Hubitat Control of Monitored Honeywell Vista (-250) Alarm Panel via Envisalink 4

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I just finished getting my Honeywell Vista 250 alarm system modified such that I can arm and disarm it from Hubitat. I wanted this functionality so I could create rules when coming home and leaving home that controlled a mix of things (lights, locks) but also arm and disarmed the system.

In my case my system is professionally installed and monitored by an alarm company (both cellular and broadband paths to the central office (CO)). I know a lot of folks use an alarm panel standalone without monitoring but that is a different use case than I needed.

I thought I would summarize the steps I went through in case someone else is thinking of doing this.

  1. Purchased an Envisalink 4 interface module to allow an access to arming my panel on and off.
  2. Set up an account on Eyezon website and registered my Envisalink MAC address and declared it to be a Honeywell Vista panel.
  3. Wired Envisalink to panel and router and powered up. This led to Envisalink getting the Honeywell firmware downloaded. After the device connected online and I was able to upgrade the firmware to latest (not sure why boot up didn't go straight to the latest but so be it).
  4. Then had to setup a keypad at address 18 in my panel.
  5. Used the "backdoor" technique to get into Vista panel installers mode (my alarm company changed from the default installer code). Basically power down panel then power up and press and hold * and # keys at any keypad within 30 seconds of power up.
  6. Then enter #93 to bring up menu mode pressed 0 several times until device programming mode was shown. Enter 1 for yes to enter device programming mode, then address: 18 and *, Keypad type: 01 *, Sound: 0 *, GLBL: 0 *, Autostay: 0 *, AUI: 0 *, then ******** to step through the other devices until you return to devices menu.
  7. press *99 to exit programing mode.
  8. As a test I reset one keypad to address 18 (via 1 and 3 keys 50 seconds after a power cycle of keypad) and that confirmed address 18 was properly activated (with Envisalink disconnected from panel. Set keypad back to its former address.
  9. Then tested alarm by arming disarming from eyezon web portal and eyezon iPhone app.
  10. Then loaded Envisalink app from git hub Doug Beard V 0.5.4
  11. Created an Envisalink device and setup parameter (IP address, master code, ...)
  12. Then tested arm disarm on the new device. Confirmed working so now ready to create rules to turn on off alarm.
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Congratulations. FWIW, I have found that the "Enable HSM Integration" in the app to be kind of wonky. So, in my rules, I use the Envisalink device commands like

IF everyone is not present THEN
ArmAway() on Envisalink

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Update:

I had to disconnect my Envisalink to my alarm panel. I was getting random "ECP" errors (Enhanced Console Protocol is the proprietary communication language Vista panels use to talk to keypads and modules) in the Vista system and my alarm company was calling about these every other day.

It was odd I could arm and disarm the panel from both Hubitat and the Eyezon iPhone app but the Vista panel was generating these errors (some sort of comms error. My monitoring company was getting weary of my user installed interface so I had to do away with that interface.

Its disappointing because I had a panel interface (AD2USB) on the same alarm system with my now retired Vera system that worked flawlessly for several years.

I didn't have time to experiment with the Envisalink to see if the cable run was too long or if the power supply was max'd out by the addition of Envisalink. I think the answer is probably no to both but I wasn't able to experiment to confirm either way.

Maybe I'll come back to this in the summer but between the non support of the Envisalink Hubitat app, poor support from Envisalink, and the cryptic alarm panel world this solution is far from plug and play.

I did purchase and have installed a key fob to arm/disarm the alarm system. I might just connect a dry contact relay pair to the arm/disarm switches and use the fob instead of the Envisalink interface, All I need Hubitat to do is arm and disarm the system. Perhaps a less invasive way to control the system, albeit on the crude side.

If you are considering Envisalink and Hubitat buyer beware. Its not without its issues...