EnvisaLink-DSC

A plugin for Polyglot v3 (PG3) that interfaces with a DSC PowerSeries™ alarm panel through EnvisaLink™ EVL-3/4 and DUO™ adapaters from EyezOn. See http://www.eyezon.com/ for more information.

Prerequisites

Before installing the plugin, make sure your EnvisaLink device is connected to your compatible DSC PowerSeries™ alarm panel and your home network and is accessible via a web browser at http://envisalink.local or http://<device IP>. You will need to know the user ID ("user") and password (defaults to "user") for the EnvisaLink device.

Instructions for installation of plugin

From the Polyglot Dashboard:

1. Install the EnvisaLink-DSC plugin from the PG3x Plugin Store.
2. In the PG3x Dashboard, select the installed plugin and then add/modify the following required Custom Configuration Parameters under Configuration (note that the keys should automatically be added for required parameters):
   • key: hostname, value: locally accessible hostname or IP address of EnvisaLink or DUO device (e.g., "envisalink.local" or "192.168.1.145")
   • key: password, value: password for EnvisaLink device
   • key: usercode, value: user code for disarming alarm panel (e.g., "5555")
3. You can also add the following optional Configuration Parameters under Configuration:
   • key: numpartitions, value: number of partition nodes to generate (defaults to 1)
   • key: numzones, value: number of zone nodes to generate (defaults to 8)
   • key: numcmdouts, value: number of command output nodes to generate (defaults to 2)
   • key: disablewatchdog, value: 0 or 1 for whether EyezOn cloud service watchdog timer should be disabled (defaults to 0 - not disabled)
   • key: zonetimerdumpflag, value: numeric flag indicating whether dumping of the zone timers should be done on shortpoll (1), longpoll (2), or disabled altogether (0) (defaults to 1 - shortpoll)

PLEASE NOTE: Once the required configuration parameters have been saved, the plugin will create the panel, partition, and zone nodes in the next shortpoll event, and then attempt to connect to the EnvisaLink device and update all of the panel, partition, and zone states over multiple, subsequent shortpoll events. It may take two or three minutes depending on the shortpoll interval before all nodes and states are reflected properly in IoX, so please be patient. Check the Polyglot Dashboard for notices regarding bad configuration parameters and connection failure conditions.

Using the plugin events (commands)

The nodes of the EnvisaLink-DSC Plugin generate the following incoming commands to IoX, allowing the nodes to be added as controllers to scenes and the commands to be used as triggers in programs:

ZONE

• Sends a DON ("Opened") command when the zone is opened
• Sends a DOF ("Closed") command when the zone is closed

PARTITION

• Sends a DON ("Alarm Triggered") command when the partition enters an alarming state
• Sends a DOF ("Alarm Restored") command when an active partition alarm is cleared
• Sends a DON3 ("Partition Armed") command when the partition is armed
• Sends a DOF3 ("Partition Disarmed") command when the partition is disarmed

COMMAND_OUTPUT

• Sends a DON ("Activate Output") command when the command output is activated

PANEL

• Sends a DON ("Alarm Triggered") command when a smoke/panic alarm is activated
• Sends a DOF ("Alarm Restored") command when an active smoke/panic alarm is cleared
• Sends an AWAKE ("Heartbeat") command periodically for heartbeat monitoring

Notes for latest version (v3.1.9)

1. Initially, there are several state values that are unknown when the plugin starts and will default to 0 (or last known value if restarted). This includes trouble states, door chime, and the like. These state values may not be correct until the status is changed while the plugin is running.
2. The initial connection to the EnvisaLink and alarm panel may not be made until a couple of short polls have occurred (e.g., 30 or 60 seconds after start). The various state values (zone states, zone bypass, zone timers, etc.) are updated over subsequent short polls. Therefore, depending on the "shortPoll" configuration setting and the number of partitions, it may take a few minutes after starting/restarting the plugin for all the states to be updated.
3. If the connection to the EnvisaLink is lost, or if the plugin doesn't hear from the EnvisaLink for 10 minutes (including the expected four-minute keepalive), then the connection is reset and the plugin will attempt reconnect on the next short poll and every subsequent short poll until connection is reestablished or the plugin is shutdown.
4. Any change to "disablewatchdog" or "zonetimerdumpflag" parameters while the plugin is running should take effect immediately (i.e. at next time the functions are set to run). Any change to the "hostname," "password," or "usercode" parameters while the plugin is running will be used on the next conenction attempt to the EnvisaLink, whether the initial connection or a reconnect. If you change the "numpartitions," "numzones," or "numcmdouts" parameters after the AlarmPanel node has been created, you must restart the plugin for these new parameter values to take effect.
5. The plugin sends an AWAKE command (heartbeat) to the Alarm Panel node every four minutes (when the keepalive is received from the alarm panel). You can check for this in a program on the ISY to monitor the connection. There is also an "Alarm Panel Connected" driver value that reflects whether the connection to the EnvisaLink/alarm panel is active, but this may not get updated if the plugin fails.
6. The command output nodes are limited to partition 1 only. These Command Output nodes send DON commands, but not DOF commands.
7. If your EnvisaLink is firewalled and can not connect to the EyezOn web service, then the EnvisaLink will reboot every 20 minutes ("Watchdog Timer") in order to try and reestablish the connection to the web service. This will kill the connection to the plugin as well and it will (attempt to) reconnect on the next short poll. If you set the "diablewatchdog" configuration setting to 1, the plugin will send a periodic poll to the EnvisaLink to reset the Watchdog Timer so that the EnvisaLink won't reboot. The poll is sent every long poll if the "diablewatchdog" configuration parameter is set, so the "longpoll" configuration setting needs to be less than 1200 seconds (20 minutes).
8. During the intial connecting and status reporting on startup, the plugin sends keystrokes to the keypad to dump bypass zones to set the initial Zone Bypassed states. This may cause the status LEDs on the keypad(s) to blink briefly and a Security Event alert (text and/or email) to be generated by EyezON.
9. The zone timers ("Time Closed") represent the time since the last closing of the zone, in seconds, and are calculated in 5 second intervals. The timers have a maximum value of 327675 seconds (91 hours) and won't count up beyond that. The timing of the zone timer updates is based on the configured zonetimerdumpflag parameter (defaults to every short poll).
10. The reporting of trouble states through EnvsiaLink's TPI doesn't seem to align exactly with the description of the various trouble states in the documentation for the DSC panels. In addition, depending on how your panel is programmed, the panel may not send trouble reporting commands for certain conditions (e.g., AC power out). The plugin updates the trouble driver values for the Alarm Panel node from both specific trouble reporting commands from the EnvsiaLink and the state of keypad LEDs for partition 1.
11. Due to the way zone bypass flags are updated by the DSC system, zones may require up to two shortpoll intervals (e.g., 60 seconds) for their Zone Bypassed states to reset to False after a partition is disarmed and returns to the ready state.

For discussion and feedback, please use the Universal Devices Forums here: https://forum.universal-devices.com/forum/340-envisalink-dsc/.

Version history

v3.1.9 - Ready state fix and updates/fixes (2025-01-23)

• updated to latest nslib and udi_interface
• added GPV state (driver) to panel node to track plugin status
• handle "Ready - Forced Arming Enabled" command same as "Ready"
• send DON3 and DOF3 commands for partition arm and disarm, respectively
• increased password length support to 10 characters (works on EVL4 only)
• added names to driver list

v3.0.8 - Initial Release (2022-03-15)

• Converted to PG3 API
• Refactored code to be more readable and better structured
• Added Toggle Bypass command to zone nodes with improved bypass update functionality
• Added better error handling in API module
• Fixed state updates after Key Alarm (Fire/Auxilary/Police) restoral