DMP panels 'newer, faster, more improved'

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—A new series of control panels from Digital Monitoring Products benefits dealers because the panels have extra speed and features and are affordable, according to the operations manager for Atlas Security, based here.

“There are so many features built onto the panel and yeah, the speed is great and the price is awesome too,” Ryan Wade told Security Systems News.

The XR150, XR350 and XR550 control panels were released this spring, according to Lew Kramer, applications solutions designer for DMP, which also is based here. The series recently earned a California State Fire Marshal listing.

That listing means that the panels, which also are UL-listed, can be sold in California, Kramer said. “If you're going to do fire in California, you have to have that CSFM listing,” he said. He added that California, with a population of about 38 million people, “is a good-sized market compared to the states in the rest of the country.”

He said the panels are an update of DMP's XR100 and XR500 control panels, released 10 years ago.

“We upgraded those panels to more of a surface-mount technology, plus we increased the speed of the processors and gave them a few more features that our customers have been asking for,” Kramer explained. He said the new panels are “a newer, faster, more improved version.”

DMP “increased the speed of the processor itself over the XR100 and XR500 panels by about tenfold,” Kramer said. “They have a 32-bit processor now. … Speed is an issue. … As technology improves, so does the alarm industry and we have to keep up with the speed they're looking for.”

Wade said the new panels are also somewhat easier to install because they include built-in LX buses so an expansion card is not needed. Adding an expansion card, he said, “costs more time and money.”

Also, the company said in a news release, “all three panels offer enhanced access control features, including 99 programmable schedules for areas, doors, profiles, outputs and Z-Wave favorites. For systems equipped with Z-Wave control of lights, locks, thermostats, etc., the panel offers up to 20 favorites, which incorporate commands [for] up to 25 Z-Wave devices each.”

The panels are listed for intrusion, access and household fire, Kramer said. He said they're ideal for larger, estate-type homes of 4,000 to 5,000 square feet.