To clarify, is this always the best way to set up the ADT/Smartthings panel or only if using ADT Tools 2? I ask because I’ll be setting mine up soon and want things to go smoothly. Thanks!
I’m a little confused after reading the wiki and what your App and Child Apps offers…
I thought you could already do everything your app “enables” using rules? Am I missing something here? Isn’t the ADT/ST sensors exposed in SmartThings as devices? From my understanding, even using your App, you still can’t trigger ADT alarm events using non ADT/ST sensors…
What exactly does your App do that can’t be done without a DTH in webCoRE? Does the ADT Panel attributes show up in ST?
Thanks
The sirens that are external to the ADT Alarm Panel are dependent on the cloud. So if the internet or cloud is out they will not respond. I have never had anyone test what would happen if the cloud goes out and then returns during an event though. That may be something that needs to be tested.
The ADT Tools 2 Smartapp responds to the alarm panel status changes. So as soon as the cloud is up they would be available again.
Each person is impacted by cloud outages differently. Some get infuriated by it and some hardly notice it. I can think of maybe 3 or 4 times where I have seen real impact. It would be ridiculous for me to believe that it has only had that many issues. I think most would say about once a month. But the impact really depends on how you use it.
If you choose at a later date to remove ADT Tools simply uninstall it. It has not lasting impact no your smartthings environment at that point.
If you want to use non ADT dual branded sensors for security purposes and use the ADT Tools 2 alert app enable them it is probably best to get the Location Alarm Status value on the location setup. If you will use all Dual branded sensors for security there is no need for this. The Location Alarm status value is used simply to provide a exit delay option for the non dual branded sensors. Without it any non dual branded sensors will be active immediately after the alarm is armed and could create false alarms in the home. Think of it like you arm the alarm and then walk out the door. The ADT panel has a exit delay to ignore any sensors for 60 seconds(default). The smartthings value that is updated to show the panel is armed is done immediately though. Sensors that look for the status of the panel will be armed immediately. So instead ADT Tools validates twice. It first looks at the Location Alarm state to decide if it should even check the Alarm Panel. Both of those values have to show armed for non Dual branded sensors to go off.
To be direct to your question. If you have any desire to use non Dual Branded sensors for security i would suggest you do it. If not then i wouldn’t worry about it. Another point is that even though it is a extra step in your setup it doesn’t hurt anything to do it.
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If you could do it all with rules I wouldn’t have created the app. I also don’t agree that comparing ADT Tools to webcore makes any sense.
The only item i found that smartthings could trigger an event was the alarm changing states. That is actually how this who tool started as a enhanced method to send notifications when the alarm changes from one state to the next. Beyond that you can not create routines to do anything with the alarm.
The sensors are exposed, but to trigger a action with a sensor is allot different then doing something with sensors based on alarm state. I could easily create a routine to turn on a light if the front door is open, but telling it to do that and turn on a siren when the front door is opend and the alarm is in Armed/Stay mode is not possible.
You are right that my app doesn’t trigger ADT Alarm events to their call center, but that is never what it was intended to do. The Non ADT activity was always in my mind viewed as a stop gap for users as a migration method, or simply to full fill the need based on what they already had. The setup with non dual branded sensors with ADT Tools and the Alarm panel is likely still better then SHM with those same sensors.
Comparing WEBCORE to a smart app is a bit ridiculous. Webcore is a great tool for complex rules, but is too much for some people. It also creates another integration point that can fail. Plus you basically have to code your pistons. The coding may be done in a way that is easier for many users then actually writing in Groovy, but in many ways a piston is just a mini app running on another cloud. I also don’t know of anyone that has coded the functionality in ADT Tools into Pistons. I am fairly certain it could be done, but i have never tried it or have a need for it. I also don’t know if all of the values associated with the alarm are visible to Webcore.
Thanks again for all the time answering @Mavrrick58 .I can only think of two last questions at the moment before installing ( may adt panel just showed up 
) I have read wiki a couple of times but anyway
- how do you "download adt tools 2 do you copy and paste onto IDE ?
- when you publish it on your account in IDE does it have to be reviewed? if so how long does that take and can I continue with install or do I have to wait ?
- This should help with both the terminology and the basic process. It’s a little different when the author is providing the code via github, but that will be explained in the installation instructions. ( The topic title is a clickable link)
- The good news and the bad news is that when you self publish in this manner, smartthings doesn’t do any review at all. You are just adding it to your own account. So there’s no delay there. But there’s also no security protection, which is one reason that the entire platform is in transition and will not be using the groovy method in the future.
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I think you might have misunderstood what I was asking or either I failed at making myself clear. I definitely wasn’t attempting to compare ADT Tools to webCoRE. I was just asking what exactly was your implementation enabling. Mainly because I thought I had a handle on how it works but was now frustrated that I was again confused. 
This is the part that I thought I understood. I thought you could sync the SHM state with the ADT alarm state via a rule but not the other way around. I do not have an ADT panel but still would like to learn how it works.
Sorry if I sounded as if I was challenging. I was and still am a little genuinely confused.
So there are two things to consider.
- The ability to use SHM on the ADT Smartthings panel is a hack. Smarthings doesn’t really want them both on the same setup.
- Without any third party app like ADT tools or Webcore you can’t tell the ADT side anything. Even with them the only commands avaliable are to arm and disarm.
- The only thing from the alarm itself you can use to do anything in the standard rule engines is based on the alarm mode change. Ie trigger an action in smartthings when alarm goes to Arm/Stay.
- If you happen to have SHM loaded there may be a way to trigger a change to SHM from the mode change on the ADT Smartthings panel.
ADT tools is really about doing 3 things.
- Enhanced notifications:
- Mode change management from the smartthings side in a method that exposes the function in a usable way for other apps.
- Providing methods to trigger smartthings to run actions based on alarm activity.
One thing to remeber with ADT Tools is i have been building ot more and more over time based of requested functionality. The best example of that is recently i added the ability for repeated notifications when a event has occured but not cleared. It is very possible something could be added that could be accomplished in other methods as it continues to grow.
I didn’t mean to come off confrontational if i did either.
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Thank you, Maverrick58!
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You are very welcome and if you do see any gaps in functionality feel free to ask and i will see if there is a way to add the ability to ADT Tools.
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@Mavrrick58 @JDRoberts Because of both your help, I have my system up and working . I am just tweaking and adding my other iris things ! I hope you know that your work helps other people to better protect 
their homes and families.
:
it is very appreciated 
: Thank you both.
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Well. . . it sounded simple but I managed to complicate it. I couldn’t find Smart Home Monitor so I went ahead with the ADT hub setup without SHM. After rereading this post, I see that SHM was supposed to be installed before ADT setup. So, can I just delete the ADT hub and start over? Also, I still don’t know where SHM is. Can you tell me and make it stupid simple.
Attempting this after a double shift was poor judgement on my part so I’m going to bed and will attempt when well rested.
Thanks!
I think you can create a new location. Install SHM, then migrate the ADT hub and all its sensors to it.
Make sure you install the version of SHM from the classic app.
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maybe I can help SHM = smart home monitor is one of the cards on the dash board of the ST classic app touch the card and the next page is smart home monitor
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Hmmm. . . I only have these two cards. Perhaps it’s because I activated the ADT hub before installing the classic app? I’ll try again when (if) I get out of work. I probably should start a new thread rather than take this one too far off topic.
Click on Automation at the bottom. Then click on the Smartapp name at the top on the screen that pops up. Once there you shoud see a Option for Safety & Security. Click on that. The top app to be installed should be Smart Home Monitor - Security. Install that and you should be set.
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I think you are still on the location with the ADT hub active on it. Exit that are and the click on the 3 lines in the uper left corner. Select the new location and the try the steps again.
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You are correct. . . thanks! I switched to the new location and installed SHM. Now I have a second location with SHM installed but the hub is on the first location. Is it possible to move the hub over to the new location and delete the original location?
I haven’t paired any sensors with the ADT hub so I could just reset everything and start fresh if that’s easier.
Is there other options to receive alarm or smoke detector alerts by phone calls other Then an ifttt with a switch , like to have alexa or google call me. And could I also have my alexa make sounds when a motion detector is activated, Dog barking etc?