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Keypads
Keypads
are used to control the system functions such as arming and
disarming, bypassing zones and resetting the system after
an alarm. The display on the keypad is used to indicate system
conditions (whether the system is armed, which sensors have
been triggered, etc.)
One
thing common to almost every alarm keypad is the familiar
"telephone" style digits 0 through 9 as well as
the * and # keys. Many keypads also include special command
keys for functions such as bypassing zones, programming codes,
or arming the system in "stay" mode.
There
are 3 types of displays found on keypads. They are as follows
(in order from least to most expensive);
- LED
display
- Fixed
icon (or fixed LCD)
- Full
LCD (English language display)
 An
LED keypad, such as the model PC5508Z pictured here,
provides individual indicator lights to simultaneously show
the status of every alarm zone as well as the arming status,
trouble status, alarm memory, and zone bypass conditions.
This provides the user with a complete system overview at
a single glance. They are inexpensive, easy to use and reliable.
For these reasons we recommend LED keypads in most situations.
 LCD
(liquid crystal display) keypads, such as the model PC5500z
pictured here, include a brief 2 line text display which is
used to show the status of the system and the individual zones.
While
there are some advantages to having the english language display
there is also more button pushing required to get to the information
you require.
Our
experience has been that most people find the LCD keypads
more confusing to use than the LED models. We generally only
recommend LCD keypads for systems with a very large number
of sensors.
There
are a variety of fixed icon keypads, some of them function
in a way that is similar to an LED keypad while others are
more like an LCD keypad. The display normally has tiny icons
to indicate various system statuses but there are no english
language displays and often only one zone status can be displayed
at a time. We don't often sell the fixed icon keypads because
we don't feel that they are as easy to use as the LED keypads.
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