SonaHMI Manager
Home and BuildingFree
Manages the touch panels across the site from one place: inventory, network settings, remote updates and lock.
Sona Application Center brings every Sona application on the automation server and the device's license together in one place, is where you install, update and manage applications from its store with a single license, and is the first Sona component installed on the server: the application store and license center.
Every new job, not a new system
In the classic approach, every new need in a building or a home brings its own solution: separate software for alarms, a separate logbook for emergency lighting tests, a separate server for hotel integration. Each arrives with its own box, its own installation and its own maintenance load.
At Sona it is built the other way round. The platform is installed once; the answer to every new need is an application installed onto the automation server from the store. An application is not a separate box: it runs inside the server, embeds into the server's visualization screen, looks at the same data and is protected by the same backup. No new cable, no new device, no new system.
How SAC works on the server
Both the store and the license are inside the server itself; when SAC opens, a store screen appears on the device.
The language is chosen at first start.
When SAC first opens, the working language is chosen and saved; it is not asked again and all the tabs open.
The store lists them.
The Store tab shows the Sona applications with their version, category and description; the filters at the top narrow the list to the Free, Home, BMS or BMS Plus level. The Installed tab lists what is on the device.
Installation is one button.
Press Install and the application is downloaded and installed on the device.
The application embeds into the screen.
An installed application takes its place in the server's visualization screen; applications such as Alert Plus come to the front the moment an alarm occurs, whichever page you are on.
An update keeps the data.
Update becomes active only when there is a newer version in the store. Removal is done with a confirmation and leaves nothing behind.
There is manual installation too.
An application package downloaded as a file is loaded from the Manual Install tab.
Sona Application Center: installation and use
The first start of Sona Application Center, licensing, installing an application from the store, updating and removing installed applications, and installing an application package manually.
Applications
Alert Plus
BuildingBMS
Classifies, prioritizes and collects every alarm in the building in one place; compliant with BACnet (ISO 16484-5).
Emergency Lighting and DALI Faults
BuildingBMS
Starts emergency lighting tests on its own and reports the results to the regulatory framework; watches DALI faults from one place.
Spotify Connector
HomeHome
Connects a Spotify account to the automation server and brings music into the scenes of the house alongside lights and blinds.
TV and Projector Connector
HomeHome
Brings televisions, projectors and media players onto the automation; creates the control addresses itself from a single starting address.
Opera PMS Local
BuildingBMS Plus
Applies every check-in and check-out at the front desk to the room's automation; puts an empty room into saving mode.
BMS Master and BMS Slave
BuildingMaster BMS, Slave Free
Brings servers in different buildings into one screen and one login; up to ten buildings.
The full capability list for the building side is on the Building Automation page, and the home side is on the Home Automation page.
How the license works
Here is the crux: a license is granted to a device, not to an application. Every license is tied to that automation server's own hardware identity, so a license defined for one device does not work on another. And there is a single license on that device: however many applications you install, all of them check that one license. There is no separate license per application.
A license has four levels: Free, Home, BMS and BMS Plus. The levels nest; a higher level also covers everything below it. The Home license opens the Free and Home applications. The BMS license adds the BMS applications on top of those. BMS Plus is the highest level: it opens every application on that device with a single license.
To make it concrete. With a Free license, SonaHMI Manager and BMS Slave run. Move up to Home and Spotify Connector is added. The BMS license further opens Alert Plus, the Emergency Lighting and DALI application and BMS Master. Move to BMS Plus and every application on that device is ready to use, including the Opera hotel integration. If no license has been loaded, only the free applications run.
The license is generated against the device's identity and downloaded as a file. In the License tab of Sona Application Center the file is selected and uploaded; the system verifies that it matches the device and the license takes effect. The Audit Log button shows the audit record.
Upgrading is easy when a customer grows: a higher-level license is defined for the same device. Because the device's identity does not change, the installed applications and their data stay exactly as they are, and the applications the higher level opens start working.
In short: one license, one device. Easy to explain, clear to manage.
Frequently asked questions
How is an application installed?
Open Sona Application Center on the server; the application in the store is downloaded with Install and installed on the device. An application package can also be loaded from a file with Manual Install.
Is internet required?
It is required for the store listing and the download. Installation, verification and licensing run locally on the device.
How do updates arrive?
For installed applications, Update becomes active only when there is a newer version in the store; an update keeps the data.
Can an application be removed later?
Yes; it is removed with a confirmation from the installed applications screen.
Who does the installation?
The dealer or the system integrator does the installation and the licensing; the user uses the applications.
Can a license be moved to another device?
No; the license is tied to the device's identity.
Become a Sona dealer.
Build your projects on a single platform. Training, technical support and the application catalog are open to our dealers.