The Human Interface: Adding Your Smartphone to the Mix

On the 11th of April we talked about the various kinds of human interfaces in use within the security market. We covered basic keypads, keyfobs, and card readers. We also talked about security and smart home technology and the enhancements associated with larger flat touch displays which invariably include soft keypad keys for security alarm arming, disarming, and other purposes.

Today, I’d like to chat with you about another famously popular human interface called the “smartphone.” More and more manufacturers of security systems are adding smartphone apps to their offerings in order to provide you, our client, with an even more enjoyable and efficient way of controlling your security system. This is an especially helpful method of control for commercial users because it allows you to stay in contact with your facility no matter what time it is, no matter where you may be.

Through your smartphone, you will nearly instantaneously receive a full compliment of information pushed to your smartphone when there’s an alarm situation. Using your in-house camera system, you will immediately have access to cameras in the vicinity of the door or motion that triggered the alarm. If there is no one there, you can cancel the dispatch, reset the alarm, and go back to what you were doing—in addition to saving money because the police were either cancelled or the central did not call in the first place.

If you have added lighting control to the list of items to which your alarm system integrates with, you also can use your smartphone to turn lights on and off, in addition to dimming and brightening them. Heating and cooling systems also can be controlled via your smartphone as well.

If you are interested in connecting your smartphone to your security system, give ESC a call. If this features is not offered by you’re present alarm system, we’ll give you a discount on replacing it with a new one that will. If you would like to add lighting and cooling/heating control to your security controller as well, ESC would be more than happy to assist you in making that happen.

Give us a call today at 614-754-1393, or send me an email at electronicsystemsconsultants@gmail.com. You can also leave me a message using the contact us form below.

Thank you, John

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Security: Meet the Human Interface

Electronic security, whether in the home, office, or an industrial facility, requires some means of interface between the control system and the people who use it. In some cases this means of interface is nothing more than a key switch while in other situations it can be a keyfob, an access card, or a keypad equipped with the usual numeric and function buttons (see photo #1). In some cases this human interface can take the form of a smartphone.

The most common keypad in use today provides the means whereby users can input a four-to-six digit numeric code, thus arming or disarming their alarm system. These simple human interfaces provide a series of point indicators that tell the status of the alarm system at a glance.

Additional buttons often are included that provide advanced functions, such as medical alert, hold-up, and fire. These buttons can be disabled by the alarm company where necessary.

Disabling these buttons is a ploy used when such a keypad is to be mounted in a public space where members of the general public might invoke an unwanted alarm. Such an area is the vestibule of a retail store.

Today’s Security Systems Offer Advanced Features
As time moves forward, so does the technology we use for security, and hence the human interface has grown more responsive to the many features and benefits that have evolved while becoming more simplistic over time.

Honeywell’s Lyric home controller, shown in the photo to the left, is a good example of a sophisticated, modern human interface (keypad) that offers more than just security. Besides arming, disarming, medical, panic, and fire, these systems make it possible to integrate your keyfobs and other alarm devices with a motorized garage door or outside gate.

Additional integrated components include video cameras; on keypad weather alerts with five-day forecasts; remote access to online devices, such as smartphones, desktop computers, laptops, and tablets; and control of auxiliary locks, such as Yale’s Real Living or Schlage Sense locks. Additional features include the ability to monitor pool areas, pets, water leaks, and harmful gases, such as CO and propane or natural gas.

Clearly today’s keypad has become more than just a security control device. For example, instead of hard keys that can become dirty over time, thus revealing a user’s PIN (Personal Identification Number), systems like Honeywell’s Lyric sports soft keys using an advanced touch-screen display. Systems that include all of the above new features and benefits have taken today’s alarm system from “wait and see” to “every day” where the business or home owner depends on it continually throughout each day.

If you’re interested in upgrading your existing alarm system to include some or all of the features named above, give ESC a call today and ask for assistance. Our number is 614-754-1393, or send us an email at electronicsystemsconsultants@gmail.com. You also can use our easy-to-use response form below.

Use of Keyfobs at Record High
Alarm users love their keyfobs, and that is a fact. Most alarm owners and users utilize mobile devices called keyfobs. Most of these devices are an integral part of alarm user’s lives as they offer a convenient, rapid means of alarm control.

Keyfobs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, depending on who makes them. They can come with a single button, two buttons, or four. In the case of the latter, control functions include disarm, arm, panic, and control of a light or perhaps a garage door—even both.

The problem with keyfobs is that if you lose one and someone finds it, or if they actually stole it, the same device that allows you to enter your business or home will also grant crooks the same luxury. If such a loss should occur, contact ESC’s main office ASAP and ask to have the lost keyfob removed from your alarm system. Although it’s not difficult to do, it may require an ESC technician to do this from your business or home, resulting in a service charge. Call us at 614-754-1393 and ask for service.

Integration Between Access & Security Systems
Electronic Systems Consultants LLC is a fully capable systems integrator. We can integrate your access control and security systems in such a way that your alarm system can be armed and disarmed through a single action on the access control side.

The advantage of this type of arrangement is the convenience of doing two things at once without remembering PINs and operating keypads or keyfobs. Of course, it’s still a great idea that every system has at least one keypad for alarm control. In fact, you can still use a keyfob as well, and in some cases the keyfob can be used to unlock doors and turn alarm systems off, all at the same time.

The degree of complexity or simplicity is up to you and ESC is prepared to provide you with whatever you need to make the task of alarm and building control more manageable to you and your staff on a daily basis. If you’re interested in upgrading your existing alarm system to include some or all of the features mentioned in this article, give ESC a call today. Our phone number is 614-754-1393, or you can send an email at electronicsystemsconsultants@gmail.com. You also can use our easy-to-use response form below. We look forward to hearing from you at your convenience.

John Larkin, Senior Partner

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Choosing the Right Fire Extinguisher for a Vehicular Fire

On the 16th of this month I told you about the heroic action by two of ESC’s finest technicians, Scott Camps and Wayne Clay (ESC Commends Workmen for Roadside Heroics).

Today I’d like to expand on their story just a bit in order to assist you in better understanding what type of fire extinguisher they used, how they used it, and why they chose it instead of several other types.

When Scott and Wayne arrived on the scene of a burning car at the corner of 3rd and Mound St in Columbus, Ohio, the first thing both techs did without a single word was to grab ABC-type extinguishers.

Scott says, “Essentially ABC fires extinguisher cover 3 different classes of fire those are your most common fires, such as plastics, electrical, paper and wood. ABC fire extinguisher is a universal extinguisher you can use it on multiple fires.”

There essentially are four types of fire extinguishers to choose from: Class A: Fires that involve wood, cloth, rubber, paper, and some types of plastics. Class B: Fires that involve gasoline, oil, paint, natural and propane gases, and flammable liquids, gases, and greases. Class C: Fires that involve all the materials found in Class A and B fires, but with the introduction of an electrical appliances, wiring, or other electrically energized objects in the vicinity of the fire. Class D: Fires that involve combustible metals, such as sodium, magnesium, and potassium.

Here’s why Scott and Wayne chose an ABC fire extinguisher instead of simply throwing water on it.

“You can’t use water on a vehicle fire because you can’t use water to put out a gas- or oil-based fire. To do so would more than likely spread the fire with the other fluids that a car has,” says Scott.

He also says that because he use to be a fire fighter, he knew to approach the burning vehicle at a 45-degree angle from the front. He began spraying the vehicle at the tires to keep them from exploding. Then he sprayed under the hood.

“A burning vehicle is difficult to put the fire out because it could explode. You have the gas tank and the tires to consider,” says Wayne. “This could cause severe injuries to those nearby.”

I invite you to read on and learn more about the various fire extinguishers you have in your vehicles and your facilities (Use The Right Portable Fire Extinguisher). In addition, please use our fire extinguisher code and service page to learn even more (Fire Extinguishers).

If you need assistance, please think of ESC and be sure to give us a call. I or one of my skilled, knowledgeable staff will be happy to assist you! Call us at 614-754-1393 or send us a comment or question using our quick response forms on the right or below.

Thank you, and have a safe and prosperous day!

John Larkins
ESC Senior Partner

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ESC Commends Workmen for Roadside Heroics

In a world where so many of us look to someone else for protection when bad things take place, it’s gratifying for me to bestow a vote of thanks for two of my own ESC technicians-- Scott Camps and Wayne Clay --for the heroics they performed at the corner of 3rd and Mound as they were coming off of Rt. 70.

“We saw the smoke as we were coming off of 70,” says Scott Camps, our lead fire suppression tech at ESC. “By the time we arrived on the scene, the fire had engulfed the car.”

Scott Camps	Wayne Clay

What they did after that was well above the call of duty. They grabbed several fire extinguishers from their service truck and they began to fight the fire in an attempt to put it out.

“The fire was nearly out when the fire department arrived,” Camps finished.

So may I say thank you for a job well done to Scott Camps and Wayne Clay! I’m proud of you and so glad to have you working with us here at ESC! Frankly, everyday it’s all about safety and what Scott and Wayne did exemplifies our company’s work philosophy exactly. Thank you!

John Larkin, Senior Partner
Electronic Systems Consultants LLC

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