Exploring the Qolsys IQ Panel 4 for Smart Home Security
The IQ Panel 4 represents Qolsys’s initial new giving considering that its acquisition by Johnson Controls.
I have watched the household protection marketplace morph from clunky backwater to a flourishing dwelling management ecosystem bustling with new improvements and hungry distributors looking to capture their share of buyer recurring month to month income (RMR). Qolsys burst onto the scene in 2010 all through a time when most safety programs however linked to central stations by using copper cellular phone strains and application control was scarcely a twinkle in the industry’s eye.
Qolsys began its march by positioning alone squarely opposed to aged faculty “calculators on the wall” keypads and Byzantine programming of more mature programs. I’ve adopted their rise and acquisition by Johnson Controls above the previous several several years with its legendary IQ Panels shifting the match in the new design environment, decreasing the entry price tag stage of a sensible property and leading to some of the major typical package discounts that our business has seen with enormous builders like Lennar and D.R. Horton.
Qolsys’s new IQ Panel 4 represents its 1st new presenting given that the Johnson Controls acquisition. Would this flip out to be an additional leap ahead or mired in bureaucratic “design by committee” touches that have haunted organizations looking to recover their scrappiness soon after a long time of plodding along? I was about to obtain out.
IQ Panel 4 Unboxing/Installation
The IQ Panel 4 ships in an installer friendly box with no frills. This is a professional-installed product or service and the packaging evidently conveys that.
Following setting up the panel on the wall (replacing an older 2GIG GC2), we (by “we,” I necessarily mean Livewire’s astounding provider manager, Dustin Roskam) fired almost everything up and stepped via the setup wizard to determine the sensors, label them, and re-place the Alarm.com app to the proper IMEI number for its cellular communicator.
We have been capable to re-use all our sensors, so the only new piece of gear desired for the duration of the enhance was the IQ Panel 4 by itself. On top rated of that, the IQ Panel 4 features compatibility with legacy wireless sensors which includes Honeywell, 2GIG, DSC and Interlogix (314 MHz, 319 MHz and 433 MHz). Qolsys also touts compatibility with Johnson Controls’ PowerG technologies, debuted in 2018, which boasts extended ranges, improved battery lifestyle and bigger wi-fi stability.
The entire upgrade method took a lot less than 10 minutes, and we spent the rest of the time jogging via some of the cool new features, these kinds of as facial recognition, Bluetooth arming/disarming, and audio streaming.
The IQ Panel 4 can be mounted on the wall or mounted into a “backbox” plastic circumstance which is designed to sit freestanding on a counter or desk. The backbox is designed to amplify the minimal conclusion of the four speakers embedded in the panel’s decreased quadrant. I appreciate the simple strategy of leveraging a uninteresting desk stand to incorporate a tiny bass increase.
This panel is bristling with so a lot of attributes that it is easy to see why output builders have standardized Qolsys merchandise in hundreds of new residences. With a single SKU, a builder can tout protection, property control, good locks, climate manage, streaming audio, Bluetooth arm/disarm, facial recognition, and movie surveillance.
Closing Report
The Qolsys IQ Panel 4 is a breeze to set up and extremely effortless to use for the client whether or not it is by means of the created-in touchscreen or tight integration with the Alarm.com app. My integration business, Livewire, has currently pivoted to applying this new panel and our buyers like it. Congratulations to Johnson Controls for permitting the Qolsys crew to proceed innovating put up acquisition. That’s no signify feat.
