Issue with two-way audio on BI app with Foscam cameras

[cahiatt]

Has anyone tried to use the two-way audio on the Blue Iris app for Android? Could you get it to work? Whenever I try to talk to one of the cameras the app will crash 95% of the time and force close. If it doesn't crash it will still not send audio to the camera. I MIGHT get some freaky garbled noise but never anything that someone could hear. It doesn't matter if I'm connected locally on the WAN or remote via LAN connection.

However if I use the actual Foscam software on my phone and connect locally then I can send audio just fine. Just not through the BI app.

Setup is as follows.

Blue Iris 4.0.4.3
W7 - Home Premium - 64 bit
AMD Phenom 965
8GB RAM
128GB SSD OS drive
2TB Storage drive
4 Foscam FI9821W v2 - 1 connected wireless, the others via ethernet.

Thanks,

 

[jonjonbear]

Same thing here. Also appears before it crashes, no audio goes from my phone to the camera. Like you, it works perfect on the Foscam app.

Has anyone tried to use the two-way audio on the Blue Iris app for Android? Could you get it to work? Whenever I try to talk to one of the cameras the app will crash 95% of the time and force close. If it doesn't crash it will still not send audio to the camera. I MIGHT get some freaky garbled noise but never anything that someone could hear. It doesn't matter if I'm connected locally on the WAN or remote via LAN connection.

However if I use the actual Foscam software on my phone and connect locally then I can send audio just fine. Just not through the BI app.

Setup is as follows.

Blue Iris 4.0.4.3
W7 - Home Premium - 64 bit
AMD Phenom 965
8GB RAM
128GB SSD OS drive
2TB Storage drive
4 Foscam FI9821W v2 - 1 connected wireless, the others via ethernet.

Thanks,

 

[cahiatt]

Still doesn't work. I actually moved BI to another box to consolidate two servers and the problem persists. I think it is just a bug in their android app.

 

[Hitch3402]

I'm glad I read this. Has this problem been taken care of yet? I use 2 way communications to my cameras several times a day. I just purchased the Blue Iris software this morning, since the other software I was using won't work very well with my Amcrest camera. I also have 5 Foscam 89xx series cameras.
Thanks.

 

[fenderman]

I'm glad I read this. Has this problem been taken care of yet? I use 2 way communications to my cameras several times a day. I just purchased the Blue Iris software this morning, since the other software I was using won't work very well with my Amcrest camera. I also have 5 Foscam 89xx series cameras.
Thanks.

Have you tested it? What issue are you having?

 

[Hitch3402]

No, I haven't tested it at all. I read above that people are having problems with the Android application with 2 way audio. I'm not about to spend $10 on software that doesn't do what its supposed to do.
I read some of the reviews from the google store, and it seems to have its share of problems, so I held off. Tiny Cam Monitor works very well for me, other than not being fully compatible with the Amcrest camera.
I was using Ispy, and it was working VERY WELL with my foscam cameras, but I just picked up an Amcrest hd camera, and could not get it to do audio at all, even just listening, so I bought Blue Iris this morning and migrated my cameras over to it. I kind of like the layout of this software, but trying to get my amcrest camera working caused the software to crash 9 times in about 12 minutes (every one of them requiring a reboot of the pc to get the software working again,) that didn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, but I got the audio working one-way on the amcrest now, so thats at least a start. I do notice the cpu usage is higher than when on ISpy, (from 40-50 percent to 80-95 percent) but I probably need to tweak the settings a bit.

Thanks,
Hitch

 

[fenderman]

No, I haven't tested it at all. I read above that people are having problems with the Android application with 2 way audio. I'm not about to spend $10 on software that doesn't do what its supposed to do.
I read some of the reviews from the google store, and it seems to have its share of problems, so I held off. Tiny Cam Monitor works very well for me, other than not being fully compatible with the Amcrest camera.
I was using Ispy, and it was working VERY WELL with my foscam cameras, but I just picked up an Amcrest hd camera, and could not get it to do audio at all, even just listening, so I bought Blue Iris this morning and migrated my cameras over to it. I kind of like the layout of this software, but trying to get my amcrest camera working caused the software to crash 9 times in about 12 minutes (every one of them requiring a reboot of the pc to get the software working again,) that didn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, but I got the audio working one-way on the amcrest now, so thats at least a start. I do notice the cpu usage is higher than when on ISpy, (from 40-50 percent to 80-95 percent) but I probably need to tweak the settings a bit.

Thanks,
Hitch

Blue iris is light years ahead if ispy (which also charges a monthly fee for remote access and very limited alerts)..
There are NO issues with the blue iris mobile app. Its awesome and well worth the 10 dollars, heck even 50. The complainers on the play store are pissed that the app cannot play back alerts for v3 of blue iris. They are upset that after 2-5 years they had to spend 30 dollars to upgrade to v4 which comes with incredible new features. While timcam is good, it simply cannot replace something like the blue iris mobile app that allows you to replay recorded video, change profiles and much more.
If your system is crashing you are likely using an underpowered system and/or not properly setting blue iris to use less resources. There are TONS of threads on this. First, set EACH camera to record direct to disk. Then enable hardware acceleration (if your pc is an intel second gen or newer and is running on integrated graphics).
Note if you are using the DEMO of blue iris, direct to disk is not fully implemented and your cpu will remain high. You need to buy the license.
I have over 20 pc running blue iris, solid, smooth, stable. You need to take the time to learn it and set it up properly.
Side note, I would not port forward the foscams to use with tiny cam, its a huge security risk. If you want to use tinycam (or any mobile app that connects to the camera directly), then use a vpn.

 

[Hitch3402]

Ok, maybe somehow I posted into the wrong thread here. I was reading about people not being able to use 2 way audio with the android app. Perhaps I got carried away by saying I used ISpy with no troubles. Sorry about that! I DID in fact buy Blue Iris this morning, which I mentioned in my first post, and got it up and running in about 2 hours. Please forgive me, there are A LOT of threads, and as I only started reading them this morning, I'm sure I missed some. I'll get there, count on it!
Anyway, I was responding to the messages about 2 way audio, something that is extremely important to me. Without that functionality, I am not going to buy the android application. I don't think there is a trial period.
I do have a question though, since you brought it up, what is direct to disk? Is that a raw, un-transcoded video file?

I'm not too worried about security, with iptables I'm set pretty tight, and since I sit on both sides of my cable modem, (yes, I control the cmts,) I have alerts set up all over the place! My co-workers used to ask me why I do some of the things I do (snmptraps and such,) but after reading about all the hacks just about every day, they ask me for help now. Seems to me like old times, back in the 80's helping my parents and friends with their computers!
Remember, I'm using this software for about 11 hours now.... be gentle with me!
Hitch

 

[fenderman]

Ok, maybe somehow I posted into the wrong thread here. I was reading about people not being able to use 2 way audio with the android app. Perhaps I got carried away by saying I used ISpy with no troubles. Sorry about that! I DID in fact buy Blue Iris this morning, which I mentioned in my first post, and got it up and running in about 2 hours. Please forgive me, there are A LOT of threads, and as I only started reading them this morning, I'm sure I missed some. I'll get there, count on it!
Anyway, I was responding to the messages about 2 way audio, something that is extremely important to me. Without that functionality, I am not going to buy the android application. I don't think there is a trial period.
I do have a question though, since you brought it up, what is direct to disk? Is that a raw, un-transcoded video file?

I'm not too worried about security, with iptables I'm set pretty tight, and since I sit on both sides of my cable modem, (yes, I control the cmts,) I have alerts set up all over the place! My co-workers used to ask me why I do some of the things I do (snmptraps and such,) but after reading about all the hacks just about every day, they ask me for help now. Seems to me like old times, back in the 80's helping my parents and friends with their computers!
Remember, I'm using this software for about 11 hours now.... be gentle with me!
Hitch

D2d is explained in the help file and in many threads here. You need to use it if your cpu is at 85.You already spent the money on the software.. The app is only ten dollars and is a must have if you use the software. The developer of also very responsive.. You are simply shooting yourself in the foot by not testing it. I don't think you understand the security vulnerabilities of these cams.. Not only are the cameras vulnerable but your entire network is vulnerable.

 

[Hitch3402]

D2d is explained in the help file and in many threads here. You need to use it if your cpu is at 85.You already spent the money on the software.. The app is only ten dollars and is a must have if you use the software. The developer of also very responsive.. You are simply shooting yourself in the foot by not testing it. I don't think you understand the security vulnerabilities of these cams.. Not only are the cameras vulnerable but your entire network is vulnerable.

I probably will test it out, after I get a little more familiar with the base software. I did manage to drop it down to 65% just by turning down the fps on 2 cameras from 30 to 20. I will probably lower them a bit more.
When I said I'm not too worried about security, I meant I've got my system pretty secure, with alerts to the nonstandard ports I use for my cameras on the cmts side of my cable modem and my firewall, my messages are parsed every 24 hrs looking for anything suspicious, firewall is set to allow specific ips into my network, unfortunately as my cell doesn't have a reserved ip address, I'm forced to open quite a few ips from the cellular network I belong to, but thats the risk I have to take, my password is quite strong, and if that doesn't work, I can usually vnc to another system and get in from there.
I see more login attempts trying to get into my devices from many ports, almost always from the other side of the planet, not once have any ports I use been touched. The port 81 was the first thing to go on Blue iris, that port along with 8080 are hit daily, sometimes hourly.

 

[fenderman]

I probably will test it out, after I get a little more familiar with the base software. I did manage to drop it down to 65% just by turning down the fps on 2 cameras from 30 to 20. I will probably lower them a bit more.

Note blue iris also has a live video frame rate limiting function so you can limit your live frame rate to 10 and record at 20. Blue iris options >cameras.
20fps is excessive for most applications. 15fps recording is way more than sufficient. Using direct to disk will significantly drop cpu consumption, it is the first thing that should be implemented.
If you are running a modern intel system use hardware acceleration.

 

[cahiatt]

I'm glad I read this. Has this problem been taken care of yet? I use 2 way communications to my cameras several times a day. Thanks.

I'm on the latest BI software for the server and the phone. I've never been able to get two-way audio to work with the Foscams. Everything else is fine though. I'm about to replace the cameras as they've pretty much given up on life. Image quality, IR failures, etc... I'm looking at some other reasonable PTZ cameras with two-way audio and hoping another camera brand works for the audio.

 

[fenderman]

I'm on the latest BI software for the server and the phone. I've never been able to get two-way audio to work with the Foscams. Everything else is fine though. I'm about to replace the cameras as they've pretty much given up on life. Image quality, IR failures, etc... I'm looking at some other reasonable PTZ cameras with two-way audio and hoping another camera brand works for the audio.

ptz indoor cameras are a gimmick for the most part..you are better off with a fixed wide angle lens so you capture the entire room..

 

[Hitch3402]

I'm on the latest BI software for the server and the phone. I've never been able to get two-way audio to work with the Foscams. Everything else is fine though. I'm about to replace the cameras as they've pretty much given up on life. Image quality, IR failures, etc... I'm looking at some other reasonable PTZ cameras with two-way audio and hoping another camera brand works for the audio.

Yeah, my cameras are starting to show their age as well, I picked up an Amcrest 841, its nice. One of my Foscam cameras (8910w) sometimes decides to get stuck and won't move anymore, so motion detection is a bit iffy on that one. I'll probably migrate more of them to Amcrest as the Foscam's slowly die.
About the audio, I went with Ispy with VNC and tiny camera monitor pro. This setup has been working perfectly.

 

[cahiatt]

ptz indoor cameras are a gimmick for the most part..you are better off with a fixed wide angle lens so you capture the entire room..

Seems an odd recommendation to make without knowing how I use my cameras.

 

[fenderman]

Seems an odd recommendation to make without knowing how I use my cameras.

Guess you missed the for the most part comment... Pray tell how you are using them..

 

[cahiatt]

Guess you missed the for the most part comment... Pray tell how you are using them..

I use the PTZ cameras to help interact with the kids when I'm out of town. It gives them some visual feedback when we are talking. They know that I am looking and paying attention and they respond as if I were there.

I also like the tighter view and detail versus a wide shot. They could be putting up their homework for me to see or just telling me about their day. My older son may want to show me something he is working on in the basement or his fish tank. If he has a project and needs a tool I can better see what is on the shelf to describe what he is looking for.

Lots of little things like that. I have used regular cameras with them before. They just seem to respond more naturally to the PTZ. It's more of a hey look at this versus them having to bring it in front of the camera.

I also have a VPN which lets me connect to my home network and use the Foscam app to talk to the cameras. If that doesn't work I'll have the wife put them on speaker phone.

Really just want the two way audio through BI to work.

 

[fenderman]

I use the PTZ cameras to help interact with the kids when I'm out of town. It gives them some visual feedback when we are talking. They know that I am looking and paying attention and they respond as if I were there.

I also like the tighter view and detail versus a wide shot. They could be putting up their homework for me to see or just telling me about their day. My older son may want to show me something he is working on in the basement or his fish tank. If he has a project and needs a tool I can better see what is on the shelf to describe what he is looking for.

Lots of little things like that. I have used regular cameras with them before. They just seem to respond more naturally to the PTZ. It's more of a hey look at this versus them having to bring it in front of the camera.

I also have a VPN which lets me connect to my home network and use the Foscam app to talk to the cameras. If that doesn't work I'll have the wife put them on speaker phone.

Really just want the two way audio through BI to work.

You need a tighter shot because the foscam is vga....with a wide angle 1080p cam you will get a much better picture and a much wider view...like I said, pt is a gimmick and the tight view is a negative for security purposes when only using a limited number of indoor cameras that leave most of the area uncovered....you are not using the camera for security so that is a different story...you might be better off with a 50 dollar tablet running skype that way they can see you as well.

 

[cahiatt]

...you might be better off with a 50 dollar tablet running skype that way they can see you as well.

Might I suggest you switch to PTZ?

Security at critical spots are covered with appropriate gear. Foscams are 720p @ 15fps.

We've done Skype and the like but isnt effective if they dont have the device on or aren't paying attention to it. The wired connectiom between cams and the WAN address has also been far more reliable than any video chat feature on a tablet or phone. There is a LOT of wifi around our house and have issues with channel overlap on other networks. Because of that, every device in the house that has a LAN jack is hardwired to the network.

It's easier for them not having to hold or prop up a phone or tablet too when doing certain activities. Nothing like your kid dropping the phone in the fish tank trying to show you something (which has happened).

This setup also let's me reach them at all times. I can't tell you how often someone has their phone on vibrate or silent mode and they don't know I'm calling. Maybe the battery is dead..... Just make some noise through the cam to get their attention.

I can give plenty more reasons why I'm keeping it this way. It works well and has been the most reliable setup. Something that isn't dependent on THEM. I am not asking for a different visual solution. I'm looking for feedback on the two way audio.

 

[fenderman]

Might I suggest you switch to PTZ?

I dont use ip cameras for video chat...also remember the camera is not ptz...its PT...there is no zoom in those vga foscams....