Comfort Automation/ Security System Forums

I have done a post on this before 
PLEASE we need clarity on the following.
----- take a look at the following post http://www.comfortforums.com/forum113/3695.html\"The UCM/ETH03 allows Comfigurator and other 3rd party software to work with Comfort\"------------So can you tell me - the UCM/ETH03 can I use it for programming? can I use it for remote IP interfacing/control?------------


You have UCM\'s ( UNIVERSAL Communication Modules) that are in effect NOT UNIVERSAL..
So the set of UCM\'s that ONLY allow communication to the Comfort BUS i.e. Comfigurator should be named something like CMP - (Communication Module - Program) ( as a suggestion !) as they ONLY allow communication to the Cytech bus for programming.e.g. UCM/USB UCM/232 UCM/ETH ( rename CMP/USB CMP/232 CMP/ETH etc)
You ALSO have a set of UCM\'s that allow remote communication for interfacing purposes ONLY ( NOT programming). Again I would not use the word \'Universal\' (implying that it can do everything!) so perhaps rename/call these CMI (Communication Module - Interface). so the Ethernet module that allows remote communication to a third party device would be called CMI/ETH03 !
You would not believe the confusion that your naming set up has given over the years - try talking to Laser !

Surely the \"Universal\" in UCM refers to the common hardware module on which they are all based and nothing to do with WHAT they can do for the user.  That\'s the bit AFTER the slash i.e. \"UCM/xxxxxxxx\".  Why should it matter what \"UCM\" stands for?

Granted it would be nice if all base boards could be \"re-tasked\" by re-flashing; for example I want to \"re-task\" this UCM/Eth3 to be UCM\\Universal,  or I want to replace the GSM4 daughtercard with a ZWave one and \"re-task\" the software accordingly.  Granted the base UCM\'s have gone through a few iterations without/with U2 socket for example but it does feel this constraint is more a marketing than technical constraint.

That said,  IMHO I cant see what all the fuss is about otherwise and Cytech have been a good job giving us all of these connectivity options in the first place.

Who exactly is getting confused by this;  I\'m not confused (for example ), I would hope distributers wouldn\'t be as they\'ve hopefully been fully trained on Cytech products in the first place and prospective end users...well shouldn\'t the distributers be advising them being their prospects/customers?  And if all else fails Cytech have a second to none forum that is there to react quickly to customers questions and concerns!

My feedback for what it\'s worth!

Julian

 

 

ITS CONFUSING PERIOD !

I\'M CONFUSED
SPEAK TO DISTRUBUTORS THEY ARE CONFUSED
AND DONT GET CUSTOMERS INVOLVED AS THEY WILL BE CONFUSED

Renaming products isn\'t going to help either then;  it\'s a training issue surely?

Quote:UCM/ETH03 allows Comfigurator and other 3rd party software to work with Comfort\"------------So can you tell me - the UCM/ETH03 can I use it for programming? can I use it for remote IP interfacing/control?------------

if it \"allows Comfigurator to work with Comfort\" then it can be used for programming right?
The term UCM refers to a class of products which can communicate with other systems using the same baseboard and plug in architecture.
UCM/ETH03, UCM/USB, UCM/232 have ethernet, USB and RS232 interfaces respectively and are used for programming by Comfigurator. They are also used for communications by the Comfort iPhone, iPad, and android apps as well as 3rd party software like ComfortClient which communicate using the Comfort Protocol. 
Other UCMs communicate with 3rd party  systems, which are indicated by the suffix UCM/xxx, eg

• UCM/GSM for GSM interface
• UCM/CBUS for Cbus
• UCM/KNX for KNX
• UCM/Duplne for Dupline/SmartHouse
• UCM/Velbus for Velbus
• UCM/Zwave for Zwave
• UCM/Universal for most other external products not supported by a specific UCM

These external UCMs do not use the Comfort protocol, they implement the protocol of the products which is communicating with.
All UCMs are interfaces between the Comfort Bus and another system, whether it is a PC running software (Comfigurator, ComfortClient) , or another 3rd part product
These are part numbers only. You need to look into the details of part numbers to fully understand what the product does, but I believe the part numbers already give some  indication of the function.
I hope this explains it so that you are no longer confused, but if I have still not done a good job of explaining it, I doubt that just renaming the part numbers will help.
Changing well known part numbers at this stage would probably cause more confusion, eg  users asking why they ordered one product and received  another. Manuals, labels, brochures, training all would need to be changed and a lot of explanation required on forums and queries by email. 

Sounds good to me.

One thing that might help is to maybe rename some of the nodes in the \"UCM\" section of Product Categories on the Cytech Website as maybe this is mis-leading.

For example what you\'ve basically said above is there are two groups:

• UCM\'s where the Target Device(s) use the Comfort Protocol
  
• UCM\'s where the Target Device(s) use the Manufacturers own Protocol

On the website you group as:

• PC Interfaces
  
• External Interfaces

And for the former (PC interfaces) you mention main use as for configuration rather than for access also by other Comfort & 3rd party apps.

Then to class the GSM UCM as a \"Special Purpose UCM\" to me makes it sound like it is not a mainstream product.

Maybe regrouping here might help circumvent any confusion when users are browsing to buy.

Maybe something like:

• External Protocol Interfaces
  
• Comfort Protocol Interfaces

or

• External Hardware Access
  
• Application Software Access

Personally I would put the GSM UCM in the latter too as you can send messages to it via the Comfort Protocol as well! Then in each put a summary of what you said above so absolutely clear to people.

Julian

 

 

 

A matrix would go a long way to helping

Here is my quick answer to the initial question:

The UCM/Eth03 can be used with Comfigurator meaning you can program Comfort with it.

And Yes, you can send Ethernet commands to a remote IP destination.

Here is the catch (if I remember correctly), it\'s one-way only, outbound to a remote IP. If you want two-way communication then you need a UCM/Universal with an Ethernet Sub Module - Cytech can confirm this.

So the marketing statement is correct, it\'s up to the Integrator to know the product and decide which will best suit the customers needs.

Ingo

Thanks for all comments
we shall try to produce an informative matrix

UCM05  ?
UCM06 ?