PIMA Alarm Controller Instruction Manual
- June 13, 2024
- PIMA
Table of Contents
PIMA Alarm Controller
GENERAL
Alarm Controller is a Windows application that is intended for organizations having alarm systems, and they need to monitor these systems and execute various operations such as arming, disarming zone bypassing, and more. The supported alarm systems are FORCE and VISION, and they connect by IP communication to the center where the Alarm Controller application is installed. The protocol used is ForceCom – a PIMA propriety protocol based on the standard Contact ID events format.
GENRAL SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The alarm systems in the protected sites establish a connection with the PC running the application and report the various events in alarm over IP communication protocol. Each alarm system can communicate with its Ethernet, cellular modem, or both.
SPECIFICATION
- Control of up to 400 alarm systems.
- Communication:
- IP – the systems connect using their Ethernet port or cellular transmitters.
- AES 128-bit encryption.
- Monitor:
- Reports receiving:
- Zone Alarm, arming/disarming, faults, panic and more.
- Timestamp attached to each report.
- Alarm sound for alarm report.
- Systems’ status display (Armed/Disarmed)
- Control:
- Arming/Disarming.
- Outputs activation – e.g. door lock control.
- The siren sounded stopping.
- Zone bypassing.
- Operating system supported – Windows 7 and up.
INSTALLATION
The installation of the application should be done using ADMIN mode. After
receiving or downloading the installation file Alarm Controller Setup, execute
it by two mouse pressing (left button). Follow the installation instructions.
After installation completes, run the program by pressing twice on the icon
that appears on the desktop screen:
Activation Required message is displayed. Press OK, and navigate to the Settings TAB. If required, change the application language. Select the Verification Code field, and copy the code by CNTRL+V. Send this code to PIMA sales/support, and get the activation code. Copy the activation code using CNTRL+C.
Select the Activation Code field, press twice on the left button of the mouse, and paste the Verification Code using Cntrl+V. Press Enter. For a valid activation code, you start using the application.
HOME SCREEN
The Home screen is for the day-to-day usage of systems monitoring and control. It is composed of three windows: All events, Alarm events, and systems status. As long as no system is configured in the Systems tab, all three windows are empty. After entering systems in the Systems tab, the Home screen will look as follows:
All-Events window
In this window, all the incoming reported events are displayed.
Following is the description of the fields in this window:
- TimeStamp – date and time at the event received in the application.
- Account ID – account ID of the system (set in the alarm system)
- Name – the name of the system as configured in the application for the received account ID.
- Event – the event description such as arming, alarm, etc.
- Zone/User – depends on the event type. For an alarm it will be the zone number that has generated the alarm; for arming/disarming event – the user number that has armed or disarmed the system.
- The Contact ID code of the event (in addition to the verbal description). This option is activated in the Settings tab (see there). It is recommended to activate on for special tests. See Figure 5.
Alarm events window In this window, only Alarm events are displayed. By default, the zone alarm events are defined as Alarm events. You can set which zones are defined as Alarm events. In the Settings tab (see paragraph Error! Reference source not found.). See paragraph 5.1 for the field descriptions.
System status window
In this window, all the configured systems are displayed, along with their key status – armed or disarmed. In addition, this window enables systems controlling – arming, disarming, and more (see next). Following is the description of the fields in this window:
- Account ID – account ID of the system (set in the alarm system)
- Name – the name of the system as configured in the application for the received account ID.
- Status – the key status of the alarm system: armed or disarmed.
The system status is updated according to its arming/disarming reports. After the first time that the system is connected, the status will be displayed as “unknown” until receiving an arming/disarming event. When running the software, all the systems will be shown as unknown at the beginning.
System control
Arming/disarming
For system arming – press twice on the system line to change its state: if the system is disarmed – it will be armed; if the system is armed – it will be disarmed. This operation is possible only if the status displayed for this system is not unknown. The time that it will take for the command to be completed depends on the system configuration. If the operation mode is always connected, it will take a few seconds; if this option is not set – it might take up to 4 minutes (life signal interval time). During this time the status will be displayed as Arming pending or Disarming pending, depending on the command.
Zone bypassing and output activation
When the cursor is on the line of the required system, press the right button
of the mouse. An additional window is opened, that enables zone bypassing and
outputs activation. See figure Figure 8.
Note: It may take up to 20 seconds for the window to pop up, during which
the application authenticates the alarm system and fetches the required data.
For zone bypassing – check the required zone checkbox. You can do this
for several zones. After that press OK. For zone output activation – select
the required operation in the Operation column. And then press OK.
Note: The Alarm Controller supports only the Operation Code x (x=1 to 8)
output types and internal or external siren types The time that it will take
for the command completion depends on the system configuration. If the
operation mode is always connected, it will take a few seconds; if this option
is not set – it might take up to 4 minutes (life signal interval time). During
this time the status will be displayed as follows (example):
ACCOUNTS SCREEN
In this screen, all the connected alarm systems are configured. See the next figure:
Fields description
the serial number of the system in the Alarm Controller application. It is set
automatically by the application each time a new system is added. Account ID –
the account ID of the alarm system reporting to the Alarm Controller
application. It is very important that the number set here must be identical
to the account ID set in the system in its CMS configuration (CMS account ID)
Name – the name of the specific alarm system. It is advisable to choose the
name of the site in which the alarm system is installed. If a name is not set
– the application will automatically choose the name as its account ID. Remote
Code – User code of the alarm system. You have to choose one of the valid user
codes of the alarm system. If it is required to arm/disarm only one of the
system’s partitions by the application, you have to choose a user code
assigned to the specific partition. Life Signal Interval (minutes) – the
interval between each life signal sent periodically by the alarm system. This
parameter affects the time that the application will wait to execute the
command in a not-always connected-system mode.
Adding new system
- Enter into the New Account field, and edit the system name, e.g. “New Hills High School”.
- Edit the account ID of the alarm system as programmed in the CMS configuration parameters, e.g. 547.
- Edit the user code of the alarm system that will be used to control the system – arming, disarming, etc. set user code that is authorized by the alarm system for the various operations, taking into account partitioning if exists.
- Set the Life Signal Interval time. The default value is 4 minutes. This parameter is important when working in non-always-connected mode. This time will be used by the application to set the waiting time for command completion.
- To delete a system – enter the account ID field (by pressing twice on the left button of the mouse) and delete it by pressing the Delete key on the keyboard.
SETTINGS SCREEN
In this screen, you can set up the general features and preferences of the Alarm Controller application. Language – the application GUI language. Select the desired language from the list. Password – for opening the application. If you enter a password, you will need to enter it any time you are running the application. Encryption key – the key in which the incoming reports are encrypted by the alarm system. The encryption key set in this field and in the alarm system must be identical. If the key in the alarm system has been left as the default key, do not change this field. Port – the listening port of the application in the computer it is running. its default value is the same as the default port number in the alarm system. If the port number on the alarm system CMS parameter was not changed – leave it as is (10001).
Always-connected – the connection operation mode of the application with the alarm systems. In always-connected mode, the systems are always connected in a TCP session with the computer, so the remote command execution time (arming, disarming…) is short – several seconds. if the parameter setting is not always connected then the execution time may take up to 4 minutes (life signal time interval). Alarm Events List – CID event report codes that will appear in the Alarm window on the Home screen. If there is no specific requirement – leave this field as-is. Arming Events List – CID event report codes that will change the status of the system in the Status window on the Home screen. If there is no specific requirement – leave this field as-is. Event Code Visible – Setting this parameter will cause the CID report code to appear in the Events windows. Set it only in special cases like debugging. Alarm Sound Enabled – When set – a short alarm tone will be sounded on each alarm event received. Verification code – a code that is to be sent to PIMA sales/support for activation of the application during installation. This field appears as long as no activation has been made. Activation Code – a code received from PIMA for activation of the application according to the purchased license. After entering a valid activation code the application will start functioning normally. This field appears as long as no activation has been made.
Partitions
The Alarm Controller application does not fully support a partitioned system, i.e. system with two partitions and up. When a partitioned system is connected to the Alarm Controller application, the following points must be verified:
- Each partition has its own account ID.
- Each partition has its user code.
- Each partition is configured as a separate alarm system in the Alarm Controller application.
- For each alarm system, its specific user code should be configured.
System Status Display
When the system connects to the application for the first time – the status of
the account ID of the first partition will be displayed as follows: If at
least one of the partitions is disarmed – the status will be shown as
disarmed. In other states – it will be shown armed. The other partitions – 2
and up – will be shown as Unknown, until receiving an arming/disarming report
from the specific partition (according to its account ID).
System Control
To arm or disarm a specific partition, choose the specific system in the
Status window, i.e. the account ID of this partition. Providing this system
has been configured with user code assigned to this partition only, the
arming/disarming command will affect this partition only. The same holds for
zone bypassing – bypassing is possible only for zones that belong to this
partition. The same for output control.
TASKBAR ICON
Pressing on the X icon on the upper right of the application close it as other
Windows application, but it continues running and receiving events. To return
to the application you should use its icon in the taskbar: Pressing the right
button of the mouse when pointing to the icon opens the following pop-up menu:
The options are
- Home – enter into the Home screen of the application
- Account – enter into the Account screen of the application
- Settings – enter into the Settings screen of the application
- Pause – pausing the application running – events are not received. After choosing this option this line will be replaced by Resume:
Alarm Controller – Installation & Operation Instructions Manual
Resume – The application starts receiving events, but the status of the
systems will be shown as “Unknown” until receiving the appropriate report.
Exit – closing the application CAT. Number: 4410553 Rev. A (Oct 2022)