Why the move from M1G to E27?

[Kristopher Farley]

Howdy,
I was wondering if anyone had thought a bit about the E27 and what that means for the average user.
I myself am just a home automation enthusiast as well as an elk user and have always found the openess of elk to be paramount with their products, everything from RP2 and the ease of buying additional sensors, to forums like these where homegamers and professionals alike can communicate.

What i’m curious about is why elk is putting such an emphasis on cloud based programming and locking us home gamers out of their new solutions? from a business perspective, i’m curious as to where it made sense that us regular users are now out of luck when it comes to any new platforms that elk would be producing. seems like a missed financial opportunity

I know the M1g and other panels will still be supported, but for how long? the E27 is obviously the way forward with elk and that’s going to leave all of us out of the homegaming side in a few years.

will elk be allowing any access to home users to program an e27? will home users even be able to purchase an e27?

[Michael Burrell]

Kristopher,

Good morning, thank you for your inquiry and for your support of ELK Products. I will to attempt to address your question in the most transparent manner and I would like to include some insight.

When we did our evaluation of the market a few years ago, it was determined that we needed to create a product that could be more competitive with mid-size app-controlled systems with some smart home/business automation. As I am sure you have seen, most companies are targeting this market with a self-contained all-in-one system, we gave that some thought but we also wanted this product to gracefully accommodate a retrofit application. After some deliberation, we decided to move forward with traditionally based hybrid control with direct app integration as well as smart device control. The E-27 Alarm Engine is a traditional hybrid control with features that users were drawn to in the self-contained type control market that is not intended to replace or compete for a market share of the M1 Gold.

The new Alarm Engine is more than just a new E27 control, it’s a new platform. In order to support the needs of the market, the Alarm Engine platform was created. To provide the seamless app support and remote connectivity that our installers are requesting, cloud integration was created as part of the platform. Cloud utilization will make this product simpler for the masses, but it is not a requirement if remote connectivity is not needed.

I will note that when we set out to create the M1 Gold we never intended it for the enthusiast market, but we are aware that there are some people out there like yourself that have installed in their personal homes and enjoyed it.  That said, we design and market our products to industry professionals.

[Kristopher Farley]

Michael,

I appreciate your honesty and transparency and while it does make sense to me, the question I have still remains.

Why wouldn’t elk want to enable power users to access these same systems that industry professionals use?

 

Seems to me like a valid income stream as it would be profitable to dip from both markets.

 

Just my two sense. I still love the m1g and I hope y’all continue to develop products within that lineup that will be available on both the e27 And m1.

 

 

Btw, if I can make a request, can we get a new touchscreen control panel like the e27?

 

The nav is nice but my GOD does it feel dated in 2023

[JP Henderson]

Just received my E27 replacement for aging M1G.

Nowhere did I read from the retailer that this unit was ONLY available to ‘professional’ installers.

This is ridiculous.

Now, I am left with a unit that I can not even program because ELK does not consider an owner/installer with 20 years experience with their equipment a ‘professional’ installer.

Allow those that own the ability to manage and install their units.

Open this UP.

[Michael Burrell]

JP,

The requirement for an ElkConnect account is solely for the remote connectivity from the home since there is a monthly access fee required. This is only set up to invoice to professionals.

Although the system is targeted for a local only operation, it can be archived. You can access the system locally by clicking the menu in the top left of the app from the login page, then settings, the local discovery. This will allow you to connect to the control over the local network.

Can you provide the where you purchased this equipment?

Mike

[Author]

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