What it does
Centro System Manager for Crestron is Centro's management of a site's locations, and runs on a Crestron processor on site. You load it onto the processor as a program, open it in a browser on the site's network, and use it to see and control every location.
This page lists what it does. For what it needs, see Requirements.
What you can do with it
| Area | What it does | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| Locations | Shows every location on one dashboard with its live state — occupancy, scene, climate, lighting, shades, housekeeping and the user's requests such as do not disturb and make up room. A device the location reports offline is named on the location's card. | Site dashboard |
| Location control | Changes a location's lighting, climate, shades, scene and housekeeping status, and sends one command to many locations at once. | Control a location, Bulk commands |
| Stays | Shows each location's stay — who is checked in, until when, and who is expected next. Staff check users in and out, or a property management system (PMS) sends the stays. Check-out can mark the location Dirty and clear its requests. Off until an Administrator turns on Stays. | Stays, Stays settings |
| Schedules | Sends commands to locations at set times, and keeps a history of each run. | Schedules |
| Alerts | Emails the people you choose when something needs attention, through your own mail relay. | Email, Alert rules |
| User App access | Lets a user control their location from their own phone by scanning a QR code, with nothing to install. Shows the controls and the QR code on the location's touch screen. | User App, Touch screens |
| API keys | Lets another system on the site's network — a PMS, an integration or an AI assistant through the MCP endpoint — read locations and their state, send commands, manage schedules and send stays, each with a key of its own. | API keys |
| Languages | Shows the staff pages and the User App in English, Spanish, French or Italian: a default for the site, a language for each group of staff and each location, and a language switch for each person. Settings and set-up pages stay in English. | Language |
| System health | Shows the health of the processor, the local processors, the touch screens and each connection, with online history and graphs over time. | System dashboard |
| Maintenance | Backs up and restores the site, upgrades the program, the Crestron Home driver and the User App, and keeps logs for support. | Backup and restore, Upgrade, Logs |
The site dashboard, location control, stays and schedules need a Manager Licence. User App access needs a User App Licence. API keys need an API Licence, beside a Manager Licence or a User App Licence. Everything else works without a licence — setting up locations under Settings → System → Locations included — and a new processor runs the Manager Licence and the User App Licence on trial. See Licensing and editions.
Where the locations come from
Centro System Manager for Crestron doesn't control devices itself. The Crestron systems already on site do that, and their locations reach it through connections:
- Crestron Home — the Centro driver runs on the Crestron Home processor. Centro System Manager for Crestron can install it for you. See Connect Crestron Home.
- Crestron Custom — a Crestron program with the Centro module calls in. See Connect Crestron Custom.
Each connection serves one location and carries that location's state and commands. A Crestron Home processor has a connection for each Crestron Home room, so one processor brings many locations.
Centro System Manager for Crestron finds the Crestron processors and touch screens on its own network. One it can't find, for example where discovery is blocked on the network, is added by its IP address under Settings → Deployment → Manual devices. See Discover devices.
What standalone means
It runs on site and needs no cloud service.
- The site is kept on site. Locations, stays, schedules and settings are kept on the processor.
- Sign-in uses the processor's own accounts. People sign in with their Crestron processor username and password. You map the processor's groups to two roles, Administrator and Manager, under Settings → Access → Administrators. There are no separate accounts to create.
- It works without an internet connection. Location state, control, stays, schedules and User App access all run on the local network.
A few things reach outside the site's network:
- Logs, sent to Centro. A copy of the processor's log goes to Centro's log server over HTTPS, so support can see a problem without visiting the site. It includes the errors the admin app and the User App report. This is on by default, and the log on the processor is kept either way. A site that allows no outbound traffic turns off Send this processor's logs to Centro under Settings → Settings → Logs. See Logs.
- Activating a licence online, and a daily check of the keys activated that way. A processor with no internet connection uses a licence file instead. See Activate a licence.
- Email alerts, if your mail relay is outside the site.
- The processor's time server, if it's set to one on the internet.
Ports and network lists every connection.
Who uses it
- Installers load the program, connect the Crestron systems and hand the site over. Start at Load the program.
- Site operators watch locations, send commands, run schedules, check users in and out and give users access. Start at Site dashboard.
- Developers connect another system with an API key. Start at API keys.
The Glossary explains the terms these pages use.