alarmgrid.com/monitoring and we even have a standalone TC2 video plan available at https://www.alarmgrid.com/video-monitoring for those that don't have a security system but want the TC2 video services.

Using a mobile device running the Total Connect 2.0 app, you can log-in and view up to 6 IPCAMs per TC2 location from wherever you are as long as the cameras are powered on and connected properly to the internet and you can watch any recorded videos.

Using the totalconnect2.com website, you can use the Video module to view the cameras remotely and you can also set up more advanced settings such as 10-second video clip recordings and alerts when video clips are captured. These clips are customized by the user and you can use the wrench icon on each camera to set up the areas of detection for each field of view and the sensitivity selections for how much movement is needed to trigger a clip. You can also setup schedules to determine when you want the cameras to record clips and when you only want live viewing capability with no recording happening.

Once you have the camera recording settings configured properly so that the cameras are recording clips of movement that you feel is important while ignoring other movements that aren't important, a new video clip will be stored to your TC2 account and will be available as a event in the Events & Notifications module. Currently, each TC2 location allows storage of up to 500MB of clips and auto-deletes the oldest available clip once the limit is reached. You do also currently have the option to "lock" certain clips that you don't want to be auto-deleted.

Here's where things change (on or about) April 19th, 2017...

While only Honeywell/AlarmNet IPCAMs currently work with Total Connect 2.0, Honeywell is (with great anticipation!) working on a new line of next generation cameras that will integrate with Total Connect 2.0 (we will have more details on the cameras at a later date) and they should be available sometime towards the end of this year.

New Seven Day Storage for Recorded Clips

In anticipation of the next generation cameras, Honeywell is transitioning all existing Total Connect 2.0 video accounts to a new 7 day plan where clips will only be available through the TC2 website/app for 7 days. The 500MB storage will go away and any clip that is older than seven days will be automatically deleted. Once the change is implemented, any currently recorded clip will be set to expire seven days later with the oldest clips being deleted first.

Regular non-TC2 video events will continue to be stored for 90 days,which is how the service works now, and first-in, first-out logic is employed when deleting the older clips.

No More Locking of TC2 Events

In addition to the changes to the video storage feature, Honeywell is removing the ability to "lock" a TC2 event (all events inclsuding security and video) so that you won't be able to save any event beyond the normal expiration (90 days for security and 7 days for video once the change is implemented).

The existing lock feature that allows you to permanently store a TC2 event/video clip:

They are providing a year grace period so that any currently locked events will stay locked up until April 15th, 2018 when all locked events will be deleted. We encourage all Total Connect 2.0 users to start saving all locked video clips outside of TC2 if you want them to still be available after April 15th of next year.

Also, we encourage all TC2 video users to start setting up email alerts with video clip attachments through their TC2 account so that each recorded clip can be saved/archived through email so that the clips are available beyond the new seven day limit.

While we are excited about the new cameras that are coming and the upgrades to Total Connect 2.0 and the video service, some of these changes may have an adverse affect if you don't update your account now to adjust for these changes. As always, let us know if you have any questions by emailing support@alarmgrid.com or calling M-F 9-9 EST.

4/19/17 - Updated: Honeywell has now scheduled the change to the video storage feature for sometime in May and the removal of the lock feature on the TC2 events is now scheduled for the week of the 24th.

Last week Honeywell released a new critical firmware update (01.03.06549.482) for the Lyric security system:

The update addressed some known bugs on the system and added enhanced functionality to the system as well.

Improved SiX Performance

The Lyric is Honeywell's newest all-in-one wireless touchscreen security system and while it works with the older Honeywell 5800 wireless sensors, it also works with new SiX Series sensors. The SiX Series sensors are one of the main advantages of the Lyric system as they are bi-directional to the panel and also encrypted on their wireless signaling making them much more reliable and secure compared to the existing 5800 Series sensors.

One of the main improvements the new MR3 firmware provides for the Lyric is improved performance of the SiX devices. Once your Lyric is upgraded to the new firmware, it will proactively check the RF environment throughout the day to ensure all of your SiX devices are on the proper RF channel so that your sensor communications stay consistent even if you are adding new wireless technology to your home.

2Gig Wireless Sensor Support

While most people would use Honeywell 5800 or SiX Series sensors with their Lyric system, the new firmware also unlocks the ability to program 2Gig security sensors to a Lyric. 2Gig is another security system manufacturer and 2Gig systems work with Honeywell 5800 Series sensors and 2Gig sensors. Up until this firmware release, no Honeywell system would work with 2Gig sensors though so now the Lyric allows someone with an existing 2Gig system installed to be able to just change out the main all-in-one wireless panel to a Lyric without having to buy all new sensors as well.

LTE Cellular Communications

Prior to the new firmware, the Lyric supported WIFI communications without any extra modules needed. Also, if someone wanted cellular backup to the WIFI communication path which provides for a more reliable form of alarm communication that still works if and when the internet is offline or unavailable, the Lyric supported the AT&T Lyric-3G communicator and the Verizon Lyric-CDMA communicator. Now, with the new firmware, the Lyric will support LTE cellular communicators as well. We are in beta program for an AT&T LTE module that should be released soon and we expect a Verizon LTE module to be coming as well. LTE is a newer, faster cellular network compared to the networks that the Lyric-3G and Lyric-CDMA communicators use and should provide greater long term longevity if and when AT&T and Verizon ever discontinue their respective HSPA and CDMA-1X networks.

Solved LKP500 Keypad Bugs

While you can control the Lyric system from the Lyric touchscreen and from mobile devices, the system also supports a wireless keypad called the LKP500:

The addition of an LKP500 (or multiple LKP500s as the Lyric supports up to 8 wireless keypads) provides another fixed spot in the home that you can arm and disarm your system from as well as being able to see system status and hear zone chime alerts. Unfortunately, there was a known issue where the zone assigned to an LKP500 keypad would report a low battery even when no low battery problem existed. Honeywell has solved that issue and the fix is part of the MR3 firmware release. While Honeywell didn't have documents issues on another issue with the LKP500, we did have a small number of users also report a high pitched tone emanating from the LKP500 when arming to stay mode, during the exit delay countdown. This issue seems to have been solved with the latest firmware release as well.

General Bug Fixes

In addition to the enhancements detailed above, the new MR3 firmware also addressed some other Lyric system bugs that Honeywell didn't detail so we encourage all Lyric system users to update to the latest firmware even if none of the improvements listed above matter to you.

How to Update Firmware

You can request a firmware upgrade by asking the company that monitors your Lyric to send the firmware down remotely or you can run the firmware update yourself by pressing Security > Tools and entering your system's Installer Code followed by hitting Update firmware. Once you hit the Update firmware button, we suggest backing out to the home screen and then waiting a while for it to process. Once it's done, the system should reboot and then you can confirm by pressing Security > Tools > enter Master Code > Advanced > System Information and verifying that the Rev. number on the top line shows the latest firmware version (01.03.06549.482).

Your Lyric system does need to be on a certain version to have the option to update from the panel so if you can access programming mode but you don't see the Update firmware option, your system will need to be updated remotely by your alarm monitoring company.

We applaud Honeywell for continuing to enhance the functionality of the Lyric system and we are excited about even more enhancements that should be coming with future firmware updates as well.

If you've noticed some weird Total Connect 2.0 behavior starting yesterday morning and going throughout the day yesterday, it's because Honeywell had an issue with their AlarmNet servers that lasted from 8:30AM to 9:30AM EST.

The issue did not affect all Honeywell AlarmNet customers but if you had reports from the central station about an E353 trouble or saw error messages on your keypad about a Check 103 LRR or 103 trouble, that was most likely caused by the server issues.

It seems that any commands sent from TC2 during the time the servers had the problem may not have gone through, and any commands initiated from the local keypad did not report properly to TC2 at that time. Once the issue was resolved, the server had a back log of TC2 alerts that hadn't gone out and then the servers started releasing all of the back logged alerts/events.

This caused some people to get TC2 alerts that their system was disarmed when it in fact was still armed. We realize how inconvenient that can be as an alert telling you that your system was disarmed when no one is home can be very disconcerting.

We wanted to use this Honeywell server error as a chance to explain the Total Connect 2.0 "virtual keypad" feature so that everyone understands how that works, and in case of future server errors, may be able to avoid running home to verify if a system is armed or disarmed.

On the Total Connect 2.0 "front end", you'll see a system status showing if the system is armed or disarmed. Unfortunately, that status is reported from the servers and can sometimes be wrong (depending on panel communication issues or server issues). However, if you understand how the virtual keypad works, you will have a way to know for sure if your system is armed or not. On the totalconnect2.com website, you'll find the option for the virtual keypad under the Security module.

You can see in the picture below that the word Keypad is hovering over the actual keypad icon. That's just because we had our mouse hovered over the keypad when we took the screen shot to highlight where the icon is displayed.

If you hit that button, it pulls up a new screen and actually initiates a live connection to the system. You'll first see a screen showing the virtual keypad and the display on the keypad will read "Connecting..."

After a minute or so, the live connection to the system will be established, and you'll see the keypad screen update to the actual system status.

As this is a live connection to the system, as opposed to the "front end" TC2 status which was just the last status that was reported to the servers, there's no way for this status to display anything other than the real system status.

If you ever receive an arm/disarm signal from the system to your TC2 account that doesn't seem to be accurate, check the virtual keypad and you'll know for sure what the system is doing. If you do see your front end TC2 status different than the live keypad connection, just initiate a set of arm and disarm (if you are currently disarmed) or disarm and arm (if you are currently armed) commands which should bring the front end status back up to date.

The virtual keypad can also be initiated from the mobile app as well. Using the Security tab in the app, you simply click the word Keypad in the top right to initiate the connection to the virtual keypad.

That will take you to the "connecting" screen:

and then after a minute or so, you'll see the true live system status:

Your TC2 account's front end should not ever be out of sync with the true system status with any kind of regularity, but understanding how to use the virtual keypad in cases where you suspect it may be out of sync will give you the confidence to know what the true system status is, and then you can use the virtual keypad to fix the front end yourself.

One last important note is that if your system is offline, meaning the AlarmNet communicator your system is using (IP, cellular or both) is fully offline, when you try the virtual keypad connection, you'll end up on a screen that looks like this on the totalconnect2.com website:

and like this on the Total Connect 2.0 mobile app:

You'll notice that it stays on the "connecting" screen for much longer than usual in these instances. If you ever get to this message, you'll need to troubleshoot your communicator's connection as the error is an indication that your system is currently offline.Your TC2 front end can be showing the wrong state if the system is offline as the server's only know the last state of the system before it went offline.

We hope this information helps make your experience with using Total Connect 2.0 an easier process and as always, feel free to contact us at support@alarmgrid.com if you have any questions about Total Connect 2.0.

AlarmNet's family of 4G cellular alarm communicators is finally complete! First we got the GSMVLP5-4G cellular communicator for the L5100 LYNX Touch wireless security system. Then the GSMX4G and GSMV4G cellular communicators that work with the VISTA Series alarm control panels came next. After a bit of delay, the iGSMV4G was released and brought the first communicator that used internet communications and 4G cellular communicators all in one device. Now, with the eagerly awaited release of the iGSMHS4G dual path communicator, there is a 4G cellular communicator that meets UL's strict line security requirements. The iGSMHS4G is the last 4G cellular communicator to be released but like the old saying, last is not least with this device!

Boasting the most secure alarm communications available today, the iGSMHS4G makes use of two communication paths and is supervised by AlarmNet servers every 200 seconds. If a signal is not received after 200 seconds go by, the AlarmNet servers will send out a ping to the iGSMHS4G. If that ping is not received back successfully, a communication failure signal is generated so that your central station can let you know there is something wrong with your security system.

Banks, jewelery stores and government facilities typically require an alarm communicator that meets the high security communication designation. While waiting for the iGSMHS4G, these facilities have had to live with using the older iGSMHS to meet the high security requirements. Unfortunately, as the 2G cellular network is nearing retirement, the people at these facilities that require the most secure alarm communications have been left wondering which day their iGSMHS would stop working. Now, with the iGSMHS4G, those people no longer have to worry. They can confidently upgrade to the iGSMHS4G knowing their Honeywell security system will be connected to police response when needed!

Now that Honeywell has finally made Total Connect home automation control available for Tuxedo Touch keypads, people with existing VISTA Series alarm systems can finally take full advantage of all of the great features Total Connect has to offer. In the past, only the LYNX Touch wireless security system supported remote home automation control through Total Connect. If you had a VISTA system, you could add a Tuxedo Touch or Tuxedo Touch WIFI if you wanted to use Z-Wave home automation devices in your home, but if you wanted to remotely control those devices, you had to setup complicated port forwarding. Unless you were knowledgeable about networks and router setup, you were left controlling your home's Z-Wave lights, Z-Wave locks and Z-Wave thermostats just from your Tuxedo screens.

Thankfully, Honeywell has finally released the long-awaited software update for all existing Tuxedo Touch WIFI units. If you go to the Tuxedo Touch Toolkit website, you will find the software update and steps on how to run the update for your Tuxedo Touch WIFI controller. With the new software downloaded and installed on your Tuxedo Touch WIFI, your Tuxedo Touch WIFI will work better locally even if you don't choose to sign up for the Remote Home Automation monitoring service.

You can now have Z-Wave scenes activated by a security system alarm, a security system event or even a specific zone status change. You can also setup Z-Wave lights to activate and then run for a programmed length of time. You can even program your lights to turn on at sunset and off at sunrise.

Of course, the real advantage of the new software update is the ability to control your Tuxedo Touch WIFI using your Total Connect interactive account. Once you setup your remote home automation control on your Total Connect account, you will have full access to your smart home for remote system control and notifications.

Unfortunately, as non-WIFI Tuxedo Touch keypads use a different operating system and circuit board, the software update will not work on those devices. If you have one of the non-WIFI Tuxedos and you want to get Total Connect home automation control, you will need to purchase a new Tuxedo Touch or Tuxedo Touch WIFI.

Please call us if you are interested in adding the remote home automation feature to your Alarm Grid monitoring service.