Siren Comatability

Has anyone found a siren that can be connected ? Loving the system but a text notification is not enough to wake me if there was an intruder sensed by the motion detector or door sensors.

This is what I use. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00PKKM2HO/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1453532562&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=z-wave+siren&dpPl=1&dpID=51spjdYahJL&ref=plSrch

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Are you in the US or the UK?

If you’re in the US, there are two sirens on the official compatability list which are both popular: the Aeon labs siren, which was already mentioned, and the fortrezz. I believe the fortrezz is slightly louder. Neither of these are as loud as a smoke alarm, but they should be loud enough to wake up most people.

https://www.smartthings.com/compatible-products/

If you’re in the UK, I don’t know if there are any sirens on the official list yet, but there are several that people have been working with. You can find topics discussing those in the UK section of this forum. But I believe both fortrezz and Aeon Labs do make European versions of theirs.

Another popular alternative is to use a sound player and play dogs barking or a spoken alert or a siren sound. People tend to think of Sonos for this, but you can do it with other players as well. Look for the “notify with sound” discussions. The Sonos integration has been having some difficulties lately, so I’m not actually sure if it’s working right now. But you can find those discussions in the forums as well.

Have you checked out the Aeon Labs Doorbell? It’s about $50 and it can play MP3s so you can make it tell you which motion or door sensor was activated.

It’s only 85db so you may want to plug it in somewhere near your bedroom. The doorbell button can also be used for something else like a panic button if you wanted.

A couple of device handlers have been written for it:

@Frostie69,

I have 2 Utilitech sirens from Lowes, also known as Everspring Sirens, and they work great, and they are loud (2 settings via a switch on the device). I use my own device type just for looks, but the default ST device type - Zwave Siren - works perfectly.

you want Siren Comatability to wake you from a coma?

Will you be very upset if you cannot turn the siren off by automation or manual phone app command? If you will very upset then you should not install a siren because it does happen too often according to some posters.

Most alarms are false alarms anyway, even in dedicated burglar alarm systems.

When I was looking for sirens that was one of my main concerns so I ended up going with the doorbell I mentioned. It turns out that it automatically shuts off after 25 seconds which worked out perfectly for me.

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I would go with the Aeon Siren or Aeon Doorbell. They both support secure inclusion. I do not believe the others do.

Purchased and installed the doorbell as a SmartThing devise.
Connecting was easy but the volume level is ridiculously low. After 30-minutes
of testing nobody heard it in the room next to me. You certainly would not hear
it over the TV.

Really wanted this to work…

I’m assuming you changed the “Sound Level” to 10 in the device settings, but if you haven’t, try that and see if it fixes your problem.

The 5 sounds it comes with aren’t very loud, even on the loudest setting, but if you try some custom mp3s it should be noticeably louder. You can also use an application like Audacity to increase the volume of the mp3s.

The following is unrelated to your issue, but it still might be helpful if you decide to stick with this product.

When I first got the device, I often didn’t catch what it announced, but I found if you add a sound to the beginning of your mp3s, the sound grabs your attention and you have no problem hearing what was said. All my alarm type of messages like “the front door has been opened” have an annoying alert sound and my messages like “the washing machine has finished” play a soft tone.

If the ends of your mp3s are getting cutoff you can use an app like Audacity to add a little bit of silence to the end of them.

When the device is given power, it automatically plays track 1 so to avoid random phantom rings in the middle of the night, I recommend replacing track 1 with silence. You can find an mp3 that plays silence in my github repository and I think there’s also a link on the device handler’s forum page.

Thank you…. I was hoping for a simple chime, bell or whatever to play when someone opens a door or window.

I tried installing your code but had no luck getting it to work. Then again, I’ve been a SmartThing
expert (grin) for 3-days now. So I’m sure I’ve done something wrong or missed a step. Need to go back and re-read everything.

If my understanding is correct, I install your code as a Devise Handler and then switch the device type to your code. Nothing happens…

It’s usually easier if you install the device handler before pairing the device, but it should work either way. After installing the device handler, did you click the publish button?

The doorbell has to be paired securely and with this device, that often doesn’t happen automatically. If this is the problem, you’ll see a message in the log when you try to save the device settings from the mobile app.

It might be easier if you just remove the device and pair it again, but this time while it’s looking for the device, press the action button on the speaker multiple times. That should force it to pair securely.

When pairing a secure device, it usually has to connect directly to the device instead of repeating off of other devices so you may need to move the device closer to the hub. If you move the device after you’ve paired it, you should run a z-wave repair once you’ve moved it to it’s final location.

I uninstall the device and copied the code for both (see image).

Re-paired the device (door chime) from about 6-feet from the hub.

The device picked your code and I’m able to open the Door Chime but it has a big circle in the center with off on it. I see other options in regards to volume …… but just can’t
turn it on.

The learning curve is going to be fun

Those are 2 different device handlers for the same product so you didn’t have to install both of them, but having them both installed shouldn’t hurt anything.

When you paired the device, did you push the action button on the speaker multiple times while it was searching for the device?

Have you opened live logging in the IDE to see if it’s displaying any messages?

Have you gone into the device settings and saved? In the android app, you can open the device settings by clicking the cog/circle next to the menu button in the top right corner. I’m assuming it’s a similar process for iPhone.

If you can see the volume slider on the main screen, then the device is currently using the DTH named Aeotec Doorbell. Does anything happen when you move the sliders? What happens when you press the other buttons like beep and siren?

Kevin – Thank you a bunch for your help. Not sure what I did or for that matter how I did it. But it’s working.

Replacing the MP3 file did make a big difference.

Thank you again

Is there a place to donate for your time in writing the code and supporting folks like me

I’m glad you were able to get it working. I recommend reading this post because this device has some quirks that you should be aware of and it also explains how instead of just making it beep when the window opens, you can have it play an mp3 that says something like “the kitchen window has been opened”.

If you don’t plan on using the button as a doorbell, you should switch to the Aeon Labs Multifunction Doorbell DTH (you’ve already installed it), because it allows you to use the button without the device making a sound. I use mine to put my house to sleep at night and wake it up in the morning.

After you change the device handler, you will need to go into the device’s settings from the mobile app. Unlike the DTH you’re currently using, the UI doesn’t have sliders for volume or tracks so you will need to make those changes in the device settings.

The first time you open the settings after switching from the other DTH, you’ll most likely see some values without labels, but if you clear the values, they won’t be there the next time you open the settings.

I have a Read Me file in the root of my SmartThings repository on GitHub. It lists all of my SmartApps and Device Handlers, and there’s a donation link in one of the paragraphs at the top, but that’s really not necessary.

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