Re: Comfort Security System

["Mark McCall" <mark@xxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the quick review Raymond.  I'm sure there are lots on this list
who are interested in this product.  Looking forward to the next instalment
(maybe you'd like to do a review for the UKHA website??)

Thanks.

M.




-----Original Message-----
From: Raymond <Reb.barnett@xxxxxxx>
To: 'ukha_d@xxxxxxx' <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Date: 12 March 1999 02:25
Subject: [ukha_d] Comfort Security System


>As requested, a reasonably brief review [but not brief enough to post
it
>yesterday when I said I would!] of my experience with the Comfort
>security system:
>
>The system as delivered consisted of the main Comfort CPU unit which
>lives in a steel box, a Kompad (keypad with speaker, microphone and
>status lights) and a doorphone (Kompad minus the lights and keypad).
>
>The kompads look quite nice. They passed the ultimate acid test in that
>my wife has given permission for them to be mounted in prominent
>locations (unlike the programmable thermostat I fitted a while back
>which was ordered out of sight, with the result it gets fooled by the
>cooker and fire). My only criticism of them is that the microphone
>points downwards and so far I've had a bit of trouble getting them to
>pick up speech properly. This could be down to the fact they are not
>properly wall mounted yet, and it is also apparently reasonably
>difficult to set the gain properly when you listen to it in the same
>room, due to the way it prevents feedback. On a similar note, the
>intercom facility between Kompads is not properly two-way: you have to
>press a button to alternate between speaking and listening. This is a
>shame because if you the telephone to call a Kompad (or doorstation)
you
>do get proper two-way communications which work really well.
>
>The extra components I ordered for the CPU (extra input/output zones
and
>telephone ringer) were supplied ready fitted. All that needed to be
done
>at a physical level was wire the various components together.
>
>The system comes with a copious supply of manuals. These were clear,
>well written, and comprehensive. Different manuals are targeted at
>different audiences:
>Installation: talks you through a sample installation including wiring
>and programming
>Training: attempts to demonstrate all possible areas of functionality
of
>the system by means of examples you can work through.
>User: aimed at end users and talks you through how to use the Kompad to
>set and use the alarm
>Programming: provides a reference guide to the programming language
>
>I've got as far as wiring up the system on my desk and proving that it
>all works as expected. Wiring it together presented no difficulties.
The
>system is pre-programmed with a set of default responses (which are
>mostly documented) which govern what happens when certain events fire.
>If your requirement is for a straight alarm system then the standard
>settings will probably do you fine. However there is nothing to stop
you
>from customising actions. Judging from the manual, the limiting factor
>on what you can do with the system will be available memory (total of
>127 responses of 5 actions each). I've customised some of the responses
>which is extremely easy if you are just tweaking existing parameters
>(for example the delay before the doorbell answerphone kicks in).
>
>I've wired up a telephone to the system and this interface works
>particularly well. The voice menu has a British accent which makes a
>very pleasant change, you can adjust the speed of the menus and
>interrupt them if you know what option you want. I had hoped to be able
>to use the phone speeddials to automate some choices but this does not
>work: the phone dials too quickly for Comfort - apparently a feature to
>prevent someone pressing redial and disarming the system. It helps to
>have a manual in front of you when you're navigating the menus for the
>first few times, but once you know where you're going then it is dead
>easy (e.g. 1 followed by 0 to 3 to arm the system to its various
>levels). If you have a decent speakerphone then I reckon you could do
>without a Kompad. So far as I've determined, a phone has only the
>following shortcomings: you have to login with your 4 digit code each
>time before you can do anything. When using your local phone it would
be
>nice to dispense with that for functions such as house automation,
>reducing the number of keypresses needed to only one or two. Similarly,
>you don't have any single key shortcuts: the kompads allow you to
>programme shortcuts (e.g. press F5 to activate the intercom)
>
>Shortcomings I've identified so far centre around just how programmable
>you can make the system. The system advertises support for outputting
IR
>codes without needing any additional hardware other than an IR LED.
>However I'm a little concerned by how many responses I'm going to use
in
>controlling my lights and heating, so I won't explore this option for a
>while.
>
>
>To summarise: so far I've only benchtested the alarm side of things,
and
>a couple of macros, which has all worked fine. I will be replacing my
>old alarm system this weekend and so it's only then that I shall
>properly start programming the system to switch lights etc. based on
>occupancy. From all that I've seen so far I expect no problems (and I
do
>plan to be reasonably clever with the programmed behaviour). However
>I'll post again in a week or two to say whether it passes the 'wife
>test' of operation simplicity and usefulness...
>
>Ray Barnett.
>
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