diff --git a/resources/lib/PlexCompanion.py b/resources/lib/PlexCompanion.py
index 9cf71bf5..88e472b4 100644
--- a/resources/lib/PlexCompanion.py
+++ b/resources/lib/PlexCompanion.py
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ from urllib import urlencode
 from xbmc import sleep, executebuiltin
 
 from utils import settings, thread_methods
-from plexbmchelper import listener, plexgdm, subscribers, functions, \
-    httppersist, plexsettings
+from plexbmchelper import listener, plexgdm, subscribers, httppersist, \
+    plexsettings
 from PlexFunctions import ParseContainerKey, GetPlexMetadata
 from PlexAPI import API
 from playlist_func import get_pms_playqueue, get_plextype_from_xml
@@ -196,9 +196,8 @@ class PlexCompanion(Thread):
 
         # Start up instances
         requestMgr = httppersist.RequestMgr()
-        jsonClass = functions.jsonClass(requestMgr, self.settings)
         subscriptionManager = subscribers.SubscriptionManager(
-            jsonClass, requestMgr, self.player, self.mgr)
+            requestMgr, self.player, self.mgr)
 
         queue = Queue.Queue(maxsize=100)
         self.queue = queue
@@ -211,7 +210,6 @@ class PlexCompanion(Thread):
                     httpd = listener.ThreadedHTTPServer(
                         client,
                         subscriptionManager,
-                        jsonClass,
                         self.settings,
                         queue,
                         ('', self.settings['myport']),
diff --git a/resources/lib/json_rpc.py b/resources/lib/json_rpc.py
index 46da124f..9cb0d679 100644
--- a/resources/lib/json_rpc.py
+++ b/resources/lib/json_rpc.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Collection of functions using the Kodi JSON RPC interface.
 See http://kodi.wiki/view/JSON-RPC_API
 """
 from json import loads, dumps
-from utils import milliseconds_to_kodi_time
+from utils import millis_to_kodi_time
 from xbmc import executeJSONRPC
 
 
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def get_players():
         'picture': ...
     }
     """
-    info = jsonrpc("Player.GetActivePlayers").execute()['result'] or []
+    info = jsonrpc("Player.GetActivePlayers").execute()['result']
     ret = {}
     for player in info:
         player['playerid'] = int(player['playerid'])
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ def seek_to(offset):
     for playerid in get_player_ids():
         jsonrpc("Player.Seek").execute(
             {"playerid": playerid,
-             "value": milliseconds_to_kodi_time(offset)})
+             "value": millis_to_kodi_time(offset)})
 
 
 def smallforward():
@@ -240,6 +240,13 @@ def input_back():
     return jsonrpc("Input.Back").execute()
 
 
+def input_sendtext(text):
+    """
+    Tells Kodi the user sent text [unicode]
+    """
+    return jsonrpc("Input.SendText").execute({'test': text, 'done': False})
+
+
 def playlist_get_items(playlistid, properties):
     """
         playlistid:    [int] id of the Kodi playlist
@@ -350,6 +357,33 @@ def get_episodes(params):
     return ret
 
 
+def get_player_props(playerid):
+    """
+    Returns a dict for the active Kodi player with the following values:
+    {
+        'type'          [str] the Kodi player type, e.g. 'video'
+        'time'          The current item's time in Kodi time
+        'totaltime'     The current item's total length in Kodi time
+        'speed'         [int] playback speed, defaults to 0
+        'shuffled'      [bool] True if shuffled
+        'repeat'        [str] 'off', 'one', 'all'
+        'position'      [int] position in playlist (or -1)
+        'playlistid'    [int] the Kodi playlist id (or -1)
+    }
+    """
+    ret = jsonrpc('Player.GetProperties').execute({
+        'playerid': playerid,
+        'properties': ['type',
+                       'time',
+                       'totaltime',
+                       'speed',
+                       'shuffled',
+                       'repeat',
+                       'position',
+                       'playlistid']})
+    return ret['result']
+
+
 def current_audiostream(playerid):
     """
     Returns a dict of the active audiostream for playerid [int]:
@@ -402,3 +436,10 @@ def subtitle_enabled(playerid):
     except (KeyError, TypeError):
         ret = False
     return ret
+
+
+def ping():
+    """
+    Pings the JSON RPC interface
+    """
+    return jsonrpc('JSONRPC.Ping').execute()
diff --git a/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/functions.py b/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/functions.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 784a1e77..00000000
--- a/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/functions.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,244 +0,0 @@
-import logging
-import base64
-import json
-import string
-
-import xbmc
-
-import plexdb_functions as plexdb
-
-###############################################################################
-
-log = logging.getLogger("PLEX."+__name__)
-
-###############################################################################
-
-
-def xbmc_photo():
-    return "photo"
-
-
-def xbmc_video():
-    return "video"
-
-
-def xbmc_audio():
-    return "audio"
-
-
-def plex_photo():
-    return "photo"
-
-
-def plex_video():
-    return "video"
-
-
-def plex_audio():
-    return "music"
-
-
-def xbmc_type(plex_type):
-    if plex_type == plex_photo():
-        return xbmc_photo()
-    elif plex_type == plex_video():
-        return xbmc_video()
-    elif plex_type == plex_audio():
-        return xbmc_audio()
-
-
-def plex_type(xbmc_type):
-    if xbmc_type == xbmc_photo():
-        return plex_photo()
-    elif xbmc_type == xbmc_video():
-        return plex_video()
-    elif xbmc_type == xbmc_audio():
-        return plex_audio()
-
-
-def getXMLHeader():
-    return '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n'
-
-
-def getOKMsg():
-    return getXMLHeader() + '<Response code="200" status="OK" />'
-
-
-def timeToMillis(time):
-    return (time['hours']*3600 +
-            time['minutes']*60 +
-            time['seconds'])*1000 + time['milliseconds']
-
-
-def millisToTime(t):
-    millis = int(t)
-    seconds = millis / 1000
-    minutes = seconds / 60
-    hours = minutes / 60
-    seconds = seconds % 60
-    minutes = minutes % 60
-    millis = millis % 1000
-    return {'hours': hours,
-            'minutes': minutes,
-            'seconds': seconds,
-            'milliseconds': millis}
-
-
-def textFromXml(element):
-    return element.firstChild.data
-
-
-class jsonClass():
-
-    def __init__(self, requestMgr, settings):
-        self.settings = settings
-        self.requestMgr = requestMgr
-
-    def jsonrpc(self, action, arguments={}):
-        """ put some JSON together for the JSON-RPC APIv6 """
-        if action.lower() == "sendkey":
-            request = json.dumps({
-                "jsonrpc": "2.0",
-                "method": "Input.SendText",
-                "params": {
-                    "text": arguments[0],
-                    "done": False
-                }
-            })
-        elif action.lower() == "ping":
-            request = json.dumps({
-                "jsonrpc": "2.0",
-                "id": 1,
-                "method": "JSONRPC.Ping"
-            })
-        elif arguments:
-            request = json.dumps({
-                "id": 1,
-                "jsonrpc": "2.0",
-                "method": action,
-                "params": arguments})
-        else:
-            request = json.dumps({
-                "id": 1,
-                "jsonrpc": "2.0",
-                "method": action
-            })
-
-        result = self.parseJSONRPC(xbmc.executeJSONRPC(request))
-
-        if not result and self.settings['webserver_enabled']:
-            # xbmc.executeJSONRPC appears to fail on the login screen, but
-            # going through the network stack works, so let's try the request
-            # again
-            result = self.parseJSONRPC(self.requestMgr.post(
-                "127.0.0.1",
-                self.settings['port'],
-                "/jsonrpc",
-                request,
-                {'Content-Type': 'application/json',
-                 'Authorization': 'Basic %s' % string.strip(
-                     base64.encodestring('%s:%s'
-                                         % (self.settings['user'],
-                                            self.settings['passwd'])))
-                 }))
-        return result
-
-    def skipTo(self, plexId, typus):
-        # playlistId = self.getPlaylistId(tryDecode(xbmc_type(typus)))
-        # playerId = self.
-        with plexdb.Get_Plex_DB() as plex_db:
-            plexdb_item = plex_db.getItem_byId(plexId)
-            try:
-                dbid = plexdb_item[0]
-                mediatype = plexdb_item[4]
-            except TypeError:
-                log.info('Couldnt find item %s in Kodi db' % plexId)
-                return
-        log.debug('plexid: %s, kodi id: %s, type: %s'
-                  % (plexId, dbid, mediatype))
-
-    def getPlexHeaders(self):
-        h = {
-            "Content-type": "text/xml",
-            "Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*",
-            "X-Plex-Version": self.settings['version'],
-            "X-Plex-Client-Identifier": self.settings['uuid'],
-            "X-Plex-Provides": "client,controller,player",
-            "X-Plex-Product": "PlexKodiConnect",
-            "X-Plex-Device-Name": self.settings['client_name'],
-            "X-Plex-Platform": "Kodi",
-            "X-Plex-Model": self.settings['platform'],
-            "X-Plex-Device": "PC",
-        }
-        if self.settings['myplex_user']:
-            h["X-Plex-Username"] = self.settings['myplex_user']
-        return h
-
-    def parseJSONRPC(self, jsonraw):
-        if not jsonraw:
-            log.debug("Empty response from Kodi")
-            return {}
-        else:
-            parsed = json.loads(jsonraw)
-        if parsed.get('error', False):
-            log.error("Kodi returned an error: %s" % parsed.get('error'))
-        return parsed.get('result', {})
-
-    def getPlayers(self):
-        info = self.jsonrpc("Player.GetActivePlayers") or []
-        ret = {}
-        for player in info:
-            player['playerid'] = int(player['playerid'])
-            ret[player['type']] = player
-        return ret
-
-    def getPlaylistId(self, typus):
-        """
-        typus: one of the Kodi types, e.g. audio or video
-
-        Returns None if nothing was found
-        """
-        for playlist in self.getPlaylists():
-            if playlist.get('type') == typus:
-                return playlist.get('playlistid')
-
-    def getPlaylists(self):
-        """
-        Returns a list, e.g.
-            [
-                {u'playlistid': 0, u'type': u'audio'},
-                {u'playlistid': 1, u'type': u'video'},
-                {u'playlistid': 2, u'type': u'picture'}
-            ]
-        """
-        return self.jsonrpc('Playlist.GetPlaylists')
-
-    def getPlayerIds(self):
-        ret = []
-        for player in self.getPlayers().values():
-            ret.append(player['playerid'])
-        return ret
-
-    def getVideoPlayerId(self, players=False):
-        if players is None:
-            players = self.getPlayers()
-        return players.get(xbmc_video(), {}).get('playerid', None)
-
-    def getAudioPlayerId(self, players=False):
-        if players is None:
-            players = self.getPlayers()
-        return players.get(xbmc_audio(), {}).get('playerid', None)
-
-    def getPhotoPlayerId(self, players=False):
-        if players is None:
-            players = self.getPlayers()
-        return players.get(xbmc_photo(), {}).get('playerid', None)
-
-    def getVolume(self):
-        answ = self.jsonrpc('Application.GetProperties',
-                            {
-                                "properties": ["volume", 'muted']
-                            })
-        vol = str(answ.get('volume', 100))
-        mute = ("0", "1")[answ.get('muted', False)]
-        return (vol, mute)
diff --git a/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/listener.py b/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/listener.py
index c07e9c00..e177212f 100644
--- a/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/listener.py
+++ b/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/listener.py
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ from urlparse import urlparse, parse_qs
 from xbmc import sleep
 from companion import process_command
 from utils import window
-
-from functions import *
-
+import json_rpc as js
+from clientinfo import getXArgsDeviceInfo
+import variables as v
 
 ###############################################################################
 
@@ -82,7 +82,6 @@ class MyHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
     def answer_request(self, sendData):
         self.serverlist = self.server.client.getServerList()
         subMgr = self.server.subscriptionManager
-        js = self.server.jsonClass
         settings = self.server.settings
 
         try:
@@ -105,7 +104,7 @@ class MyHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
                     % settings['version'])
             elif request_path == "verify":
                 self.response("XBMC JSON connection test:\n" +
-                              js.jsonrpc("ping"))
+                              js.ping())
             elif "resources" == request_path:
                 resp = ('%s'
                         '<MediaContainer>'
@@ -121,15 +120,15 @@ class MyHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
                         ' deviceClass="pc"'
                         '/>'
                         '</MediaContainer>'
-                        % (getXMLHeader(),
+                        % (v.XML_HEADER,
                            settings['client_name'],
                            settings['uuid'],
                            settings['platform'],
                            settings['plexbmc_version']))
                 log.debug("crafted resources response: %s" % resp)
-                self.response(resp, js.getPlexHeaders())
+                self.response(resp, getXArgsDeviceInfo())
             elif "/subscribe" in request_path:
-                self.response(getOKMsg(), js.getPlexHeaders())
+                self.response(v.COMPANION_OK_MESSAGE, getXArgsDeviceInfo())
                 protocol = params.get('protocol', False)
                 host = self.client_address[0]
                 port = params.get('port', False)
@@ -147,7 +146,7 @@ class MyHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
                 self.response(
                     sub(r"INSERTCOMMANDID",
                         str(commandID),
-                        subMgr.msg(js.getPlayers())),
+                        subMgr.msg(js.get_players())),
                     {
                         'X-Plex-Client-Identifier': settings['uuid'],
                         'Access-Control-Expose-Headers':
@@ -156,14 +155,14 @@ class MyHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
                         'Content-Type': 'text/xml'
                     })
             elif "/unsubscribe" in request_path:
-                self.response(getOKMsg(), js.getPlexHeaders())
+                self.response(v.COMPANION_OK_MESSAGE, getXArgsDeviceInfo())
                 uuid = self.headers.get('X-Plex-Client-Identifier', False) \
                     or self.client_address[0]
                 subMgr.removeSubscriber(uuid)
             else:
                 # Throw it to companion.py
                 process_command(request_path, params, self.server.queue)
-                self.response('', js.getPlexHeaders())
+                self.response('', getXArgsDeviceInfo())
                 subMgr.notify()
         except:
             log.error('Error encountered. Traceback:')
@@ -174,17 +173,16 @@ class MyHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
 class ThreadedHTTPServer(ThreadingMixIn, HTTPServer):
     daemon_threads = True
 
-    def __init__(self, client, subscriptionManager, jsonClass, settings,
+    def __init__(self, client, subscriptionManager, settings,
                  queue, *args, **kwargs):
         """
         client: Class handle to plexgdm.plexgdm. We can thus ask for an up-to-
         date serverlist without instantiating anything
 
-        same for SubscriptionManager and jsonClass
+        same for SubscriptionManager
         """
         self.client = client
         self.subscriptionManager = subscriptionManager
-        self.jsonClass = jsonClass
         self.settings = settings
         self.queue = queue
         HTTPServer.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
diff --git a/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/subscribers.py b/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/subscribers.py
index 82d4d833..5345fea4 100644
--- a/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/subscribers.py
+++ b/resources/lib/plexbmchelper/subscribers.py
@@ -2,12 +2,15 @@ import logging
 import re
 import threading
 
+from xbmc import sleep
+
 import downloadutils
 from clientinfo import getXArgsDeviceInfo
-from utils import window
+from utils import window, kodi_time_to_millis
 import PlexFunctions as pf
 import state
-from functions import *
+import variables as v
+import json_rpc as js
 
 ###############################################################################
 
@@ -17,7 +20,7 @@ log = logging.getLogger("PLEX."+__name__)
 
 
 class SubscriptionManager:
-    def __init__(self, jsonClass, RequestMgr, player, mgr):
+    def __init__(self, RequestMgr, player, mgr):
         self.serverlist = []
         self.subscribers = {}
         self.info = {}
@@ -30,8 +33,6 @@ class SubscriptionManager:
             'audio': {},
             'picture': {}
         }
-        self.volume = 0
-        self.mute = '0'
         self.server = ""
         self.protocol = "http"
         self.port = ""
@@ -40,7 +41,6 @@ class SubscriptionManager:
         self.xbmcplayer = player
         self.playqueue = mgr.playqueue
 
-        self.js = jsonClass
         self.RequestMgr = RequestMgr
 
     def getServerByHost(self, host):
@@ -52,32 +52,34 @@ class SubscriptionManager:
                 return server
         return {}
 
-    def getVolume(self):
-        self.volume, self.mute = self.js.getVolume()
-
     def msg(self, players):
-        msg = getXMLHeader()
+        log.debug('players: %s', players)
+        msg = v.XML_HEADER
         msg += '<MediaContainer size="3" commandID="INSERTCOMMANDID"'
         msg += ' machineIdentifier="%s" location="fullScreenVideo">' % window('plex_client_Id')
-        msg += self.getTimelineXML(self.js.getAudioPlayerId(players), plex_audio())
-        msg += self.getTimelineXML(self.js.getPhotoPlayerId(players), plex_photo())
-        msg += self.getTimelineXML(self.js.getVideoPlayerId(players), plex_video())
+        msg += self.getTimelineXML(players.get(v.KODI_TYPE_AUDIO),
+                                   v.PLEX_TYPE_AUDIO)
+        msg += self.getTimelineXML(players.get(v.KODI_TYPE_PHOTO),
+                                   v.PLEX_TYPE_PHOTO)
+        msg += self.getTimelineXML(players.get(v.KODI_TYPE_VIDEO),
+                                   v.PLEX_TYPE_VIDEO)
         msg += "\n</MediaContainer>"
         return msg
 
-    def getTimelineXML(self, playerid, ptype):
-        if playerid is not None:
+    def getTimelineXML(self, player, ptype):
+        if player is None:
+            status = 'stopped'
+            time = 0
+        else:
+            playerid = player['playerid']
             info = self.getPlayerProperties(playerid)
             # save this info off so the server update can use it too
             self.playerprops[playerid] = info
             status = info['state']
             time = info['time']
-        else:
-            status = "stopped"
-            time = 0
         ret = ('\n  <Timeline state="%s" time="%s" type="%s"'
                % (status, time, ptype))
-        if playerid is None:
+        if player is None:
             ret += ' />'
             return ret
 
@@ -89,10 +91,10 @@ class SubscriptionManager:
         keyid = None
         count = 0
         while not keyid:
-            if count > 300:
+            if count > 30:
                 break
             keyid = window('plex_currently_playing_itemid')
-            xbmc.sleep(100)
+            sleep(100)
             count += 1
         if keyid:
             self.lastkey = "/library/metadata/%s" % keyid
@@ -119,7 +121,7 @@ class SubscriptionManager:
         ret += ' port="%s"' % serv.get('port', self.port)
         ret += ' volume="%s"' % info['volume']
         ret += ' shuffle="%s"' % info['shuffle']
-        ret += ' mute="%s"' % self.mute
+        ret += ' mute="%s"' % info['mute']
         ret += ' repeat="%s"' % info['repeat']
         ret += ' itemType="%s"' % ptype
         if state.PLEX_TRANSIENT_TOKEN:
@@ -145,7 +147,7 @@ class SubscriptionManager:
         if (not window('plex_currently_playing_itemid')
                 and not self.lastplayers):
             return True
-        players = self.js.getPlayers()
+        players = js.get_players()
         # fetch the message, subscribers or not, since the server
         # will need the info anyway
         msg = self.msg(players)
@@ -233,27 +235,15 @@ class SubscriptionManager:
             # Get the playqueue
             playqueue = self.playqueue.playqueues[playerid]
             # get info from the player
-            props = self.js.jsonrpc(
-                "Player.GetProperties",
-                {"playerid": playerid,
-                 "properties": ["type",
-                                "time",
-                                "totaltime",
-                                "speed",
-                                "shuffled",
-                                "repeat"]})
+            props = js.get_player_props(playerid)
             info = {
-                'time': timeToMillis(props['time']),
-                'duration': timeToMillis(props['totaltime']),
+                'time': kodi_time_to_millis(props['time']),
+                'duration': kodi_time_to_millis(props['totaltime']),
                 'state': ("paused", "playing")[int(props['speed'])],
                 'shuffle': ("0", "1")[props.get('shuffled', False)],
                 'repeat': pf.getPlexRepeat(props.get('repeat')),
             }
-            # Get the playlist position
-            pos = self.js.jsonrpc(
-                "Player.GetProperties",
-                {"playerid": playerid,
-                 "properties": ["position"]})['position']
+            pos = props['position']
             try:
                 info['playQueueItemID'] = playqueue.items[pos].ID or 'null'
                 info['guid'] = playqueue.items[pos].guid or 'null'
@@ -274,8 +264,8 @@ class SubscriptionManager:
             }
 
         # get the volume from the application
-        info['volume'] = self.volume
-        info['mute'] = self.mute
+        info['volume'] = js.get_volume()
+        info['mute'] = js.get_muted()
 
         info['plex_transient_token'] = playqueue.plex_transient_token
 
diff --git a/resources/lib/utils.py b/resources/lib/utils.py
index 5184b4d2..9ccc80b9 100644
--- a/resources/lib/utils.py
+++ b/resources/lib/utils.py
@@ -179,9 +179,15 @@ def dialog(typus, *args, **kwargs):
     return types[typus](*args, **kwargs)
 
 
-def milliseconds_to_kodi_time(milliseconds):
+def millis_to_kodi_time(milliseconds):
     """
-    Converts time in milliseconds to the time dict used by the Kodi JSON RPC
+    Converts time in milliseconds to the time dict used by the Kodi JSON RPC:
+    {
+        'hours': [int],
+        'minutes': [int],
+        'seconds'[int],
+        'milliseconds': [int]
+    }
     Pass in the time in milliseconds as an int
     """
     seconds = milliseconds / 1000
@@ -196,6 +202,22 @@ def milliseconds_to_kodi_time(milliseconds):
             'milliseconds': milliseconds}
 
 
+def kodi_time_to_millis(time):
+    """
+    Converts the Kodi time dict
+    {
+        'hours': [int],
+        'minutes': [int],
+        'seconds'[int],
+        'milliseconds': [int]
+    }
+    to milliseconds [int]
+    """
+    return (time['hours']*3600 +
+            time['minutes']*60 +
+            time['seconds'])*1000 + time['milliseconds']
+
+
 def tryEncode(uniString, encoding='utf-8'):
     """
     Will try to encode uniString (in unicode) to encoding. This possibly
diff --git a/resources/lib/variables.py b/resources/lib/variables.py
index 856197d3..525bb29c 100644
--- a/resources/lib/variables.py
+++ b/resources/lib/variables.py
@@ -361,3 +361,8 @@ SORT_METHODS_ALBUMS = (
     'SORT_METHOD_ARTIST',
     'SORT_METHOD_ALBUM',
 )
+
+
+XML_HEADER = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n'
+
+COMPANION_OK_MESSAGE = XML_HEADER + '<Response code="200" status="OK" />'