Security: The Missing Link to True Automation – Part 1

Many professional integrators will claim to be able to fully automate your home, however, they will oftentimes install and program a Crestron automation system and leave the security of the home to an entirely different vendor. GMI integrates security and automation with all of our Crestron systems. There are many advantages to having a properly installed security system integrated to your Crestron control system, and today we will be discussing how the ability to trigger automated commands based upon security system events helps lead to a truly automated home.

When a home is outfitted with a security system, it typically contains an extensive number of devices that monitor activity in and around the house. The primary types of devices used are door contacts, which communicate when a door is open or closed; and motion detectors, which can tell if someone is inside a given room. Another aspect of most security systems is being able to tell if a home is occupied based on the arming state of the system. That is to say that if a system is armed as “away” it likely means that no one is in the home.

This constant monitoring of your home is how a security system becomes the missing link to true automation with a Crestron control system. With some creative programming at the hands of the Done Right Not Easy Crew, you can utilize these security devices, and arming states, in order to trigger events within the automation system itself.

The door and window contacts can be set to trigger any number of events throughout your Crestron automated home. For instance, if your Crestron controlled shades are down in front of a door that is opened from the outside, the Crestron system can be told by the security system to raise the shade to allow entry. When the door closes the shade can be told to automatically lower again. The action of opening a door can even tell your Crestron system to play a specific playlist or set the lights to a certain level. This is true automation beyond what many other integrators will be able to provide.

Knowledge of the occupancy of your home or a specific room is another powerful way that integrating security devices into your Crestron system is the key to true automation.

Using a motion detector to know if a room is empty for a certain amount of time, it can send a signal to the Crestron control system to turn off the lights in the room. Arming your security system to away can be programmed to send a signal to the Crestron control system to turn off all the lights, music, and video devices and even connect with your HVAC system to adjust the temperature for an empty home.

You can even set your automation up to an individual level. When your system is disarmed upon arriving home, you can have Crestron set up any number of preset lighting scenes or events down to the preference of the individual user and triggered by their alarm code. This adds an additional layer of security for guests or hired help as well, and when coupled with an access control system you can ensure that only those individuals you choose will have access to your Crestron automation.