SilentKnight VisorAlarm Plus 2U Operating Instructions
VisorALARM
PLUS 2U
Operating Instructions
Doc. DM375-I Rev. 1.0
May, 2007
INDEX
CHAPTER 1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW...................................................................................................................1
1. THE VISORALARM PLUS 2U RECEIVER.....................................................................................................2
2. THE IP MODULES (MIP/IPDACTS)...............................................................................................................3
3. MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2 CONTROLS AND INDICATORS ................................................................................................1
1. UNIT CONTROLS AND INDICATORS...............................................................................................................2
1.1. LCD Display .......................................................................................................................................2
1.2. LED Indicators....................................................................................................................................2
1.3. Keypad ................................................................................................................................................3
1.4. Local Piezo Sounder ...........................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 3 OPERATING VISORALARM PLUS 2U.....................................................................................5
1. ACCESSING THE RECEIVER............................................................................................................................6
2. OPERATING IN MANUAL MODE......................................................................................................................7
3. OPERATING WITH AUTOMATION SOFTWARE ................................................................................................9
4. MONITORING THE RECEIVER.......................................................................................................................10
5. ACCESSING THE SIGNAL HISTORY LOG ......................................................................................................12
6. MONITORING THE STATUS OF AN ACCOUNT................................................................................................15
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Chapter 1
System Overview
1. The VisorALARM PLUS 2U receiver
The IP VisorALARM PLUS 2U receiver (Model VisorALARM PLUS 2U) is a communications
device developed by Teldat for security environments. The IP VisorALARM PLUS 2U receiver’s
principal task is to receive alarms over an IP network and to subsequently send them to an automation
software (SwAut). The functionality of the Teldat VisorALARM PLUS 2U is similar to any other
alarm receiver which receives alarms over the telephone line. If the automation software fails or isn’t
present, VisorALARM PLUS 2U is able to acoustically signal the reception of new signals. It also
provides specific function keys to manually acknowledge every received signal.
The IP VisorALARM PLUS 2U receiver operates together with the IP Module (mIP/IPDACT), which
receives the alarms from the alarm control panels and sends them to the Teldat VisorALARM PLUS
2U over an IP network. Additionally, the Teldat VisorALARM PLUS 2U monitors connectivity with
all the registered mIP/IPDACTs. Should connection fail, then the VisorALARM PLUS 2U generates
alarms for the SwAut.
The VisorALARM PLUS 2U IP receiver has the network backup feature added, which permits a
mIP/IPDACT the possibility of IP backup towards another IP receiver. The main receiver and the
backup receiver are always synchronized at the configuration level.
Figure 1. IP VisorALARM PLUS 2U Receiver
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2. The IP modules (mIP/IPDACTs)
The IP Modules (mIP/IPDACTs) connected to the client control panel carry out two tasks:
1. Capture the alarms sent by the control panel and send them over the IP network to which they
are connected. These alarms are then received by the Teldat VisorALARM PLUS 2U in order
to be sent to the corresponding automation software (SwAut).
2. Generate monitoring traffic so that both ends of the security environment check the IP
connectivity, permitting the above task to be accomplished.
The mIP/IPDACT is a device that intercepts the control panel telephone connection with two aims:
firstly to detect when the panel sends an alarm in order to capture and retransmit it over the connected
IP network and secondly to allow the telephone line to be used at the same time as sending alarms.
The interception of the telephone line takes place ONLY in cases where connectivity with the Teldat
VisorALARM PLUS 2U has been verified. The mIP/IPDACT - VisorALARM PLUS 2U connectivity
is checked through a traffic monitor which the mIP/IPDACT periodically sends and to which the
Teldat VisorALARM PLUS 2U responds. If this exchange of messages does not occur during the
configured time, the mIP/IPDACT tries to resend. If after a configurable number of attempts (between
1 and 9), a satisfactory response is not received, the connectivity is presumed lost. The time between
polling messages is programmable between 0 and 90 seconds, a typical value being 15 seconds. The
time between retries is also configurable, between 3 and 9 seconds.
If a network backup scheme is running, the mIP/IPDACT has a second IP receiver to establish
communications and send alarms. If this second receiver does not respond to the communication
established with it by the mIP/IPDACT (again after a configurable number of attempts), the telephone
line access is returned to the control panel as if the mIP/IPDACT was no longer operative at the alarm
level. From this point on, the mIP/IPDACT will try to re-establish communications with both the
main Teldat VisorALARM PLUS 2U as well as the backup, if there is one. As soon as this is reestablished with either of the VisorALARM PLUS 2U, the mIP/IPDACT will intercept the telephone
line once more.
The monitoring traffic is encrypted UDP traffic. The Ethernet frame size does not exceed 70 bytes.
The monitoring interval, the number of retries and time between retries are all configurable, both for
the main VisorALARM PLUS 2U as well as for the backup. The time between retries is an important
parameter as it influences the global traffic supported by the VisorALARM PLUS 2U (polling over all
the devices). You also need to bear in mind that polling is a tool to control the state of both the alarm
reception center and the mIP/IPDACT. A long interval between polls can lead to situations where the
VisorALARM PLUS 2U delays detecting a problem with the mIP/IPDACT and consequently a
problem with a customer. Finally, if the mIP/IPDACT accesses the Internet via a device which
executes NAT, traffic coming from the VisorALARM PLUS 2U (configuration for example) will not
reach the mIP/IPDACT if the period between polls is inferior to the outgoing router NAT tables
refresh time (a typical refresh value is 5 minutes).
The Teldat VisorALARM PLUS 2U receives monitoring messages from the mIP/IPDACTs. If these
are registered, they are assumed alive and an acknowledgement response is sent to them; if the
mIP/IPDACTs are not registered, they are ignored. Periodically the status of all the registered
mIP/IPDACTs is checked and an alarm is generated for all those which have not notified their
availability (i.e. those which have not responded since the last check). This is a 350 code alarm from
the Contact-ID protocol (Communication trouble) which is received in the SwAut. Default is 350. As
each mIP/IPDACT can have a different polling time with the center, the VisorALARM PLUS 2U
checks the status of each mIP/IPDACT according to the polling time value for each of them.
In order to prevent the Teldat VisorALARM PLUS 2U from sending hundreds or thousands of
communication failure alarms when faced with a situation of general failure of IP traffic reception, the
device itself monitors the network access through ICMP echo packets (ping) to a known address: if the
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echo packets towards this address fail then a code 356 alarm is generated from the Contact-ID protocol
(Loss of central polling). Default is 356.
In order to simplify installation and updating of the registered mIP/IPDACTs, the IP VisorALARM
PLUS 2U receiver has additional facilities.
To install new mIP/IPDACTs, the Teldat VisorALARM PLUS 2U holds configuration patterns
associated to installer passwords. These permit you to automatically register new mIP/IPDACTs in
the supported mIP/IPDACT list and at the same time enable the mIP/IPDACT to request the necessary
configuration for start up. The device can simultaneously have multiple patterns; the choice of one or
other depends on the installer password used in the mIP/IPDACT to request the service.
In order to maintain and update the registered mIP/IPDACTs base, the Teldat VisorALARM PLUS
2U has commands available to remotely update one or multiple configuration parameters used by the
mIP/IPDACTs.
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3. Management and Monitoring
The IP VisorALARM PLUS 2U receiver can be managed and configured through a local console and
also remotely (telnet). In both cases, the access is restricted to users who are identified by a user name
and a password. Also the receiver can be monitored through a local console, remotely through telnet
and from the receiver’s keypad and LCD display.
The configuration is displayed in text mode, consequently edition and support in other platforms is
simpler and more comfortable.
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Chapter 2
Controls and Indicators
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