More Dashboard Features: Status, Dashboard Cards, Weather & Notifications
Now that you're familiar with the main controls of the Vera Dashboard for quickly operating your system, let's look at some more features of your Vera Dashboard.
This guide will teach you how to:
- Read the status bar, system alerts, and notifications
- Interpret status information displayed on the dashboard cards
The Status Bar
The Vera system status bar is in the top of the dashboard when in the process of doing something. In the example below, the controller is waiting to pair with a new device.
The status bar is not enabled by default. If you want to enable it, go to your Vera's Dashboard under Users & Account info > Notifications Settings > Notifications Header.
Alerts Bar
The Alerts bar shows the most recent events that happen in your system.
By default, the list is collapsed so that only the last message is displayed, but you can expand it by clicking on the arrow icon.
Dashboard Cards
Vera dashboard cards provide a quick overview of the current state of your entire system. After setup is complete, the left card will show the status of your devices, and the right card will show both the status of your security sensors and if any of them have been tripped.
During the initial setup, the cards will appear grayed out, as there are no devices in the system.
Once you’ve paired your devices, you will see the card color change to green or red. Green means that the status of your device is OK, and red indicates that there is a problem, as shown below.
Dashboard Card Status Indicators
The current status card is displayed not only when there are communication problems between a device and the gateway, but also when all of the devices are functioning correctly. When there are communication problems, the current status card will tell you how many devices are misbehaving, with quick links to each device (right arrow icon).
- The first dashboard card shows the status of all devices in your Vera system. Green indicates that everything is good.
Red indicates that there is at least one problem. The card will provide suggestions to resolve the problem.
- The second dashboard card shows the status of the security sensors in your system, appearing green when all is OK
The security status card will appear red when a sensor has been tripped.
The shield usually stays red for 1 minute, but it may take more time depending on the event that triggered the sensor. For instance, a motion sensor will stay tripped longer if it continues to detect motion.
The status indicators will appear gray if there are no devices to report on.
If a security sensor is tripped but it is not armed, the security card will not be affected and the shield icon will remain green.
Energy Card
The energy card is the third card. It will only be displayed on the dashboard if you have installed the energy plugin and your system includes devices that measure energy consumption, such as smart switches and meter readers.
VeraSecure Cards
Storage Card
The storage card is displayed on the VeraSecure controller dashboard. It tells you the amount of your Vera's internal memory being used out of the available 128MB.
Cellular Card
If you have both enabled VeraProtect on the VeraSecure controller and purchased the annual plan with a backup kit, you will see the Cellular and Battery cards on your dashboard.
The VeraProtect Professional Security Monitoring Backup Kit includes:
- A 4-hour battery that protects against power outages for up to 4 hours
- A built-in 3G cellular dongle that automatically ensures emergency messages get through by using the cell phone network via your own cell account
The Cellular card displays the amount of data used out of the 5MB plan - when the percentage reaches 80% and 90% respectively, you will see an alert in the UI and you will receive an SMS alert telling you that each additional 5MB used is $4.95.
When you have used up your data allowance, you will be notified via SMS that you have been billed $4.95 for an additional 5MB of data. You will also be notified for each 1MB of data used.
Battery Card
The battery card displays the estimated remaining battery time. A notification appears when the battery reaches these points:
- 9%
- 24%
- 49%
VeraProtect Service Card
The VeraProtect service card will be displayed on your dashboard if you have enabled the VeraProtect service. It comes with 3 dedicated buttons in case of emergency: police, fire, and medical.
If you click on any of the three buttons for 3 seconds, either the fire department, police, or EMS will be called, and the people you have listed as emergency contacts will be notified as well.
Weather Widget
The weather widget displays the temperature, weather, and time in the selected location. To customize the date/time and weather settings, or to set a name for your controller, go to Unit Settings under the Users & Account menu.
Click the little bullets just below the dashboard cards to navigate through the cards.
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