Can you do self-monitoring with a Honeywell Vista?

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The Honeywell Vista systems such as the Vista 15P, Vista 20P and the Vista 21ip can do self-monitoring to varying degrees. We will outline below different ways this can be accomplished.

The Vista 15P, Vista 20P and Vista 21ip all contain built-in landline phone dialer and if you connect a phone line to the system you can have it dial a cell phone or another landline number. This is accomplished by using what are called the ‘Pager Phone Number’ slots in programming. This is a very basic method of self-notification as you won’t get any sort of message when you answer the phone. The system will just ring your phone and provide the caller ID number of where it’s dialing from. If you wanted a specific message delivered on the call out then you could incorporate a voice dialer like our Visonic DL-125C that is capable of having one custom recorded message played when it calls you.

You can also self-monitoring these systems via cellular means. There is a company called IPDatatel that makes some very nice cellular communicators that will allow you to receive emails, text messages and automated voice phone calls that will deliver specific information about the alarm that is occurring. It will also allow remote control of the system for off site arming and disarming through a browser portal or a smartphone app. Some of the cellular models from IPDatatel include the IPD CAT CDMA and the IP BAT IP/CDMA(This includes an internet communicator as well but we will discuss that below). These both require a yearly data usage fee of $135.

The last method for self-notification that can be used with the Vista systems is internet communication. The first module that we carry is made by a company called Eyez-On. It’s called the  and this will send you email and text notifications of alarm events as well as allow you some simple off site arming and disarming functionality. You will also be able to view your account through a browser portal or a mobile-friendly website. The Eyez-On device is free to use and is only the cost of the equipment. The other items that we carry are also made by the first company we spoke of, IPDatatel. IPdatatel makes the combination unit we spoke of in the previous paragraph which will send signal over cellular and internet to provide a redundant means of communication. They also make an internet only communicator called the WIFI BROADBAND ALARM TRANSCEIVER and it provides the same functionality as its cellular cousins but only through an internet connection. This unit costs $83.40/year to use.