I have a batty client who is asking if she can install a tablet on the wall, which would essentially act as a dedicated panel for the Doorbird. We have an electronic strike on her gate, and she would like to be able to "buzz people in", etc.

I am not aware of any solution for this that would behave any differently than the app does on any other device, i.e., you have to click on the notification to open the app and answer the call, so a dedicated panel is not really much more useful than your phone, other than it is always where it is and on.

Any solutions like this? Or another solution other than Doorbird that gives you the ability to:

1. Call a mobile device
2. Ring an existing chim (16VAC in this case)
3. Control an electric strike
4. Visitor history
5. Use a dedicated indoor panel for answering calls, etc.

iPad with guided access enabled, recessed with iPort frame.

+1
Seems like a perfect application for this.

Not to keep saying it, but I think Mobotix will do that (the *existing* chime part might need some fiddling, but the panel rings when the button is pressed anyway). A T25 camera and an MXDisplay will do that. They're IP devices, PoE powered. Press simple setup.

I just did this for a client.

We used an iPort wall mount frame.
There's no data wiring in this house so I worked out a way to have the power supply nearby and not look like hell.
A dry contact in the doorbird rings a standard doorbell because the iPad cannot be heard over anything.
You can buzz people in.

One day I came to work and hit the Doorbird. The client's PA pulled up in her car, on her phone, and she told me "someone in Chicago says you're at the front door." We're in Los Angeles. Yup, it's that strange but real.

I didn't do the iPad setup, but I believe the app is opened and the iPad is set not to go dark.

If you leave the app open, it times out after 60 seconds, then it takes some time to reconnect....after you press an "OK" button. That is on Android...not sure about the iOS app.

I do not see any way to leave the live video window up indefinitely, waiting for someone to push the button.

The issue driving this is that the client complains that her phone cannot always connect to the Doorbird. 1/3 times she says, it works. The other 2/3 "it just spins". I witnessed this first hand. Her phone, which is a Samsung Note 5 I believe, on Verizon, with apparently good cell signal, will just not connect to it sometimes. The signal will show "Fair" or "Poor", while my phone sitting right next to it would stay "Good" throughout (ZTE Axon 7 on TMobile network).

I have tried to explain that there are a myriad of reasons why she is experiencing issues, and likely none of them are because the "Doorbird does not work". Her phone. Her mobile network. Her ISP modem/router/service. Lots of things that could go wonky. We are this close to taking the Doorbird back and giving her money back and parting ways. She is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO annoying. Seriously.

Anyway, I was hoping Doorbird might come out with a dedicated indoor station. I know they are working on a wireless relay device and a wireless chime and a few other accessories. Maybe they have something in the works.

Thanks for the info.

Yes. I checked with my client (again, I didn't set up the iPad, was just watching, apparently not carefully enough) and the app times out even though the iPad stays awake. I've seen the live camera image stay up for much longer than a minute, though! What does Helmut say?


If only I could afford to just buy one and work this out! You cannot sit around an wait for it to fail or time out after two minutes, ten minutes, an hour....


I wonder what's not connecting, the phone or the Doorbird.
Our Doorbird is wired into the network. The iPad connects by Wifi. When it's connecting, the icon just spins; during that time, when it doesn't connect, the signal strength word goes from Good to Fair to Poor. But is this iPad not connecting to the Doorbird, or Doorbird not connecting to the network, or Doorbird connecting to the Wifi but then not to the app on the iPad? Where do you look for the problem?

FWIW, when we have this problem on the iPad, we have it on the phones too.


And that's just baffling, though I was recently talking with some company about how their website wasn't working properly and they recommended that I switch to IE! Could be the phone's software, right?


To the contrary, all of them are because "Doorbird doesn't work." Remember who you're talking to: Doorbird, to her, is one entire system that works or it doesn't. The quickest way to lose communication with a client is to go into details that they don't want to understand.

We still have this happening occasionally, weeks and many visits by the door company after installation.


Hope something I said might help.

The 60 second timeout only exists when you're not on the Lan. While I haven't kept it open for a long period I have done a few minutes at a time without an issue.