DMP Security Alarm Integration

This is really more about “interface” than true “integration”.

I have a DMP XT30 alarm panel in my house. The alarm is not all that spectacular in the HA world, but it’s very good at being a “dumb” alarm system. It is hard-wired, reliable and does it’s job. The downside is it is a proprietary system and does not integrate well with others. It does have an optional Z-wave controller, but I cannot interface it with ST so not of any use for this project.

Now I have scoured these forums for a few months now looking at different options to integrate security with my SmartThings but the reliability just is not there. The Konnected route had the most potential and was my Option A, but requires me to use ST for monitoring (which options exclude fire) and ST is not reliable enough for this application. Great product, great concept, great man behind the vision…but Samsung fails this approach.

Changing the board to a Honeywell or DCS was Option B but this requires more money upfront, an intermediate protocol server (which I could do) and also requires me to leave my local alarm company. The convenience just does not hold the same value as a local alarm company with 7 years of great service.

Let’s add on that cracking wifi just gets easier and a SmartThings account is just one more thing to get hacked. We recently had a house broken into around here where someone cracked the wifi password, got into the alarm interface and shutoff all the sensors and walked into the house without ever disarming the system. Add the common ST outages and uncertainty of software direction and I am even less interested in a full integration. Nothing worse than coming home after a long day of work with a beaten down wife (work, not me) and 4 riled up kids from school and I can’t turn off the alarm.

So I am now looking at my Option C: Build up a Z-wave interface for the existing DMP panel using programable output relays and onboard arming zones.

The DMP panel has an option to add four output relays that can be programmed based on various events. I was looking to set to four relays; one for “disarmed”, an “armed home or sleep”, “armed away” and one for all “alarm” events (fire, burglar, panic, ambush, etc). These output relays would then be wired to a z-wave contact for ST monitoring.

The DMP panel also allows for arming zones. So I will have the installer install 2 arming zones, one for “Armed Home” and one for “Armed Away”. I don’t use the “Armed Sleep” mode. The modes would be controlled by a z-wave contact for ST control. I will also add a zone for “Panic”. I may also add a “Supervisory” zone where I can have non-burglar zones trigger the alarm to contact the monitoring company so they can track me down - good application for water sensors.

With this approach, I keep my separate and independent operating alarm system. I can monitor the system operation via SmartThings and I can arm the system via SmartThings (and automatically via WebCore). The system can NOT be disarmed via SmartThings and in my mind that is a good thing (You have to have a code).

I am still waiting to hear back from the alarm company that the add-on parts I need are available and compatible with my specific board. I also need the electrical details for interfacing the monitoring and control relays. My plan is to use two MIMO2+, which gives me four inputs (from arm/alarm relays) and four relays (for 2 arming, a panic and a supervisory zone).

Hopefully I will have an update on this as it develops.

Which alarm system was that?

Not sure. He was a neighbor of a friend. I had tried to reach out to him to ask if he was willing to provide any details to help others prevent this exact scenario and he never responded to me. The only reason anyone even knew what happened was the whole thing was recorded on a neighbors camera system. Video quality was not very good from a hundred feet away though.

If I had to wager a guess it would be one of the new DIY systems that are wifi accessible.

Rather than using a Z wave contact sensor, you might want to look at ST_Anything. It is kind of perfect for what you are looking at here with the multiple inputs. It’s also a heck of a lot cheaper and more customizable. That would allow you to report back the status of your alarm system to ST.

How would you arm the system from SmartThings? You can’t use a contact sensor to do anything…it’s a sensor. You would need a relay of sometype. Again, I think ST_Anything would work well here using the “switch” capability. A contact sensor would work if the Alarm is changing the state to report back to ST but it’s not going to change anything to arm your system.

With ST_Anyting, you could have all 8 relays wired up to one device that costs around $9 instead of having to but 4 z wave contact sensors and 4 z-wave relays.

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Konnected is working on a new interface board which connects directly to your existing panel and allows you to monitor your various hard wired zones. It won’t allow you to directly control the alarm but would at least allow for you to monitor all of the sensors and leverage them within SmartThings. The best part about it is that it works completely independent of your wired alarm panel so that your traditional alarm will work exactly how it does currently.

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Thanks @Ryan780, I did not think about the ST_Anything and will look into it.

The feature that is specific to my alarm panel is I can program any zone for arming. I would put a Z-wave relay onto that particular zone in place of a sensor and when the relay is opened, the zone detects the break and arms the system accordingly. Quite simple. I need a few controllable 12vdc dry contact relays, thats it. I will program 3 zones, one for Arming Away, one for Arming Home and one for Panic. I will then have a room called “Alarm” that would have three momentary button devices and each button device would be programmed to control the respective relay. The relay need only close momentarily, which is why I thought about MIMO.

Now the alarm panel does NOT report its status through the contact sensors. Instead, the alarm panel also has four programmable contact relays. For these, I would install 4 z-wave contact sensors to detect these relays. Relays would be programmed as per above. Since my plan was to use the 2 MIMO2+, they already come with both the sensors and the relays on one device. I would only need two MIMO2+'s to get what I need.

But the ST_Anything looks like a great alternate, thanks for suggesting it and I will look into it.

I am aware of the device but I did not know where he was in development. I see this option as supplemental as I can now capture all my door, window and motion sensors. However, as you stated, it in itself does not let me control or capture the alarm stage. In the future though, I could perhaps consolidate some motion sensors.

@clsanchez77

Any developments on the tie in with the DMP panel? I have an XR150 hardwired that I’d like to explore integrating.

Nothing yet. My HA project is on hold for the moment while I focus on some other things in life. I did discuss adding some arming zones that would be Z-wave triggered as well as some relays that would be wired to a z-wave sensor, but the alarm company will not work with me on this. They sell their own system and want me to go that route. So, I will be moving on from the company, which opens other options. But I am not at a point to take that on right now.

Right now, I am more focused on the lack of reliability of the ST/WebCore before I really invest any more time or money into this system.

But school is starting back up and I need to be focused on the Cub Scouts program for the school and my oldest is getting ready to start flag football, so this may be a while before i circle back.

Any further update on this? I might be able to assist in the future as I’m a systems integrator that sells and programs DMP.

So I asked DMP about their Zwave module. They said it can work with secondary controllers but it has to be the primary controller. What I still dont know is if that controller module will enumerate the zones and communicate the status of those zones back to the zwave network. I do know that if you sign up for their app the app can tell you the status of individual zones.

I really just want to get the status of the zones so if the Konnected option does this that would be great!

Hi, I’m brand new to SmartThings this week. I am also a DMP integrator.I’ve been playing with the z wave interface in DMP panels for several years now. I’m not sure why DMP would have told you that it’s Z-Wave module has to be the primary controller. I have successfully integrated DMP Z-Wave Network with a Vera 3 and also with a Z-Wave remote control on more than one panel. The DMP 738Z Will allow you to either transfer the network from it to another controller or pull the network in from another controller and use it as its own. In this situation I believe the receiving controller becomes the primary. Furthermore regardless of the direction of transfer the Z-Wave devices in the DMP interface can be used to create favorites or scenes. These are assigned a number and can then be programmed in the panel to be triggered by any event that is available to trigger an output. In programming for instance if you want to have a zone turn on a light. You would create a favorite that activates the light and then In zone information under the actions tab you would select your zone state and for your output number you would enter F1 to activate favorite number one, 1 to activate output one, G1 to activate group one and so on. when activating a favorite from this interface you will still be given the option to select pulse, momentary, follow, steady, as if it were a physical relay. These options are in fact null and the favorite is a one-off trigger the same as if you rang a doorbell. Favorites can be manually activated, triggered by user codes, scheduled times and dates, triggered by sunrise or sunset, triggered by panic switches or any other zone type, The arm state or alarmed state of the panel. The list goes on and on. DMP XR panels have a direct integrator connection built into them and XT panels can report to any controller through its communication tab in programming. in short DMP panels are actually very powerful and in my opinion very user friendly. It’s a shame I don’t have the skills to write the link between smart things and DMP alarm panels because I believe it would be a useful and powerful integration. I can easily program the panel to send it’s information to an IP address and port number. I have signed the nondisclosure agreement and have all the reporting codes. Where my skill level falls off is how to receive the information on the other end and then write the necessary code so we can react to the messages coming in. If anyone can point me in the right direction I’d be happy to take a stab at learning how to do it.

So if I were to install that zwave controller on my DMP, any idea how I would add it to my smartthings hub?

Hi Mike,
Just saw your post and it looks like you may be able to help me. I have a DMP system in our house and it has a DMP738Z Zwave module. I also have a Baldwin lock which I can control through the lock (only open and close). I would like to be able to have a log of users via unique user codes the lock allows for, According to Baldwin, I need to use the SmartThings app to get this functionality but for whatever reason, the SmartThings app does not see my DMP Zwave 738, hence not allowing me to add a device to the app. Any idea how to work around this? Thanks!
Howard