Re: Laying out a new house - looking for Wiring and controller advise

["Robert L Bass" <robertlbass@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> He's a major part of the package you get when you
> buy a Stargate!  In fact, when he and his wife came
> to Hawaii last year they spent a night at our house
> - he and I were up till 3:30am wiring up and
> programming some new things! Now THAT'S support.

We had a similar (though sort of reversed) experience recently.  While I was
in Brazil a customer from another SA country decided to visit our "store"
for some in-person shopping.  Without calling first, he, his wife and two
children flew to Miami and then drove to Sarasota.  Their trip to Sarasota
was a diversion en route to Orlando to take their children to Disney.  They
rang my home doorbell and asked a relative if they might have a wrong
address.  He called my brother who works with me and he came over to meet
them.

The customers had dinner with Mike and his wife, then went over to Mike's
place to discuss their plans.  After spending a pleasant evening they went
on to Disney the next day, then returned to Sarasota where Mike invited them
to spend another night at his home.

I thought that was the strangest "customer service" event we'd ever have
until I got a call this morning from another customer.  He wants to come
over and discuss his needs for security, fire and automation systems which
he'd like us to supply to his company... in Egypt.  :^)

> Some of the things Stargate does for me in addition
> to the usual lighting control is automatically forward
> my landline to my cellphone when I leave the house
> and unforward it when I return...

Presumably the Stargate unit picks up the phone and dials the CF string
followed by your cell phone number, hangs up and then repeats, no?

> call me and/or send an email when certain events
> occur like mail or package delivery or the gardner
> arrives, control all pool and spa functions, control
> HVAC t-stats and dampers, control motorized
> shades and even makes sure the gas tot he BBQ is
> turned off.

Our community is installing a new gate system.  I plan to CF my land line to
one of my VoIP numbers when I'm away.  That will allow me to decide who gets
in even when I'm in Brazil.  I rarely get packages from UPS since returns
and warranty service are mostly handled directly by manufacturers and
distributors.  What I really want is to be notified when the mail arrives if
I'm out on the lanai or using the pool.  I plan to have the ELK send a voice
alert through the whole-house speaker system when the mailbox door is
opened.  That part's a snap.  Emailing you is a nice touch.

> Stargate integrates tightly with the Caddx alarm system
> and, of course, the RCS line of t-stats and RS-485
> controlled relays, control pads and screens.  I know Jeff
> is very interested in integrating Dave's RoZetta device as
> it will mean that the IVR board will not have to be
> removed to add UPB or Insteon integration.

If the RoZetta is from Houston I'm not interested in it.  If it's another
Dave, tell me more.

> ... I would try the XTB before switching horses...

I only learned about it hewre, too.  Sounds like a major help to X10 users.
I'll be interested to see Jeff's marketing plans for the XTB.

> Between the four new major competing technologies
> it's going to be a bit of a crapshoot for the next
> couple of years as things shake out...

True.  For me the problem is people want to do something today.  They ask
for guidance in selecting a system they can use now.  I can only guess which
technology has the best chances of success.  While your experience with
Insteon is encouraging, I can't ignore the support that Z-Wave is garnering
from numerous major players in the industry.  Since Insteon is still a
one-company product I'm reluctant to steer clients in that direction.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

=============================>
Bass Home Electronics
4883 Fallcrest Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34233
941-866-1100 Sales & Tech Support
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
=============================>