I'm not sure how many read the Premise downloads section, so I thought I'd share my new doorbell module here.
I finally got around to using an IP based camera to take doorbell pictures, and it works pretty well. I'm using a cheap Linksys/Cisco WVC54GCA camera I had laying around, but I made the module very generic to work with almost any IP based camera (I think). The neat thing about the module is due to Premise's clever architecture, it is very easy to reuse in any Premise install.
If you guys know of a better IP camera (that's cheap) and rated for outdoor use, feel free to chime in. I've noticed the WVC54GCA loses a lot of detail when the background is bright and the person's face isn't (due to porch coverage). I've adjusted it the best I can for now as I have it pointed out of a window instead of mounted outside.
The module has some other features too:
A two-way web interface
The interface lists the last n doorbell rings (user definable). For the selected ring, doorbell properties such as: whether the doorbell was answered, a picture of who rang the bell and if the security system was armed in away mode are displayed. The interface also has global values including: the number of missed rings for the day (in Total, AM, PM or Away counts). These global values appear at the top of the interface. The interface is also two-way and will automatically point to the newest ring. If a feature below is not used, the web interface will automatically reformat.
Email
An email can be automatically sent when the doorbell is activated. The email will have an image attachment if you are using a camera.
DoorSensor
This is an optional feature that tracks whether someone answered the door. It requires that you have a door sensor installed that will detect if the applicable door is opened. A property called TimeSinceRing is used to determine if the door was answered.
OutsideLight
This is an optional feature that will turn on a light following a doorbell ring. This allows the camera to have more light when it takes a picture.
InsideLight
This is an optional feature that will turn on a light following a doorbell ring. If a security system is used and “Away” mode is armed, no light will come on following the ring.
SecuritySystem
Set this to your SecuritySystem object and Doorbell Sensor will record the number of doorbell rings when the system is Armed Away (i.e. doorbell rings while you are away from home).
I finally got around to using an IP based camera to take doorbell pictures, and it works pretty well. I'm using a cheap Linksys/Cisco WVC54GCA camera I had laying around, but I made the module very generic to work with almost any IP based camera (I think). The neat thing about the module is due to Premise's clever architecture, it is very easy to reuse in any Premise install.
If you guys know of a better IP camera (that's cheap) and rated for outdoor use, feel free to chime in. I've noticed the WVC54GCA loses a lot of detail when the background is bright and the person's face isn't (due to porch coverage). I've adjusted it the best I can for now as I have it pointed out of a window instead of mounted outside.
The module has some other features too:
A two-way web interface
The interface lists the last n doorbell rings (user definable). For the selected ring, doorbell properties such as: whether the doorbell was answered, a picture of who rang the bell and if the security system was armed in away mode are displayed. The interface also has global values including: the number of missed rings for the day (in Total, AM, PM or Away counts). These global values appear at the top of the interface. The interface is also two-way and will automatically point to the newest ring. If a feature below is not used, the web interface will automatically reformat.
An email can be automatically sent when the doorbell is activated. The email will have an image attachment if you are using a camera.
DoorSensor
This is an optional feature that tracks whether someone answered the door. It requires that you have a door sensor installed that will detect if the applicable door is opened. A property called TimeSinceRing is used to determine if the door was answered.
OutsideLight
This is an optional feature that will turn on a light following a doorbell ring. This allows the camera to have more light when it takes a picture.
InsideLight
This is an optional feature that will turn on a light following a doorbell ring. If a security system is used and “Away” mode is armed, no light will come on following the ring.
SecuritySystem
Set this to your SecuritySystem object and Doorbell Sensor will record the number of doorbell rings when the system is Armed Away (i.e. doorbell rings while you are away from home).
