Hey guys,
Im an engineer working on a DIY project that solves a common problem: doorbells you can't hear.
It's a wireless doorbell which gives you the option to send a photo of who is at the door directly to your phone. The wireless doorbell has 3 modes: chime mode only, photo mode only, and chime/photo mode.
I'd appreciate it if anyone has opinions/suggestions for my "photo" doorbell project because I want this to be the best project I can make.
We have several people in our house. Would it send a photo to all of us, or would it use location data to decide which one?
Will it have a remote unlock feature, so I can let people in even if I'm in bed/on the loo?
Any competent IP CCTV camera will do this, and you can get them with alarm inputs for the bell push, alarm output for lock release and two- way speech over VoIP/SIP
Owain
If you can't hear the doorbell, why would you hear the phone?
BTW, rather cheaper to fit a more powerful doorbell...
Contact Lyndsay at Girton Labs. She's a mad inventor and this is sort of up her street.
I presume you're intending to use SMS to send the notification to your phone? Are you aware that SMS is neither reliable nor timely? An SMS message might never arrive or, as it quite common around here, arrive a couple of hours after being sent. Even the Mormons won't stand on the doorstep for that long ;-).
The question to ask is why you can't hear the bell. Year ago my grandad extended the cable and had a second bell outside the back door so being in the garden didn't stop him hearing the bell. And if you're going wireless (and did you know there are "traditional button to wireless transmitters" available if you don't want a hideous plastic blob outside your door?), why no just buy multiple receivers to provide coverage around the house?
OTOH you could go all "spooky" and wire it to the lighting circuits so that all the lights flash when someone rings :-).
Paul DS
Glad you wrote that about SMS. Obviously also true for email. Saves me doing so.
An SMS to identify that someone did try is a good idea.
But for anything more, making the bell-push a phone seems the way to go. At least there is then a possiiblity of speaking - with all the usual provisos about being in range, etc.
Which is what I did.
I've only got the one wireless receiver, plus the original bell the transmitter is wired to. It does have a flashing light for deaf users, so that's already a solved problem. It's not terribly reliable though.
Something that integrates with house wifi and alerts an app on your phone so you can look at a networked camera isn't a totally daft idea.
I have setup an SMS to my phone when someone presses the doorbell. I've considered also emailling a photo but not found time to play further. My setup uses an X10 transmitter on the doorbell switch, X10 sounders in the house and garage on that channel, and the HA computer sends an email to an email-to-sms gateway account when that X10 ID is recieved.
Usually the SMS comes through within a few seconds of the button being pressed, but I have had it take ages (like an hour!).
I find it useful when in the garden and can't hear the door. Even better would be a phone app to show the photo and open a 2-way audio conversation, so if it's say a courier I can ask them to leave the item elsewhere etc. One day...
It sounds to me like a solution for a problem that shouldn't exist.
There is no reason to just fit one cheap and nasty wireless doorbell. There are all sorts of sounders available with a much higher audio output
- or simply use multiple doorbells. A much simpler and more reliable solution than sending any sort of signal to your phone.
Already been done:
Yes a vibrator mode for those hard of hearing as most phones have this. Brian
Not if you're running a local email server!
It might be if the email has to go elsewhere than within the house, though. :-)
Shoot the dog.
From
It's a DIY banter poster, what a suprise....
Sign while holding the phone? ;-)
You might need somewhere to prop up the phone if using British Sign Language, but the vast majority of sign languages use a one hand finger spelling system.
Colin Bignell
A problem that a clever dick could not overcome.
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