Telular, maker of cellular radios for security systems, is introducing Telguard HomeControl Flex at ISC West 2015 this week in Las Vegas. Flex enables alarm and home automation systems to integrate with more than 170 smart home devices via IFTTT, an online if/then engine for cloud-enabled products and services.
If the new service launches in May, as Telguard indicates, then it may be the first time that leading alarm systems integrate with the increasingly popular IFTTT.
At launch, the service will be available via Telguard’s 3G/4G and CDMA universal cellular communicators, meaning that dealers who install the communicators with any security panel can offer Flex.
But Telguard hopes to incorporate Flex more integrally into popular security panels, starting with current partners 2Gig and DSC, marketing VP Shawn Welsh tells CE Pro, SSI‘s sister publication.
Telguard already serves 2Gig and DSC with its radios and Telguard HomeControl SHaaS (smart home as a service) platform, so it would not be a difficult next-step to incorporate Flex into these systems.
IFTTT started life as a simple way to link online services such as Twitter, weather and texting. Users set their own rules (“recipes” in IFTTT parlance) such as IF @juliejacobson is mentioned on Twitter, THEN send a text message to Julie Jacobson.
Now IFTTT boasts scores of devices that work with the service, including Nest thermostats and Protect smoke detectors, Belkin Wemo sensors and switches, Philips Hue smart bulbs, Lutron Caseta lighting and motorized shade control, Rachio irrigation systems, Wink devices, SmartThings home automation hubs and more.
What it doesn’t have – yet – is any of the major alarm panels, although ADT has said its iControl-powered security and home control panels would have a “channel” on IFTTT.
Initially, the Flex service will provide limited access to the compatible alarm panels (with the dealer’s permission), enabling remote access to top-line functions like arming and disarming.
So, for example, since IFTTT supports Google Calendar, a user might create a recipe to disarm the security system on the days that the housekeeper cleans.
“End users utilize a new set of mobile apps for Android, iPhone and Windows Phone to remotely arm their system with prebuilt automation rules from IFTTT to connect to the ever expanding list of consumer products and services they use every day,” according to Telguard.
Deeper access is expected in the future, most likely with 2Gig and DSC panels, Welsh says.
It might be possible, for example, for users to access devices (Z-Wave thermostats, 345-Mhz security sensors, etc.) that are attached to the alarm panel.
