Only been around a few weeks, and having got most of my setup running I have come to find out that the OpenZWave (beta) add-on is not the only way to use Z-Wave with a Z-Stick. There is also a Z-Wave integration and an OpenZWave (beta) integration.
Anyone have a run down on the differences?
Also, does anyone happen to know if it would be easier to hack support for controlling the Aeotec Siren 6 with any specific integration?
the Open Zwave Beta add-on is used in conjunction with the Open Zwave beta integration. So there are only two different zwave implementations (not counting zwave2mqtt)
the reguilar wave integration is based on an older OZW version (1.4) while the Beta integration is using vversion 1.6. But the Beta version is just that - Beta. So it’s not yet fully functional.
The other integration has been around for years and works well (for me and probably most others).
You can start out with the original and move to the new one when it gets more mature. Or if you have a basic zwave network then you could probably get away with going straight to the beta integration. But if you do you have to be prepared for possible breaking changes ahead.
as far as the Siren goes it would probably work better in the beta integration than in the original since the new stuff is better supported by the beta.
I’m helping with that as fast as I can 
Thank you! It all makes sense now. Going to stick with 1.6. Hopefully we’ll get some more integration with siren devices.
What’s not working with your siren? I’m able to toggle mine on/off in 1.6 just fine.
You are able to command the siren to make a specific noise? Do you happen to have a set of instructions you used to configure and control them in automations?
Mine is just on/off no special function like that.
If you are using one that uses configuration parameters to change the sound and such, you’ll need to wait for 0.113 the PR to use ozw.set_config_parameter should be in that release.
When you say on/off you mean turning a sound on/off right?
And actually I’ve been able to successfully change the config parameters to a different tone, albeit not reliably. All I need to do now is be able to trigger the sound to start with a duration variable included in the command. As far as I have researched though people haven’t figured out how to do that with HA yet.
Siren on/off mine isn’t fancy with customizable sounds.