Knock-Knock,
Who’s There?

Internetworking

Pros and Cons of SmartphoneEnabled Home Entry Systems by Gordon van Zuiden

Every one of our clients has a smartphone today. And every one of our clients has a front door and/or gate entry. And almost every one of them would like to see who is at the gate or the front door from their phone, talk to them, and let them in via their smartphone application.
In the past this control was completed by a land-based phone system, but these are now being replaced by smartphones that are owned by each family member, so the need for a home entry control system from a smartphone becomes increasingly important.
Traditional Total Home Control
Solutions
Control4, Crestron, AMX, and Savant all offer gate and front door stations that include all the feature sets needed by our clients: an attractive hardware choice of front door and gate stations and colors (very important since this is part of the entry look our clients want to impart on guests arriving at their home); an app that lets our client see and talk to the guest; and the ability to open and close a door or gate from a smartphone application. The primary downside of these solutions is that if the client only wants a smartphone-enabled door or gate solution, they may not want to pay for the overhead of a Control4, Crestron, AMX, or Savant central processor and the associated custom programming.

Gordon van Zuiden (gordon@cybermanor. com) is president of cyberManor in Los
Gatos, California.

German-Made Solutions
Mobotix and Seidel have been leaders in Germany in the production of high-resolution IP cameras and very attractive front door stations. They have brought those skills together with the release of the app-controlled
Mobotix T25 front door station and the Visiomatic app-controlled
Seidel front door stations–both high-end products that serve the affluent homeowner’s needs for front and gate entry control. Their app-based software allows the homeowner to see who is at the front door or gate, talk to them, and open it if necessary, and because their software is supported by cloud-based services, they can do all this from anywhere in the world where they have cell or Wi-Fi connections. This is the complete solution that most of our clients have requested–there is no need for a central total home control processor (this processing is done at the front

For under $200, DoorBot, an app-enabled front door station will replace a client’s existing front door bell–utilizing the existing low voltage wires–and give the front door station the intelligence to send a live video to any Apple or Android based smartphone device.

door station) and very little programming is required. The challenge for the U.S. integrator is that these companies have a U.S. distribution and technical support infrastructure that is still weaker than the U.S.-based total home control competitors.
Kickstarter-Grown Solutions
The desire to develop an affordable, easy to install, Wi-Fi-based front door entry station for the connected home has not eluded the interest of the bright engineers that start companies incubated by crowd-funding sites such as Kickstarter and IndieGoGo. These sites are fertile ground for many of the next generation app-based connected home products, such as app-based sprinkler systems, light switches, and even automatic dog feeding products. Some of these projects never reach their funding goals, some do reach these goals but release products that are bug ridden, and a few get funding and release a product that works very well and meets the expectations the founder’s set for their product launch.
One of those companies is Southern California-based DoorBot (www. getdoorbot.com). I first met the engineers at DoorBot when they were showing a prototype of their product at last year’s Consumer Electronics
Show. In late November, we were rewarded as an early backer to receive one of their first Doorbot stations. For under $200, this app-enabled front door station will replace a client’s existing front door bell–utilizing the existing low voltage wires–and give the front door station the intelligence to send a live video to any Apple or Android smartphone device. And when paired with the Wi-Fi door lock system from Lockitron (www.lockitron. com), one can even open and close the door via the app, from anywhere in the world with a web or cell connection. This is exactly the feature set that all of our clients want at their front door and gate.
The downside of this solution is that the camera quality is a medium resolution 640x480, 30fps, the audio is asynchronous (more of a walkie-talkie mode–but according to the engineer I spoke with at Doorbot, synchronous voice will be a software feature they will automatically download early next year), and it only comes in one color and shape. The aesthetics of the product may not meet the front door station requirements of some of our high-end client base, but smart phone-connected home platforms allow us to integrate many more easy-to-use products into our customers’ hands, and companies like
DoorBot are opening those doors for all of us.

This is the feature
“set thatexactlyour clients all of want at their front door and gate.

”

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S y s t e m s | J a n u a r y 2 0 1 4 | residen tial sy stems.com

Residential
Systems
January 2014
Volume 15, Number 1

January Issue

Contributors

Dave Chace
Dave Chace is president of Training Allies (www.
TrainingAllies.com), a consumer electronics industry training firm based in Philadelphia. dave@trainingallies.com Gordon van Zuiden
Gordon van Zuiden is president of cyberManor, a home networking and systems integration firm based in Los
Gatos, California. gordon@cybermanor.com Mike Detmer
Mike Detmer is the principal of
Detmer Business Solutions, which provides companies in the systems integration space with business modules that enable managers to better execute key duties. mdetmer@mikedetmer.com MICHAEL HEISS
Sherman Oaks, CA-based editorial contributor Michael Heiss is a respected technology consultant and CEDIA Fellow. captnvid@aol.com dennis burger
Dennis Burger has been reviewing and writing about consumer electronics since
1999. He and his wife live in
Montgomery, Alabama. sonnlaw@aol.com Residential Systems (ISSN# 1528-7858) is published monthly by NewBay Media L.L.C.
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Editor’sLetter

Applause,
Applause
Establishing a first-time awards program is a daunting task and a tough way to start a new year. There’s the concept to consider (number and types of categories, overall theme), backend mechanics of the nomination and judging process (unfamiliar web tools, deadlines, prevention of ballot box tampering), and dealing with the inevitable backlash when those who think they deserved to win weren’t recognized or missed out on the contest altogether. Of course there are also really happy winners.
We went through all of that in our first year with Residential Systems’ Stellar Service
Awards, and I believe we ended up with results that offer a good starting point for discussions.
The goal when we began creating a new awards program was to honor manufacturers and distributors for their service to dealers. It seemed to us that in every meeting with vendors and distributors over the years, companies have proudly proclaimed their exceptional focus on providing top-notch customer service, tech support, dealer training, and sales/marketing.
Figuring that we could give these companies another chance to earn a feather in their caps for these noble efforts, the editorial team came up with the Stellar Service Awards concept and built categories around it.
From the beginning, it was our goal to leave voting in the hands of our readers, who are the ones with the most experience as customers of manufacturers and distributors.
And, although I would love to have seen even more manufacturers and distributors enter the contest, voting was very strong. I hope that this year’s results provide momentum for more participation next time and reminds those who didn’t participate that you’ve got to be in it to win it.
So as we usher in 2014, keep in mind which of your vendor partners offer the best customer service, the most effective communication, exceptional sales and marketing support, top training programs, reliable warranty policies, most useful websites, and anything else we haven’t included this year. Keep a mental tally and cheer on your manufacturer and distributor friends to keep up the good work

4 R e s i d e n t i a l

b y J e r e m y J . G l ow a ck i

and encourage them to participate next fall when the new and improved Stellar Service
Awards returns. As always, we appreciate your feedback, whether through our website, within our LinkedIn or Facebook groups, on
Twitter, or directly via email. Let us know what categories we should add or subtract and whom you’d like to see honored.
Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone that supported our first attempt.
Most importantly, though, have a healthy, safe, and prosperous 2014.

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