Blue Iris compatible doorbell/intercom/2 way audio

A

Astrokamel

n3wb
Jul 3, 2017
10
4
Hello everyone, I have been searching for a considerable amount of time trying to find a product for my needs and I have been unsuccessful. I am now asking for help in desperation, I truly appreciate any responses I might get. Here are the bullet points...

My Setup
  • Blue Iris
  • 3 PoE cameras
  • All cameras are isolated on their own network with -NO INTERNET ACCESS-, only Blue Iris has a connection from the internet for privacy/security reasons
  • I ran all of the wiring myself, not afraid of wiring up necessary components
  • SmartThings smart home hub with zwave and zigbee devices
  • A wired doorbell with power and a porch light
Requirements
  • An intercom of sorts, like the popular Ring doorbell
  • Must not interfere with normal doorbell operation in any way
  • More specifically, it must function like a real doorbell. I don't want have to teach people who have never been to my house how to use my doorbell
  • Must not require a subscription of any kind, or use a proprietary format rendering it useless if the company goes belly-up
Bonus Requirements
  • I would really really prefer if I could keep the device isolated from the internet entirely, but may make an exception in the right circumstances
  • I prefer a PoE solution but if I must use wifi that's fine
  • Something that also has an alarm that connects to zwave/smartthings would be fantastic
  • Any integration into SmartThings would be neat
Other Considerations
  • I don't mind having a separate unit for the intercom and IP camera so long as the operation is seamless
    • Ideally, intercom/camera/door lock-unlock from a single interface
  • I don't mind modifying things, but I prefer not to if possible
  • I'm totally OK with wiring up my own components etc
The only thing I can find that's even close is a couple of hikvision cameras and I am not happy with them at all. I purchased this camera Amazon.com: Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-IW 3MP Indoor IR Wifi Cube Camera 2.8mm: Camera & Photo and the audio 100% failed and hikvision never even bothered to reply to my email inquiry. Before it failed, the quality was absolutely horrible and I'm not happy with the PIR sensor's performance either. I was surprisingly unimpressed with hikvision even though many people seem to be enamored by their cameras.
 
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The latest BI update has:
"Support for image preview with push notifications and support for the Doorbird camera, an excellent alternative to the closed-ecosystem “Ring” device"

I know nothing about Doorbird but it might be something to check out.
 
Thank you anijet, that is a fantastic suggestion and right along the lines of what I've been looking for! I think I will continue my search though, as the Doorbird looks like it costs over $300, ouch! I am certainly willing to pay for quality but that's out of my price range. I appreciate your suggestion though, it certainly has opened my eyes up to devices I didn't even know existed yet.
 
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Astrokamel said:
Hello everyone, I have been searching for a considerable amount of time trying to find a product for my needs and I have been unsuccessful. I am now asking for help in desperation, I truly appreciate any responses I might get. Here are the bullet points...

I have
  • Blue Iris
  • 3 PoE cameras
  • I ran all of the wiring myself, not afraid of wiring up necessary components
  • SmartThings smart home hub with zwave and zigbee devices
  • A wired doorbell with power and a porch light
I want
  • An intercom of sorts, like the popular Ring doorbell
  • Ring would be perfect, but not compatible with Blue Iris
I don't mind
  • Having a separate unit for the intercom and IP camera
  • Modifying things, but I prefer not to if possible
  • I'm totally OK with wiring up my own components etc
  • I prefer a PoE solution but if I must use wifi that's fine
  • Something that also has an alarm that connects to zwave/smartthings would be fantastic but that's just a bonus (wishful thinking)
  • Actually, any integration into SmartThings would be neat, but again just wishful thinking
The only thing I can find that's even close is a couple of hikvision cameras and I am not happy with them at all. I purchased this camera Amazon.com: Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-IW 3MP Indoor IR Wifi Cube Camera 2.8mm: Camera & Photo and the audio 100% failed and hikvision never even bothered to reply to my email inquiry. Before it failed, the quality was absolutely horrible and I'm not happy with the PIR sensor's performance either. I was surprisingly unimpressed with hikvision even though many people seem to be enamored by their cameras.
Click to expand...

DUDE! I have been searching for leads on exactly the same thing. I haven't found a good solution though. I looked at Linphone as a possible solution. It's a VOIP (SIP) messaging system. For personal use it's free, as is a free SIP account thru Linphone. I just am frankly a bit lost on implementing it. It seems way too complex for what I'm looking for.

If you find anything, please do share. There is a facebook page on this very project, but kind of in the same boat of trying to discover how to build it.

PiDoorbell
 
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I'm glad I'm not alone, abelmj... I'm actually shocked that there aren't more people looking for this! I figured there would be a ton of crossover from IP cameras to smart homes, but there's not nearly as much as I expected.

Since I wasn't able to find anything useful for my solution, how about I just update this thread with my research progress so that everyone can benefit? Also, I have modified my original post to improve the criteria and will continue to update the original post as I go to really capture the essence of what I'm after (and I believe my requirements are very reasonable, what others might want too).

I have listed the candidate, with the reasons it does not meet my criteria and links to support those reasons for you to do further research.

+ indicates a pro, -indicates a con, and nothing indicates neither... ordered loosely in order of most important to least important

Compatible
  • Doorbird Doorbell
    • -Way out of my price range, anywhere from $349-$1249 at the time of posting depending on style
    • *Some of the pros listed here may require additional purchases, the website isn't clear but due to the price not putting in extra effort to find out
    • +Can be PoE powered
    • +Has Ethernet and WiFi
    • +SIP and STM support, using one doesn't block the other, very impressed
    • +Siren
    • +Very well built, attractive design

Research In Progress
  • Dahua VTO2000A
    • So far, looks like compatible with Blue Iris but research is still in progress
    • +Linux Based (Fantastic!)
    • Fairly well documented on some aspects (technical specs, power requirements, operating temperatures, etc), but very little documentation on others (no documentation found for setup/software)
    • +Affordable/Good value
    • +Well built
    • -The information I did find seems to indicate that there is no mobile app available for receiving calls from this unit. Lots of the videos are in Spanish though, so maybe someone can help me validate.
      • There is a video demonstrating it working with a samsung tablet, but the video involves using an accompanying inside monitor. It is not clear if that monitor is required for configuration with a tablet.
      • Another resource seems to indicate that additional equipment may be required, at this point the software side of things are very unclear.
      • Yet another resource indicates that this may require an inside unit, the participants of the thread seem to be equally confused about its voice capabilities (seems to advertise somewhere it supports SIP). This forum post seems to have some of the best documentation I've found for the unit, but was all very specific to SIP/asterisk
    • -80 degree viewing angle (this may be a deal-breaker for me)
    • -Requires DC 10-15V input, very power hungry (10A @ 12V) this cannot be ran off of your doorbell power supply (do not try, you'll fry it or your doorbell, or your wiring, or all of the above)
    • -Not a drop-in enhancement to your doorbell
    • -Would be confusing to have this 'and' a doorbell, but tying the button to the doorbell function may be doable (unsure)
    • -Unattractive... a bit over the top for the front door for my tastes, but I would be all about this if I had a remote gate and needed a device to "buzz people in"
  • VueBell WIFI Wireless Door Bell
    • Blue Iris compatibility research pending
    • +Reasonably priced ($109.99)
  • WOHOME Wi-Fi Enabled Video Doorbell
    • Research pending
  • LESHP Doorbell
    • Research pending
    • -Does not appear to be a reputable company, couldn't find an official website... this one seems fishy, but sometimes cheap chinese things are the most hackable?
  • LESHP Video Doorbell (alternate style)
    • Research pending
    • -Same company as above, same concerns
Not Compatible with Blue Iris
  • Zmodo Greet
    • Confirmed with Zmodo support, this cannot be connected to an NVR system and is incompatible with Blue Iris despite some claims that it can. Here is another link where the company advises this publicly.
    • +Exceptional value, priced as low as $79.99(!)
    • +8GB internal storage
    • +Pre-recorded response capability
    • +Works with real doorbell, no delays reported that I could find
    • -Mixed reviews
      • Most reviews seem to be related to WiFi performance, which is something I can mitigate by placing a wireless access point as close to the device as needed
    • -WiFi-only, and requires power from an existing doorbell (worst of both worlds). Luckily I have everything I need, but people without a wired doorbell will have to somehow run the supply voltage.
    • Power requirements are 16-36VAC - It's my understanding that some doorbells go as low as 8 volts. This is about the same voltage requirement as the Ring Pro

  • Ring Doorbell (pro and non-pro versions)
  • Maximus/Kuna Security Light
    • -Not supported by Blue Iris
      • Proprietary protocol, but they did make an no-commitment style comment "In the future, we do want to make Kuna compatible with other smart home systems"
      • Kuna, if you're reading this, please do! You could corner a large market share (just look at the popularity of Blue Iris and extrapolate that out... even 10% of Blue Iris owners would be a massive profit for you)
    • No direct integration to the actual doorbell, but that can be compensated with setting up an alarm zone notification in Blue Iris
    • +Decent reviews, most complaints seem to be from people who are not very familiar with the performance of surveillance cameras (image quality at night, etc)
    • +Does not interfere with doorbell function in any way
    • +Very reasonably priced
    • +Even has a built in siren!
 
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abelmj said:
There is a facebook page on this very project, but kind of in the same boat of trying to discover how to build it.

PiDoorbell
Click to expand...

I am a software developer, so maybe I can contribute to this effort. Having said that, while a home-baked solution would be nice to have I would prefer to get something pre-made if available. I would say that the biggest challenge there would definitely be the software side of things. Hooking up a camera/speaker/microphone/button to a pi wouldn't be so hard to do on the hardware side of things, but getting it to all work seamlessly together in a comprehensive app would be quite the challenge.

Edit: Looks like there is a project for creating an RTSP server in python that might be able to be used for this. My idea would be to take in the RTSP stream from the camera, then apply the audio to the stream and re-package it as a new RTSP stream including video with 2-way audio. Update: Looks like this stack exchange post has some valuable related information.
 
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We've had a lot of financial stuff come up so I'm going to shelf this project until around nov-jan timeframe. Please feel free to reply with any suggestions meanwhile, I'll still be watching.
 
I have a Doorbird. Ken @ Blue Iris has been using access to mine in order to add more Doorbird integration to Blue Iris.

Capturing the video feed and the audio feed via Blue Iris does work, two-way audio does not. One catch about capturing the audio feed is that Doorbird only allows a single feed, so it means their app will refuse to work while Blue Iris is pulling the audio. Their SDK claims that the App will take precedence, but that does not seem to be the case.

Ken added integrations for callbacks for the various sensors yesterday (doorbell), I believe you will see this in a new release in a few days.

Another downside is that they only have EU based servers - so latency pretty much sucks vs. if they had a US based deployment for US customers. Audio quality is better than what you typically get from the RTSP two-way in a Hik/Dah camera in BI - the app is VOIP based and is reasonably full duplex.

List of annoyances:
- The UI of the app is weak. The amount of time it takes to get into the app and actually start talking to someone "feels" like too long. (IOS).
- No US servers
- The speaker is always hot at the Doorbird - you can hear white noise 24/7
- There are audible alerts that all of your neighbors get to hear about the state of things. Lose Internet access? The Doorbird will let your neighborhood know for you
- The API is definitely beta, perhaps alpha
- Form factor: huge
- There is a scheduled "restart" of the Doorbird. It effectively restarts the core software, so some probability of a few minutes of the random day, your doorbell doesn't work. You have no timing control over this.
- Video quality - terrible. Any $100 Hik/Dah blows this thing away. This won't be your only camera near the door.
- You can't close the loop - the cloud service is required to use the Doorbird app via the Internet. There is no way to have the app connect directly to your Doorbird, even if you knew how to expose it. There is no cost right now for using this though. The latency to my house from my phone is infinitely better than the latency to round trips to the EU servers. Note: Using the app on the LAN - it WILL connect directly, with a VPN, it will as well.

My current setup is roughly this:
Doorbird app for talking/listening to someone/unlocking the door - I don't use the cloud recording service
Blue Iris for capturing the video stream - no audio
I have the dry contacts for the doorbell and the unlock that feed into a PLC and then to an ISY. I did this because I found their HTTP based callbacks did not work correctly but their dry contacts did. The ISY then controls additional automations like unlocking the ZWave door and sending notifications for the doorbell.
I can unlock the door from the Doorbird app, which triggers the dry contacts and then the ISY does the rest.

It works OK - it isn't perfect. Doorbell offerings could get better, I've been struggling with Doorbird support trying to get them to listen to my issues. This has given me mixed success.

If you have any specific questions, shoot.
 
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@Nathan, great write up...perhaps shoot doorbird a link to this thread and your posts...hopefully they will see the interest and will improve the firmware to increase sales...if not, there will be someone else who does...eventually....
 
Thanks for the detailed report about the doorbird, Nathan! I really don't like the always-on speaker and audio announcements :(. The only time I want the unit to make a sound is when it's me talking. Also forced routing through the cloud seems very contradictory to the statements they made on their website, but good thing it allows for direct connection via LAN.
 
Jessy said:
Try to connect our Intecom and camera with Blue Iris software, Motion detection, Video and Listen function works well, TALK button do not work, this function need further integration with our own private protocol.... just for your reference. http://image-store.slidesharecdn.com/a503a65b-703d-449f-8b86-e29f3e7595a3-original.jpeg
Click to expand...
First, what is your intercom...second, contact the blue iris developer and talk to him about integration...if you have a doorbell cam that will work well with blue iris you would have lots of buyers here. Contact - Blue Iris
 
 
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Yes it is only 1.3MP 720P, we have plan for a higher resolution like H.265 4MP , 1ch relay out is 127USD/PC
 
Jessy said:
Yes it is only 1.3MP 720P, we have plan for a higher resolution like H.265 4MP , 1ch relay out is 127USD/PC
Click to expand...
dont do 4mp...use 1080p low light sensors..
that is a good price if you can get it to work with blue iris..you also must allow the camera to disable ALL cloud service or contacts with outside servers.
 
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