Touchscreens as alarm keypads

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dos46

Member
Is it ill-advised to use touchscreens (ie IPAD) as an alarm keypad?

For example, if I go with a HAI alarm unit and have homeseer as my controlling system, can I put a wall mounted IPAD (HSTouch license on HomeSeer) as a keypad so when the front door is opened and the alarm is armed, the IPAD turns on and goes to the a specific screen to be able to disarm the alarm?
 
I don't know about HAI but there's a sweet app for ELK called eKeypad that does this on iphone/ipod touch/ipad. I've not yet mounted one on the wall, but it could do pretty much everything you describe except automatically waking ipad from sleep upon entry delay....but the dev is pretty responsive so something like this may not be completely out of the question.

There are companies out there that will sell you wall mounts for ipads and ipods and stuff.
 
I would have at least one traditional keypad set up for emergencies, such as a power failure. Unless your wireless router and Ethernet module are on Battery backup, your iPad will not function in a power outage.
 
Will the HAI or ELK systems work with HomeSeer HSTouch addon?

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to ask this in but I am looking to design a system with HomeSeer handling all my automation needs. I'm flexible to use either HAI or ELK.

I basically want to be able to put my own touchscreen by the main entrance so I can customize it with alot of things like the one I mentioned in my original post and also, if anyone rings the doorbell, the door camera feed will be visible from the keypad so my family can see whos ringing the bell.

I will put my equipment on a battery backup, but I will also have a hard wired touchscreen in a closet nearby just in case a long power outage or even if HomeSeer computer crashes.
 
While I did post the LaunchPort video above, I too would recommend a traditional keypad to also be installed.

Kazibole said:
I would have at least one traditional keypad set up for emergencies, such as a power failure. Unless your wireless router and Ethernet module are on Battery backup, your iPad will not function in a power outage.
Click to expand...

Why would the iPad not function in the event of a power outage? It does have an internal battery :D ....just means that it won't connect to the WiFi, as you suggested, if those items are not also on a battery backup system.... but it will still function, and it may even still have Internet access - if it is a 3G model with an active plan ;)
 
drvnbysound said:
Why would the iPad not function in the event of a power outage? It does have an internal battery :D ....just means that it won't connect to the WiFi, as you suggested, if those items are not also on a battery backup system.... but it will still function, and it may even still have Internet access - if it is a 3G model with an active plan ;)
Click to expand...

Meant it would not function as a keypad for his alarm if his router / internet provider equipment is not on battery backup.
 
I agree, you'll want a regular keypad in an easily/quickly accessible location. Also consider what will happen if/when you sell the house.

And I am not sure your plan will work as smoothly as you expect using an IPad. You'll probably need to jailbreak it to get it to launch an app automatically on start/wake up and even then it may be tricky. Android has similar issues. Not sure about the new Win7/8 tablets.
 
wuench said:
I agree, you'll want a regular keypad in an easily/quickly accessible location. Also consider what will happen if/when you sell the house.

And I am not sure your plan will work as smoothly as you expect using an IPad. You'll probably need to jailbreak it to get it to launch an app automatically on start/wake up and even then it may be tricky. Android has similar issues. Not sure about the new Win7/8 tablets.
Click to expand...

I think the HAI Touchscreen 5.7e can do what I want, but I wanted to avoid using their touchscreens. I remember seeing a webinar about their touchscreens and their CCTV video server they sell. I was hoping I can accomplish this with my own touchscreen.
 
dos46 said:
What touchscreen are you using?

That is a very similar type setup I would like to have at my entry points in addition to live feeds coming from my outdoor cameras so people can see what is going on.
Click to expand...
That video is actually from my pc monitor (Dell Studio One, has a touchscreen but I was using the mouse in video) but I use it with a HP TouchPad running Android and an old, old in wall windows CE touchscreen but it will run on pretty much any screen including iPads.
I also have cameras on it, I think you can see the "cameras" button when the video starts. Just hit that and it shows my DVR cameras and any ip or web cameras I want to add to it. Also have a doppler image from a website on it. Right now the DVR cameras are only available on my LAN but I'm working on getting them "remoted" without exposing them to the internet. ie I only want them available through Elve.
 
The iPad can just be let to run the application all the time. I don't see why a jailbreak is required. In the unlikely event the iPad reboots just set up the home screen where the only icon is the control app..then it is not confusing to anyone what to do if they need to get into the app.


Also..my entire control closet, including all my security, network switching, wifi, home automation equipment, and windows media center/cablecard DVR setup is on hefty battery backup.

When you invest in equipment like this spend the one or two hundred for some reasonable batteries! Any decent UPS acts as a voltage regulator, doing far more than a normal surge protector to keep your equipment powered only with the ideal voltage not to damage it. The fact that it keeps all systems running without reboot through all but the longest power failures is a bonus.
 
chedemefedeme said:
The iPad can just be let to run the application all the time.
Click to expand...

Does the iPad have to be on 24/7 for this to work? I'm researching if the screen can go to sleep (not the OS) and wake the screen on a touch. I don't think this is possible and may kill my ideas of using iPad this way.
 
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