The Minder Void?

We're just about to invest quite a lot of $ in a security product and would appreciate advice about market direction.

What is the story with Comfort/Minderpro? A dispassionate comparison with even the very latest rebadged Ness and the "Elk M1 with a proposed Cbus interface" indicates that Comfort is easily the best security/automation panel to interface with C-bus. It has the most options and saves lots of $ by the time you add in door phones, relays and voice stuff.

Yet it seems to receive little if any attention from integrators or opinion leaders in forums like these. Is there a problem? I know Clipsal used to resell the panel but stopped... was there a falling out, or is there something that would help a purchaser make the correct decision?

re Elk- I'd appreciate a frank discussion with people who've been looking at it. IME the keypads are getting an "ugh, yuck" from women when I show them. Apparently the huge Elk pads are perceived as typical star trek/bloke devices. On the other hand women like the comfort keypads and particularly enjoy the voice prompts. Elk does not offer voice prompts via keypads, only via a separate intercom system. The Comfort doorphones that interface with phones, voice mail and/or call forwarding are particularly good if you need doorphones. The web browser costs more but already allows web review of system including video feeds from cameras. The comfort c-bus interface exists and works. So why isn't it a no-brainer?

What about support? Obviously Ness is local and provides good support for the rebadged clipsal product and the M1. What is Comfort support like?

Thanks in advance!

 

Howdi jr
Expect some new interfaces for the M1, like flush keypads and maybe even a touchscreen.

 

Ross, thanks for the response. Great news about the flush keypads. Now all Elk needs to do is allow voice apart from American robotic ;-) (no plans at present- I've asked) and integrate it in the keypad.

Re touchscreens, I know about the ElkRM software ... are you saying they'll have a self-contained touchscreen like the C-bus ones? If so, IMHO the time has almost come for multi-function touchscreens via xlobby or charmedquark or similar. We're tinkering with devices like the Viewsonic Airpanel to manage the whole thing. 10" Airpanels are now avaible on Ebay for a few hundred $. Not exactly what we need- we'd hope for something sexy like the sonos music system- but getting there.

 

I am not aware that Clipsal have ever on-sold or re-badged the Comfort/Minder Pro panel. I suspect that you are getting confused with another product (that was actually manufactured by Clipsal, by the way).

 

OK. I was fairly sure that the Minderpro was a rebadged Comfort sold by Clipsal in some countries. But what I really need to know is whether my perception that Comfort is on the "out" around here is correct... and if so, why? Is it the support? The product?

 

Any chance I can find out more detail about this as well as the C-Bus interface that is apparently with Clipsal for approval?

 

Hi JR and sorry to only now be replying (I've just seen your post).

MinderPro is in fact an OEM version of Comfort, made by Cytech (unless somebody tells me that Clipsal, just recently integrated into the Schneider Group, also took Cytech along...).
I clearly agree with you on the potential of MinderPro (which does not have all of the modularity of the Comfort) and I also don't understand the reason for the low profile of MinderPro within Clipsal. There just doesn't seem to be enough effort to sell it. Too hard to support?
The view on having the Pascal controller and the Premise Gateway may be a hint that there may be a move towards something else. I would expect to have at least the functionalities of the Comfort system in the Clipsal range.

Best Regards
JayS