Do you know if there are any plans to make the automation rules more robust? I am thinking of switching to a different system because certain rules I want can’t be created in ADC. For instance, using a light status as a trigger, or arming the system at a certain time.
Instead of having different actions available for different triggers in different places it would be great if you could just have one place where any trigger (arm status, sensor, light, thermostat, camera, time, lock) could control any activity (arm status, light, thermostat, record video, lock).
Do you know if there are any plans to make the automation rules more robust?
New features and capabilities are consistently being worked on.
I am thinking of switching to a different system because certain rules I want can’t be created in ADC. For instance, using a light status as a trigger, or arming the system at a certain time.
Instead of having different actions available for different triggers in different places it would be great if you could just have one place where any trigger (arm status, sensor, light, thermostat, camera, time, lock) could control any activity (arm status, light, thermostat, record video, lock).
There are a number of various reasons/causes for limitations to certain rules or triggers, and to generalize in this way would not be possible. We can try to address as many cases as possible:
Light Status cannot be used as a basic trigger likely because it is not available with all systems due to patent issues. Most systems allow light status polling from the panel for 10 lights. See this post for more details. Additionally, light switch status would not correlate well to most other actions. Turning on a light does not mean that every time a lock should unlock, for instance. If you are referring to turning on a second light whenever one is turned on, that can be better performed through scenes.
Arming based on time of day is possible, but it is a commercial oriented feature. It can be used on any account though by adding the Arming Schedules add-on. You can find the add on via the System Manager in your Surety account.
Most of the rest of the perceived combos would be due likely to security concerns, etc. For example, arming or disarming a system based on sensor activity or thermostat functions would not make sense, and would be a very serious security and false alarm concern. The same goes for overhead garage doors, as using something like sensor status or Geoservices as a trigger opens up a ton of security concerns.
Lights have the most possible triggers, as the impact of an unintended activation is very small. A good rule of thumb would be when thinking about a desired rule to consider whether or not you would want that to happen 100% of the time. So for example with a Door Lock - let’s say sensor activity could trigger a lock, and you create a rule so that whenever a motion detector nearby is tripped the door unlocks. While in a few cases this would make it so the door unlocked for you as you walked toward it to leave, in every other case you would be unlocking your door simply by walking by for any other reason.
Similarly consider using Geoservices to open a garage door. In the event you drive home from outside the geofence, you automatically open the garage door, and since geofences should be at least 1-mile, we’ll say the door opens after a few minute delay so it generally opens close to when you would be arriving. Not only would you not be able to guarantee you would arrive home at the right time, there are many cases where you might drive back into the geofence and out again without going home. The system simply could not account for enough variables to make things like this work without very serious failures occurring.
Lastly, I do think it would be a bit more streamlined if Schedules and Event Rules were integrated and you could just select time of day as a trigger. We’ll push this to ADC.
As video recording schedules are linked with other camera settings and saved clips I don’t think control of those recording schedules would be moved away from the Video page, but we can suggest that as well as a user request. Video cameras are not an automation device in this sense though.