Most of his system is by process controllers and the soft ware and hardware are all inclusive. On the part he is using a PC on he coded the scripts he is using himself.

He is using at least one application that he got from the company that his security system is tied to. I am not sure what that company is, but it provides 24 hour monitoring of his house and has a tie in to his phone system. The application he got from them ties into it and provides for more versitility in his system unless his PC goes down and then it reverts to the alarm company defaults. His default alarm system is from this company and then he has added his own layered defense to that. He did have to use devices (some sensors and some connecting devices ) that were approved by this security company to connect to their equipment.

He told me he found the basic set up on the net and modified it to suit his needs and the security companies needs. (Sorry don't have a clue as to where he found it, I emailed him, but don't know when he will answer me either).

edit: the costs I quoted (approx.) are just for hardware that he had to buy above the cost of the basic alarm system and service contract. They probably don't enclude the PC he is using either.