How Do I Arm Using a Honeywell Tuxedo Touch Keypad?

Arm from the Home Screen of a Honeywell Tuxedo Touch Keypad by choosing Security, then choosing the desired arming option. If prompted, enter a valid code. Once armed, a red bar will be displayed at the top of the screen showing the system's armed state. A code is required to disarm.

The Honeywell Tuxedo Touch is a touchscreen keypad for a Honeywell VISTA Security System. It is important to understand that the Tuxedo Touch is not a standalone security system, nor is it an alarm communicator. It serves as both an automation controller for the system as well as a keypad you can use to arm and disarm the panel and perform other security functions. Many users prefer using the Tuxedo Touch instead of a traditional push-button keypad, as the colorful menus can be easier to understand.

On VISTA-10P, VISTA-15P, and VISTA-20P, VISTA-21iPLTE, and VISTA TURBO panels, there is a feature called Quick Arm. This feature is enabled in programming location [*] [21] on the VISTA-20P and similar panels. In the VISTA TURBO panels, Quick Arm is enabled per partition in the programming location [*] [29]. On the TURBO panels, Quick Arming will only work if User 002 is programmed as a Master User, and this limitation is also partition specific. This means that User 002 must have access to a partition and be a master in that partition before Quick Arming will work in it. Once Quick Arm is enabled on either panel type, the 4-digit code is not required to arm the system or partition. A code is always required to disarm. The Quick Arm feature is disabled by default in all VISTA panel types.

There are several arming modes that you can choose from and the names for them may vary slightly from panel to panel. Among these are Arm Away, Arm Stay, and Arm Night. We have a blog that describes how each of these modes works that you can check out here. But to give a brief summary, Arm Away will not automatically bypass any zones, Arm Stay will automatically bypass interior zones, and Arm Night will automatically bypass interior zones that are not designated as "night zones".

Any zone that is designated as an Arm Night zone will NOT be automatically bypassed when Arming Night. In other words, an interior Arm Night zone will remain active when you arm night. Interior zones without the Arm Night distinction will be automatically bypassed when arming night. Basically, these zones differ in the way that they treat interior zones. Perimeter zones will ALWAYS be active when the system is armed, unless they are manually bypassed. There are two additional arming modes that may be available. Arm Maximum is the same as Arm Away, but with the Entry Delay Timer disabled once the panel arms, after the Exit Delay has expired. Arm Instant is the same as Arm Stay, but with no Entry Delay Timer once the system is armed.

When using the arming buttons available in the Tuxedo's User Interface the Night Button is different than the Away or Stay Button. This is because it has a configuration option within the Tuxedo that allows an installer or user to configure what they want the Night Button to do. Technically, the Night Button can be configured to arm in any of the available arming modes, including Maximum and Instant. By default, the Night Button is set to arm Instant, or Stay Instant as it is sometimes called. If you have a panel that supports the Night Stay feature, like the VISTA-20P you can configure the Night button to follow the Night Stay Arming protocol. The VISTA TURBO panels don't support the Night Stay feature, which may be why the Night Button on the Tuxedo is not configured in this mode by default. The Night Button has some other quirks that are outlined in the note at the bottom of this FAQ.

Arm Away: Use when nobody is remaining in the building. Interior zones are active.

Arm Stay: Use when at least one person is remaining in the building. Interior zones are bypassed.

Arm Night*: A more secure version of Arm Stay. Interior zones are bypassed EXCEPT for those with the Arm Night distinction. Zones with the Arm Night distinction will not be bypassed and will remain active when Arming Night.

If you are accustomed to arming your system using a push-button keypad such as the 6160 Alpha-numeric Keypad, you can have the Tuxedo Touch keypad emulate one of these keypads by entering Console Mode. Console Mode has the Tuxedo Touch behave in a similar fashion to a 6160. Once you have entered Console Mode, you would arm the system in the same way as you would if you were standing at a 6160 keypad. To return to the home screen, simply press the Home Icon in the upper left corner of the Tuxedo touchscreen.

Complete the following steps to arm your VISTA System using a Tuxedo Touch:

1. Choose arming mode. Start by clicking on the Security button. Then choose one of the three (3) arming types. These are Away, Stay, and Night. You can also choose Arm Multi-Partition if you want to arm multiple partitions for your system. You would then choose an arming mode as described before. You can also click on More Choices, followed by Show Zones if you want to manually choose zones to bypass. A bypassed zone is ignored by the system and can remain faulted without preventing the user from arming. If you want to arm Maximum or Instant (unless the Night button is still at the default) you will need to use Console Mode. A guide to accessing this mode is linked above.

2. Enter a code. If Quick Arm is not enabled the system will require you to enter a code to arm the system. Your Master Code or any valid user code can be used here. We do not recommend arming your system using your Installer Code. Also note that if you enter a Guest or Babysitter Code, you will be able to use that code to disarm later. You cannot use a Guest or Babysitter Code to disarm if it was not the code used to arm the system, or if the system was armed using Quick Arm (no code entered).

3. Confirm system arming. A red bar should be displayed across the top of the screen indicating that the system is armed and in what mode. If you selected Arm Away, you will need to exit the premises before the Exit Delay period expires. In our example picture below, we have the system Armed Stay.

*The "Night" button available on the Tuxedo Touch WIFI keypads can be configured in a variety of different ways. It can be configured to actually arm Away, Stay, Night Stay, Instant, or Maximum. By default, it is set to Arm Instant, which means perimeter zones are armed, including entry/exit doors. All interior zones are automatically bypassed, and the entry delay is DISABLED. If your system was installed by someone else, verify how the Night button has been configured. Additionally, on TURBO panels such as the VISTA-128BPT or VISTA-250BPT, the Night button doesn't follow the programming in the Tuxedo, Instead, when the Night button is used on TURBO panels, regardless of how it's configured in the Tux, it will arm in whatever the most recent successful Stay arming mode was.