8400i Intercom setup

JOHNBONZ

I have a 8400i and want to utilize the intercom capability. By reviewing the 8400i installation guide it states:
Panel Intercom Configuration
Incorporating An Intercom Capable Panel Into Your NetLinx System
Download the module for the intercom panel from www.amx.com, and include it in your
NetLinx project file.

well I assume this means AMXCommunications.zip which when unzipped produces AMX Communications_2_30.AXW file which is a project module for the intercom. So question I have is:
1) do I incorporate the AMX Communications_2_30.AXW module into my existing project as a module?
2) do I also incorporate the TP4 file intercom pages AMX_CSGComm_8400i with my existing TP4 file?
3) how does all this tie together?

ericmedley

You only really need the comm module. The command protocols should be in a Word doc.

But, a couple things to know. Oddly enough the commands being sent out by the comm module look suspiciously familiar when you look at them in diagnostics. In fact they are pretty much the same as what you send to the module itself to initiate calls and so forth.

I ended up just sending the commands straight to he TP. The commands are in the programming manual if the 8400i.

And now the other issue to consider... The intercom functionality on the 8400 was poor at best. (IMHO). Every time I tried to implement it the results were so poor I just turned it off. Problems with the SIP connection, problems with the audio quality, problems dropping calls, etc...

If I were you I wouldn't imliment the feature.

JOHNBONZ

8400i Intercom setup

I want to use the 8400i to communicate between panels - one 8400i to another 8400i. So I don't want to make phone calls just use intercom feature. So I want to be able to setup my 8400i panels to just get the intercom feature to work and am a little confused on how to do so.


Is this the word doc that has the protocol ur referring to -- AMX Voice & Video Communications Module Interface.doc?

ericmedley

JOHNBONZ wrote: »

I want to use the 8400i to communicate between panels - one 8400i to another 8400i. So I don't want to make phone calls just use intercom feature. So I want to be able to setup my 8400i panels to just get the intercom feature to work and am a little confused on how to do so.


Is this the word doc that has the protocol ur referring to -- AMX Voice & Video Communications Module Interface.doc?

The intercom uses the SIP function. The trouble is the intercom function. It doesn't work very well. I'd not implement it.

John Nagy

The problem is the AMX module tries to be very clever and generally isn't complete.

We found that the module design that seeks out all the intercom panels dynamically and sets up the list is the major problem. It is so busy and invasive that panels go offline during discovery, triggering a new round of discovery. Lather, rinse, repeat. Never get done.

We implemented fixed IP's and intercom items identified already in data (you could hard code in code...) for the intercom panels, and forgo all the automatic bits. Works well. Much faster.

a_riot42

ericmedley wrote: »

The intercom uses the SIP function. The trouble is the intercom function. It doesn't work very well. I'd not implement it.

That's not true. I use the intercom module without SIP as it uses VOIP. You can download the module that uses SIP in conjunction with the telephony server, or just use the intercom module on its own. I use the intercom on iPads which don't support SIP, and I have a couple projects that have a telephony server and SIP panels and iPads. The panels that support SIP use the SIP protocol, and the iPads use VOIP. The only drawback is that the ECOMMs use one or the other, so either the SIP panels get audio to the ECOMMs, or the iPads do, but not both, so I typically leave the iPads out of the doorbell feature.

I think the intercom feature actually works quite well most of the time if the network is robust. But the module seems like it was written hastily and has some issues you might want to correct.
Paul

JOHNBONZ

8400i Intercom setup

I have 2 -- 8400i and want to utilize the intercom capability so the panels can communicate with one another.
I don't want to use the AMX module I just want to code it by hand - so I need to know the protocol or commands to initiate communication.

Does anyone know the commands? I think the commands are ^ICE, ^ICM, ^ICS -- but am not sure

a_riot42

JOHNBONZ wrote: »

I have 2 -- 8400i and want to utilize the intercom capability so the panels can communicate with one another.
I don't want to use the AMX module I just want to code it by hand - so I need to know the protocol or commands to initiate communication.

Does anyone know the commands? I think the commands are ^ICE, ^ICM, ^ICS -- but am not sure

They are all in the AMX-PI.
Paul

JOHNBONZ

8400i Intercom setup

Ok by looking up codes in PI, if I issue these two simple commands to the touchpanels – should I get a baby monitor working when at one panel I can talk and the speaker from other panel will hear?
Is there any other commands that would be issued?

Example of setting up a baby monitor call where the first panel is listening to the microphone audio coming from the second panel:
send_command dTP_MAIN[11], "'^ICS-192.168.1.141,9000,9002,0'";
send_command dTP_MAIN[12], "'^ICS-192.168.1.143,9002,9000,1'";

John Nagy

There are so many more things to consider other than the bare connection of one panel to another. Are the panels available or already in another transaction? How do you gracefully disconnect? Will your code allow other panels to connect simultaneously/independently? Do you want notices on the panels? How about a pick list? Shouldn't a pick list show availability? How about a way to refuse a connection? How about whole house paging? Well, whole house minus the panels you want to opt out? Maybe you need to add volume control for the speaker and mic?

So many more things are required to turn this into a solution, not just a connection. To use a automobile analogy, How do you get from San Francisco to Phoenix? Simple, the controls are left, right, stop, and start. You're all set.

JOHNBONZ

8400i Intercom setup

I just want to get one panel to talk to the other panel - lets say I have 2 panels in my whole system and both are 8400i.
I want to to speak into one panel and hear the voice in the other panel. If I can get that to work then I can worry about the things you mentioned. Just a basic test to see if this works

Should this code do what I want?

Example of setting up a baby monitor call where the first panel is listening to the microphone audio coming from the second panel:
send_command dTP_MAIN[11], "'^ICS-192.168.1.141,9000,9002,0'";
send_command dTP_MAIN[12], "'^ICS-192.168.1.143,9002,9000,1'";

gsmith

Those two commands initialize the connection. But you then have to send the ^ICM command to start the flow. From AMX PI for ^ICS: "Please note, however, that no data packets will actually flow until the intercom modify command is sent to the panel."

^ICM-TALK to the sender and ^ICM-LISTEN to the receiver.

JOHNBONZ

8400i Intercom setup

I tried those commands also - to no avail. I am thinking maybe my 2- 8400i touch panels may have the intercom support disabled. Is there a way to check this? If it is disabled how do they get enabled?

here is what I tried:
send_command dTP_MAIN[11], "'^ICS-192.168.1.141,9000,9002,0'";
send_command dTP_MAIN[12], "'^ICS-192.168.1.143,9002,9000,1'";

Also, I tried ^ICM-TALK to the sender and ^ICM-LISTEN to the receiver - also to no avail - all the commands listed in the PI I tried.
The only way I know my 2 panels are 8400i's is the Device ID -289 they are associated whereas a normal 8400 panel has device ID of 323.
So I assumed that these panels are 8400i's but have not got any indication that the intercom works on these panels.
Under audio settings in Setup page I do see Intercom Mic level and Volume.

I did find this in another post:

If you issue a command that checks to see if the panel is capable of intercom :
: Send_command dtp_MAIN , “^MODEL?”

After this command is issued ---- If the panel supports intercom hardware it will respond with its model name as shown in the response below.
^MODEL-MVP-8400i

Does this response come into the Data_Event of dtp_MAIN ??
DATA_EVENT[dTP_MAIN]
STRING:
{
-response here

I don’t get a response from that command

John Nagy

I replied to this in detail in the other thread where you posted the same question.

Posting the same questions in multiple different threads can be wasteful of time and resources. It also increases your chance of missing the right answer.

JOHNBONZ

8400i Intercom setup

your right I didnt see you post from the other Thread, but I saw something in that thread and should have copied and pasted back to this thread, instead of Replying