The Need
Checking thirty sensors one by one for each mode is time-consuming and tedious to maintain. In practice, we rarely think sensor by sensor: we think in groups — the perimeter, the interior, the garage, the exterior.
A zone groups sensors that always go together. We then set the modes at the zone level, and adding a detector means placing it in the right zone: it inherits the behavior, without having to go back to each mode.
What is Expected
- Create, modify, and delete zones, and organize sensors within them.
- Choose, for each mode, the active zones.
- In case of triggering, always know which specific sensor triggered, not just the zone.
What It Would Look Like
ZONES + New Zone
Perimeter 5 sensors Presence · Night · Away
Front door, Kitchen window, Living room window…
Interior 4 sensors Away
Living room motion, Hallway motion…
Garage 2 sensors Presence · Night · Away
Exterior 3 sensors Away
Questions to Decide
- Zone or Room? Gladys already knows the rooms, and each device is already placed in one of them. Should we build on that, or is an alarm zone really something else? „Perimeter“ groups sensors from multiple rooms, so the two concepts do not overlap — but adding a second one has a comprehension cost.
- Can a sensor belong to multiple zones?
- Can we arm a single zone? „I arm the garage and nothing else“ is a different need from the modes — is it within the scope, or is it another request?
- Are the delays and the disabling settings managed at the zone level, or do they remain on the sensor?
- Should we offer pre-filled zones upon creation (perimeter / interior / exterior), even if they are modifiable?
Complexity and Dependencies
Medium. Depends on the request Alarm: Declare monitored sensors and choose which are active in each mode: without declared sensors, there is nothing to group.
It is also the easiest request to postpone: a small installation works very well without zones. It becomes useful from about twenty sensors.
This request is part of a set from the discussion Gladys Alarm System (need F07).