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Third-party Intrusion Detection

If you already have an alarm system in place, you can integrate it with Kisi's Intrusion Detection to get Kisi access control on top of it.

The Kisi native and the third-party Intrusion Detection capabilities are available both on the Kisi Controller Pro 1 and on Kisi Controller Pro 2 devices. The difference is in the number of inputs: while the Kisi Controller Pro 1 has eight pre-configured inputs (four contact sensors, four request-to-exits), the Kisi Controller Pro 2 has twelve generic inputs, configurable as either contact sensor or request-to-exit.

Hardware requirements​

The third-party alarm system​

The third-party alarm system will include an alarm panel and possibly some other additional boards. The alarm panel must have:

  • A key switch that can be used to arm and disarm the alarm. The system should be configured to arm away. The arm stay mode is also possible but it's not mandatory.

  • At least 3 relays that can be programmed to be triggered (closed) depending on the state.

    • When the third-party alarm is Armed Away, the relay configured for Armed Away closes and the relay for Disarmed, Armed Stay and Violation must be open. The relay for Armed Away will open again when the alarm is disarmed.
    • When the third-party alarm is Armed Stay, the relay configured for Armed Stay closes and the relay for Disarmed, Armed Away and Violation must be open. The relay for Armed Stay will open again when the alarm is disarmed.
    • When the third-party alarm is Disarmed, the relay configured for Disarmed closes and the relay for Armed, Disarmed and Violation must be open. The relay for Disarmed will open again when the alarm is Armed.
    • When the third-party alarm is Violated, the relay configured for Violated closes, the relay for Disarmed must be open and the relay for Away/Stay can be either open or close. The relay for Violated will open again when the alarm is disarmed.

    Example: relay 1 is closed when the alarm is disarmed, relay 2 is closed when the alarm is in away mode, relay 3 is closed when the alarm is in stay mode and relay 4 is closed if the alarm is violated. Every relay must be open otherwise.

  • Sensors that are wired to the alarm panel and properly set up. The sensors must be wired to the third-party alarm system and configured with it.

note

The siren, if present, will be wired to and configured with the third-party alarm system.

The Kisi Controller​

The Kisi controller must have:

  • At least 3 available contact sensors if armed away is the only armed mode. If armed away and armed stay are configured, you will need 4 contact sensors.

Depending on your alarm panel, you may need to add a relay board in the setup.

When a trigger occurs, the corresponding contact sensor changes to closed state, which means that the programmed state for that contact sensor is applied. For example: if the alarm relay for the disarmed state is triggered, the contact sensor programmed for the disarmed state closes, telling the Kisi system that the alarm is disarmed.

note

For third-party alarm systems, the duration of relay triggering will differ depending on the brand and model of that particular alarm system.

Example: Integration with VISTA21iPLTE alarm system​

For this setup, Kisi needs to be able to:

  1. Arm/disarm the Vista system. One relay from the Kisi controller will be wired to the key switch of the panel:
  • If the relay triggers during 0.5s secs, the mode changes to arm away.
  • If the relay triggers during more than 1 second, the mode changes to arm stay.
  • If the relay triggers when the system is armed, the system mode will chenge to disarmed.
  1. Know if the system is currently armed, disarmed or violated. The Vista board will be connected to a Ademco 4204 relay board and is configured like below:
  • Relay 1 is triggered if the alarm is triggered → connected to Contact Sensor 1 of Kisi Controller
  • Relay 2 is triggered if the system is armed away → connected to Contact Sensor 2 of Kisi Controller
  • Relay 3 is triggered if the system is armed stay → connected to Contact Sensor 3 of Kisi Controller
  • Relay 4 is triggered if the alarm is disarmed → connected to Contact Sensor 4 of Kisi Controller
note

The relays from the Ademco board needs to be wired in NO (Normally Open), meaning that when they're not in use, there is no contact between the circuits, and when the relay is triggered, the circuit closes.

Add a zone​

info

Currently you can add only one third-party alarm zone in Kisi. You can't add any third-party alarm zone if you already have a Kisi-native zone added and vice versa.

  1. Sign in to Kisi
  2. Open your place
  3. In the left-hand menu, click on Intrusion Detection
  4. Click on Add Zone
  5. Enter the Zone name
  6. Open the Alarm Type dropdown and select 3rd Party Alarm Integration
  7. Click Save

Configure the zone​

  1. Click on the zone you created above
  2. Toggle on Enable Intrusion Detection
  3. Scroll down, select the Alert Policies tab
  4. Enter the email address of the user that should be notified upon policy violation, when the alarm is triggered
  5. Click on the user to configure the notification preferences
  6. Next, click on the Alarm Controller tab
  • In the Relay field, define the relay that is connected to your alarm siren
  • In the Arming Delay field, define how long the alarm controller should wait before arming
  1. Click Save
  2. Next, click on the Contact Sensors tab and configure it
  3. Next, select the Doors tab, and click on Add Door
  4. Select the door you want to add. You can also enable Exterior Door if the door is used to leave or enter the zone. Click Add.
  5. Next, click the Away tab, select the Action that the relay must detect for the system to change to Away mode

Note: Away, Disarmed and Violated states must be connected to a contact sensor. The Stay state is optional, depending on your alarm system requirements.

  1. In case of setting up the Stay mode: open the Stay tab, and define the amount of time the relay should be triggered to change the system mode to armed stay

Procedure in case of alarm violation​

If there is a violation, you will need to reset the third-party alarm panel and then reset the zone on the Kisi dashboard. The sequence for an alarm in away mode will be:

  • The contact sensor for away on the Kisi Controller is closed
  • The contact sensor for violated on the Kisi Controller closes, which means that Kisi triggers a violation. At the same time, the users defined in the alert policies receive an email and the readers start to blink blue and red.
  • Reset the third-party alarm panel, physically on-site or via the third-party alarm online platform when available, making the contact sensor for violated mode opens, so there is only the contact sensor for away still closed
  • Click on Reset to default on the Kisi web app, which makes the system go back to armed away
info

When the alarm is triggered, the Kisi Reader Pro 2.0 will blink red and blue. For more information on reader feedback colors, see the Kisi Reader Pro 2.0 reference page.

Tamper alert​

The Kisi Reader Pro 2.0 is equipped with a magnetic sensor that detects if the reader has been removed from the wall. If the tamper protection flag is turned on, an event will be created and the alarm will be triggered.

If the door assigned to the reader is part of an armed (stay or away) intrusion detection zone, a tamper alert will lead to a zone violation, triggering the reader to blink red and blue.

Find out how to enable tamper protection on the reader here.

Last updated on by Carl