Alarm Panel Video Integration

While I was out this evening someone came to the front door a couple of times. It turned out to be the volunteer fire department canvassing for donations. But now my wife is asking why our system doesnt show us who is at the door like the kids have. (Our three married children have Simplisafe systems.). Now I understand that my Elk has much more capability than their systems. But you know the saying happy wife, happy wife. Is Elk ceding marking by not offering video options? Or are their options Im not aware of? I dont have the time to tackle a complex integration right now.

thanks,
Steve

Elk doesn’t offer cameras. Do you have any cameras currently?

If you want simple you could go with a doorbell camera of your choice but it won’t really integrate.


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You could just buy a Ring doorbell like your kids have.  They are a bit pricey but work pretty good. To store video is an extra $30/year because without that you only git live feeds.  Really not much home automation connectivity. You can tie it to other things so lights turn on or Alexa tells you about motion. Its simple stuff so don't overthink it.

@SteveS
 
You can integrate your Elk panel with Homeseer software and the Homeseer Elk plugin and CCTV Blue Iris to get video integration.
 
Over 10 years ago here connected the doorbell to the Elk doorbell circuit board (and debounce board) to my OmniPro 2 panel and had Homeseer send pics or videos of doorbell ringers. 
 
Today testing / tinkering with an OEM HikVision doorbell which works with a few different smart phone apps, saves video doorbell events to the cloud (free) or locally to an SD card and / or a CCTV NVR which replaced the Ring Doorbell that I was using.
 
Still on the fence here relating to using a wireless doorbell camera.