Smart Alarm

Professionals in the field may rightfully ask what inspires a development company to design and develop another alarm control panel among the existing hundreds of types?

The technical paradigm of alarms not only divides the installer society but also the system operators. There are those who trust only wired solutions, and of course, we can also encounter those who see the future exclusively in wireless technologies. Supporters of both camps judge an alarm system based on different criteria, and every claim can be considered correct when examined from their own perspective. This is similar to the difference between "treatment" and "prevention" in medicine. Treatment deals with the painful stage of the disease, while prevention focuses on lifestyle and maintaining health.

Just as in medicine, different approaches and expectations are placed on alarms by both paradigms. Because of this, installers and customers sometimes conflict due to the contradictions in their knowledge, which can only be resolved by changing their mindset and attitude. If this paradigm shift takes on social dimensions, then new directions can be born relatively easily with relatively little psychological energy investment, completely changing industry standards.

Every change starts with a new approach, as evidenced by the latest development from MOHAnet, the SmartAlarm. The SmartAlarm is introduced as a completely new product in the domestic security technology market and also in the MOHAnet portfolio. For many years, MOHAnet has focused solely on the development and production of GSM communicators. These communicators transmitted the signals of individual alarms and field devices to the central stations of remote monitoring service providers via a high-security IP network. However, in recent years, there has been a real market demand for remote programming and control, which allows access to the partitions of the alarm system or the bypassing of individual zones using a smartphone and mobile network. All this, of course, in an extremely cost-effective way, with fewer electronic components.

SmartAlarm primarily facilitates the quick and cost-effective replacement of existing aging alarm control panels and the simple expansion of their zones and partitions in wired and/or wireless modes. Its expandability serves multiple business directions and customer needs, as the individual channels can be configured arbitrarily by installers. This allows for the connection and control of numerous sensors and field devices.

The SmartAlarm alarm system can be purchased and operated without remote monitoring services. In this case, users are notified of events affecting their system through the MonitoringBook Home remote monitoring application running on their smartphones (iOS, Android). From the application, they can arm and disarm their alarm, as well as bypass individual zones and partitions as needed. In case of emergency, they can also send a panic alert associated with GPS coordinates to other family members who also use this application.

A basic SmartAlarm unit comes with 8 zone inputs, capable of monitoring EOL or DEOL resistors, thus supporting zone doubling, allowing for the management of up to 16 zones [Figure 1]. A maximum of 5 slave devices can be connected to a master unit via radio (LoRa) or wired (CAN) connection, expanding the total SmartAlarm system to accommodate 96 zones, which can be divided into up to 32 partitions. Each partition can provide full or partial access to 250 users.

The SmartAlarm devices come in two types: master and slave, which essentially differ only in their communication capabilities.

The SmartAlarm master unit is equipped with a built-in 4G-enabled GSM modem and LoRa radio module, enabling communication over the internet and at 868MHz. The IP-based GSM communication supports remote programming, remote control, remote monitoring, and remote software updates, while LoRa provides radio communication between connected slave units [Figure 2]. Consequently, the SmartAlarm slave unit exclusively features a LoRa modem.

The SmartAlarm features 8 freely programmable, multifunctional channels (zone inputs), along with 6 programmable I/O ports. These I/O ports can be used as inputs, Wiegand interfaces, or OC outputs. The multifunctional channels are primarily used as zone inputs (EOL, DEOL) or additional controllable outputs (OC), and they also support serial (UART) and Wiegand communication. Thanks to the built-in Can interface, the SmartAlarm slave units can be interconnected via wired connections [Figure 3], or by using a Can-Wiegand converter, the number of RFID readers can be expanded up to 32. This allows it to be used as an access control system.

The devices are equipped with a Dallas interface suitable for connecting single-wire thermometers, with each device capable of accommodating 8 sensors.

SmartAlarms come with a built-in RS485/UART interface, allowing integration with smart home systems [Figure 4]. During integration with smart home systems, the alarm's motion sensors can be used to control various functions, such as activating the circulating pump, ensuring hot water flows immediately upon entering the bathroom. Additionally, the closing of blinds can be automated when the alarm is armed.

When replacing an existing alarm system, we have a fully established cable network at our disposal, allowing the various expansion modules (SmartAlarm slave) to be placed in a common location with the central unit (SmartAlarm master) [Figure 3]. As a result, wired connection (Can) between the devices is also feasible. However, the SmartAlarm slave expansion unit is capable of communicating with the SmartAlarm master unit via LoRa radio channel, eliminating the need for any wiring [Figure 2]. With this solution, objects located farther apart can be easily integrated into a single system. Typical setups may include a standalone family house, garage, and workshop, or a complex of multiple office buildings or industrial facilities.

The Wiegand communication enables the connection of RFID/NFC readers. With an RFID or NFC reader, the traditional push-button control unit can be easily replaced, as zone and partition management is handled not by the wall-mounted control panel, but by a mobile application. Consequently, there is no longer a need to set user codes, nor to memorize and input them painstakingly.

The RFID control unit simplifies the work of installers and the lives of users on one hand, and reduces the fear of accidentally triggering codes among customers on the other. This approach enables a better user experience for both installers and customers.

SmartAlarm offers further possibilities for use and opportunities provided by expansion modules are only limited by imagination.

Installation professionals can configure SmartAlarm channels via the Helios Toolbox cloud-based web application over the internet. Here, they can create zones, virtual and physical remote controls, RFID readers, and controllable outputs, which can be assigned to defined partitions. In addition to these, they can also parameterize the access rights of virtual and physical remote controls and RFID cards for arming and disarming the alarm system, which can be assigned to users involved in operation.

If we want to replace an existing wired alarm system with SmartAlarm in a star topology, we can configure the resistor values connected to the individual sensors through the Toolbox. Thanks to SmartAlarm's retrofit capability, it supports numerous resistor values, eliminating the need to replace the line-end resistor used in the previous setup, only adjusting their values in the Toolbox.

The Toolbox is a user-friendly, completely streamlined, responsive web application, making it easy to use not only from a laptop but also from a smartphone for installation professionals.

When requesting remote monitoring services, the service provider enters the customer data of the newly installed SmartAlarm alarm panel into the new Monitoringbook Pro application, thereby connecting the SmartAlarm. In this case, the Monitoringbook Home mobile application is also available to customers. Through the application, users can check the current status of their alarm system, query its past events, or even disable and re-enable the configured zones. In addition to these, they can remotely arm or disarm the alarm, or send emergency alerts if necessary. While the physical remote control can only control 4 basic functions – arming, disarming, stay mode, and emergency alert –, the virtual remote control in the mobile application allows for individual control of zones beyond these basic functions. The system can be armed independently of previously bypassed zones. This provides significant assistance in maintenance or sensor malfunction scenarios, as other parts of the object are not left unprotected.

Among the usage possibilities, I would like to highlight personal emergency signaling, which is not only practical but also provides useful value to system users, as the mobile phone always knows our current GPS coordinates. With an S.O.S. signal initiated from the Monitoringbook mobile application, the GPS coordinates are also delivered. Thus, the alarm center also focuses on personal supervision, extending the remote monitoring service not only to the property but also to its occupants, wherever they may be.

MOHAnet has been developing high-security communicators for individual alarms for more than 16 years, and has sold tens of thousands of them.

We have gained significant experience in the construction, operation, and maintenance of individual alarms, which has given us the opportunity to design a modularly expandable alarm panel from a simple signal repeater.

For more information, please contact us and try out the SmartAlarm alarm system developed and manufactured by us free of charge!