SPC panels in SPC Connect

Product Version(s): SPC Connect 3.0

Topic last updated: January 2020

An SPC panel is a hybrid controller that communicates with intruder devices. SPC panels can be monitored and managed remotely using SPC Connect.

There are two ways to add a panel to a company: manual registration, or automatic enrolment. Manual registration allows an SPC panel to be registered to a company through SPC Connect; auto enrolment allows a panel to be enrolled with/registered to a company from the panel.

To manually register a panel to a company:

  1. The panel must be installed and configured with an ATS that connects to SPC Connect. See SPC 4xxx/5xxx/6xxx Installation & Configuration Manual for more information.

  2. In SPC Connect, click Hardware > Panels > Register Panel with Company, enter panel details and click Register a Panel to a Company.

    Notes: 

    • You can add the panel to an existing site during registration, or create a new site for the panel.

    • You must enter panel engineer credentials to register the panel.

    • You may need to enter panel user credentials. For more information on when and why panel user credentials are needed, see Why do I sometimes need user credentials to register a panel?.

To automatically enroll a panel to a company:

  1. An installer must enable the Auto Enrol Panels option and specify the panel user/engineer credentials that will be used for auto enrolment on the Configuration > Company > Company Settings page.

  2. (Optional) An installer can enable auto enrolment in a site group on the Site Group Settings page. (To access the Site Group Settings page, click Configuration > Site Groups, then click Edit beside the relevant site group.)

  3. An engineer (logged on to the panel in full engineer mode) must create panel user/engineer accounts with credentials that match those set on the Configuration > Company > Company Settings page in SPC Connect.

  4. An engineer (logged on to the panel in full engineer mode) must edit the panel Installation Details in the ATS to enter the company ID (found on the Configuration > Company > Company Settings page in SPC Connect).

  5. (Optional) An engineer (logged on to the panel in full engineer mode) can enter the auto enrol ID for up to five site groups to auto enrol the panel to those site groups in SPC Connect. A new site is auto-created in SPC Connect for each panel as it is enrolled, and the site is added to the specified site group(s).

See the SPC 4xxx/5xxx/6xxx Installation & Configuration Manual for more information on panel configuration.

Using the panel keypad: in Engineer Programming mode, go to SPC CONNECT > REGISTRATION ID.

Using the panel embedded web page: log in as a user with Engineer Programming rights, go to Communications > FlexC > FlexC ATS, and note the SPC Connect ATS Registration ID shown in the Configured ATS table.

An encryption key is used to secure communications between an SPC panel and SPC Connect. A default encryption key is set on every SPC panel when it is installed or reset. SPC Connect knows this default encryption key and uses it to make an initial connection to the panel. The panel and SPC Connect then negotiate a new encryption key to secure all further communications.

Occasionally, it may be necessary to reset the encryption key to re-establish communication between a panel and SPC Connect. For example:

  • If a panel is deleted from SPC Connect (using the Delete a panel from SPC Connect option on the Hardware > Panels page) and added again, SPC Connect attempts to use the default encryption key to communicate with the panel. Since the ATP (Alarm Transmission Path) on the panel was not deleted, it continues to use the negotiated key from its previous registration. Because the panel and SPC Connect are using different encryption keys, communication fails. In this case, the encryption key must be reset on the panel since SPC Connect is already using the default key.

    Note that if a panel is removed from a company (using the Remove Panel option on the Hardware > Panels page) and added again, the ATP remains in place and the encryption does not need to be reset on the panel or in SPC Connect.

  • If an ATP is edited on the panel, the encryption key may be changed/lost (depending on the types of changes made). In this case, the encryption key in SPC Connect will not match the one on the panel, and both sides must be reset to the default encryption key to reestablish communication.

  • If you are unsure of the connection encryption status, reset the encryption key in SPC Connect first, then reset the encryption key on the panel.

After resetting an encryption key, you may need to wait up to 60s for the connection to be renegotiated.

To reset the encryption key on the panel:

  1. Log in to the panel embedded web page as a user with Engineer Programming rights.

  2. Go to Communications > FlexC > FlexC ATS.

  3. Click Edit  beside the relevant ATS in the Configured ATS table.

  4. Click Edit  beside the relevant ATP in the Event Sequence Table table on the ATS Configuration page.

  5. Click Advanced ATP Settings on the ATP Configuration page.

  6. Click Reset Encryption on the ATP Configuration - Advanced Settings page.

To reset the encryption key in SPC Connect:

  1. Click Hardware > Panels.

  2. Click Edit Panel for the panel whose encryption key you want to reset.

  3. On the Panel Settings page, under Panel Connection Details, click Reset Encryption Key.

Remove the panel from the site to which it is currently assigned, then add it to the new site.

To remove a panel from a site:

  1. Click Configuration > Sites.

  2. Click Edit beside the entry for the relevant site.

  3. Click Remove Panel beside the entry for the relevant panel and confirm when prompted.

To add an orphaned panel to a site:

  1. Configuration > Sites.

  2. Click Edit beside the entry for the relevant site.

  3. Click Add / Remove Panels.

  4. Select the check box for each orphaned panel you want to add to this site, then click Save .

Note: If the panel was in a site with one or more Eventys DVRs and verification zones, when the panel is removed from the site, the verification zone configuration will no longer be there.

In the case of auto enrolment/panel registration, valid panel user credentials, valid panel engineer credentials, or both may be required depending on panel configuration and company policy.

Where auto enrolment is allowed, an installer should specify the panel user/engineer credentials that will be used during auto enrolment on the Company Settings page in SPC Connect, then an engineer should create matching user/engineer accounts on the panel during installation/configuration. See SPC 4xxx/5xxx/6xxx Installation & Configuration Manual for more information on panel configuration.

The following table describes the SPC Connect configuration required depending on how the panel is configured.

Panel Configuration / Company Policy

SPC Connect Configuration

Engineer or manufacturer access does not need to be granted by a panel user.

(This configuration also applies if an SPC panel is operating in Unrestricted mode and Allow Engineer and Allow Manufacturer are both un-checked under System Options.)

  1. Enable auto-enrolment on the Configuration > Company > Company Settings page.

  2. Disable Auto Grant Access under Panel Connection Information (User) on the Company Settings page.

  3. Do not enter panel user credentials.

  4. Enter panel engineer credentials.

Engineer or manufacturer access must be granted by a panel user.

Your company policy means that it is necessary for SPC Connect to automatically grant access.

  1. Enable Auto Grant Engineer Access under Panel Connection Information (User) on the Configuration > Company > Company Settings page.

  2. Enter the panel user and panel engineer credentials that will be used to grant panel access.

Engineer or manufacturer access must be granted manually by a panel user.

  1. Disable Auto Grant Engineer Access under Panel Connection Information (User) on the Configuration > Company > Company Settings page.

  2. Enter the engineer credentials that will be used to auto enrol the panel.

Note: A panel user must grant engineer/manufacturer access on the panel when required. The panel user profile must include the Engineer/Manufacturer right.
 

Notes:

  • If the grant access mode is changed on the SPC panel, you must update configuration settings in SPC Connect to reflect these changes.
  • To simplify panel management from SPC Connect, you can optionally create an SPC Connect superuser with full access rights to the panel and all panel functions by clicking Create SPC Connect User and User Profile on the Panel Users page ( Operations > Overview > Panel Users, select a site and click Go). If you create this superuser, their credentials are automatically used by SPC Connect when connecting to the panel. You do not have to use the SPC Connect superuser: you can manually create and configure a standard user with more limited rights if required by your organisational policies and procedures.

ATP (alarm transmission path) categories are defined by international standards and define how often a panel should poll a server to confirm its status, and how many retry attempts should be made if the server cannot be reached. The ATP category for a particular SPC panel connected to SPC Connect is configured on the panel itself, and SPC Connect reads the ATP category information for the panel when it is registered.

SPC Connect shows the panel status and the time the panel last polled successfully on a number of pages. Panel status is related to the ATP category of the panel. Possible panel statuses are:

  • Initializing – the connection between the panel and SPC Connect is restarting

  • OK – the panel successfully polled SPC Connect within the defined limits for the ATP category of the panel

  • Fault – the panel did not successfully poll SPC Connect within the defined limits for the ATP category of the panel

See SPC 4xxx/5xxx/6xxx Installation & Configuration Manual for more information on configuring the ATP category for a panel.

If a physical panel is replaced, you can associate the information from the original panel with the replacement panel using the Replace Panel feature in SPC Connect. Provided you use this function, rather than manually adding and configuring the new panel, the database information related to the original panel is associated with the replacement panel. This includes information such as system users, configuration files, and remote maintenance reports.

 

To use the Panel Replace function:

  • Both the original panel and the replacement panel must be on firmware version 3.8.5 or later.

  • The original panel must be physically disconnected.

  • The replacement panel must be online and have an ATP connection to SPC Connect.

  • The replacement panel must not be registered to any company in SPC Connect.

  • The replacement panel must not have any system users.

  • The installer performing the operation must have both Register panels in Company and Delete panels from Company permissions.

  • The installer performing the operation must know the engineer credentials for the replacement panel, and that engineer access to the panel must be granted.

  • The panel configuration file in SPC Connect must be up-to-date if you will use the Auto-Update Config File option.

To replace a panel in SPC Connect:

  1. Click Hardware > Panels.

  2. Click Edit Panel for the panel you want to replace.

  3. On the Panel Settings page, click Replace Panel.

    The Replace Panel page displays, with the Old Panel Details section already populated.

  4. Under New Panel Details, enter the registration ID and engineer credentials for the replacement panel.

  5. (Recommended) To auto-update the replacement panel with the latest config file for the original panel, select the check box beside Auto-Update Config File.

    Note:

    • If you do not select the Auto-Update Config File option, system user accounts may not be restored correctly because usernames and passwords may not be added to the replacement panel.

  6. Click Replace Panel.

    Database records with the original panel registration ID are updated use the replacement panel registration ID, and system users from the original panel are migrated to the replacement panel.

    The Replace Panel Results area displays the original and replacement registration IDs and the result of each replacement task.