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Smart home technology allows you to automatically control many aspects of your home environment. Electrically powered gates, doors, shutters, alarm systems, lights, heating, locks and many other home devices and features can be included in a smart home system.
But a smart home system also allows the components in it to communicate with each other and with sensors included in the system. So, when the instruction to open your gates is sent from your remote fob as you arrive home, other devices could be automatically triggered into life. For instance, your automatic garage door could open, the lights in your garage and your home could come on if it was getting dark, and your home heating could come on if it was getting cold.
Smart home systems can automatically set how light, how warm, how secure and how noisy any part of your home is. They can connect almost anything electrical in your home including TV, loudspeakers, door locks, automatic doors, blinds, shutters, coffee machines, washing machines, heating systems, lights, air-conditioning, security systems, cookers, dishwashers and of course, intercoms for automatic gates and external doors.
A smart home system requires a certain set of components that fall into the following categories:
A gateway device or server that manages everything in your smart system.
The switches that turn devices on and off, and the software operating system that acts as the heart of your smart system.
The devices that are controlled by the smart system such as lights, security alarms, robot vacuum cleaners, heating systems and even fridges.
Devices can be added to each system and the server updated with the relevant instructions for each new device.
Sensors to measure environmental conditions and feed these back into the smart system. Without temperature sensors to tell a heating system how hot or cold each room is, the smart system doesn’t know when to switch the heating on or off.
A wired or wireless network that connects everything together.
Wired systems require the installation of bus cable between the gateway server and each connected device, its sensors and switches.
Wireless systems communicate using WiFi, GSM (mobile phone) and radio communications instead of cables.
Smart home systems can be controlled and monitored remotely through highly secure encrypted communications via apps on mobile devices.
Using just your smartphone you could check out why a security light came on your back garden while you were having dinner at your friends' house, or you could turn the heating on an hour early as you leave work.
When a visitor arrives at your automatic gates or locked front door, you want to know who they are so you know whether to let them in or not. To do this, you need a communication device outside the gate or door that is connected with another device inside the house or apartment. Your visitor can then let you know that they are outside your gates or at your entrance door and you can talk to them from inside your house or apartment.
Typically, this type of intercommunication or 'intercom' system has a call panel at the gate or outside the door. There will be a button or doorbell for calling the house, a speaker and a video camera if video is included in the system. Some also have keypads so anyone who knows the code can punch it in to open the gate or door. Others have electronic readers which will open the door or gate when an approved key fob or credit card-sized magnetic or chip card is touched to the reader pad.
Inside the house is a receiver panel or handset, with a screen where video is included, and a button to open the gate remotely.
The visitor buzzes or rings the house to let you know they're waiting. You answer from the receiver panel or handset. You talk to them (and see them if video is included) and find out why they want to come in. If you're happy to let them in, you can unlock and open the gate or door automatically from the receiver panel. If you don't want to let them in, you keep everything locked closed.
Now that we've covered the basics of smart home systems and how they can change your life, let's look more closely at smart intercoms for electric gates, your front door or the main entrance door of apartment buildings.
A smart door communication system gives you so many opportunities particularly through remote access. So, even if you're out at work, shopping or on holiday overseas, you can still use your smart home as though you are sat in front of your TV in your living room.
If you have an intercom for your electric gate or main entrance door, you can talk to visitors via your smartphone or tablet from anywhere in the world that gives you a mobile signal or Wi-Fi connection to the internet.
You can give instructions for where deliveries can be left, and grant access by remotely unlocking the relevant doors before locking them again when the package is safely delivered.
You can let cleaners, visitors, friends or family members into your smart home or whatever building's door locks you control.
A smart door intercom makes your home life more comfortable and controllable.
An intercom system allows visitors to communicate with the homeowners inside the house. But there are a variety of intercom system configurations. Some have only spoken communication while others allow the homeowner to see live video of their visitor as well.
There are also a few ways to connect the call panel and receiver together to allow this communication. The following list outlines these key differences:
Audio intercoms allow voice-only communication
Video intercoms have a camera on the call station and video screen on the receiver. Now, the homeowner can see who is calling as well as talk to them.
In a wired intercom the call station is connected to the receiver with cables.
In a wireless intercom communication between the call unit and receiver is via radio, Wi-Fi or GSM (mobile phone) signals rather than along cables. These systems are more easily installed than wired systems
A smart intercom can be integrated into a smart home system. The receiver is more likely to provide multiple functions.
The call panel could be a security camera, video doorbell, Bluetooth proximity reader, voice message recorder, burglar alarm activator and many more things that protect your home and make your life easier.
Inside the house, the receiver can communicate with smart speakers, show video footage from cameras around the house, give you access on your smartphone via an app and much more.
You can watch your baby sleep, keep a watchful eye on elderly relatives, check that the kids are doing their homework and know that your property is secure when you're away.
Traditionally, only the high-risk, high-security commercial, industrial, custodial and medical sites used intercoms but more and more residential properties are benefiting from the installation of intercoms and, in recent years, smart home technology including intercoms.
Governing access to areas obviously requires a perimeter barrier such as a fence, but access points are the easy way to get vehicles through. Controlling gates, barriers and bollards at these points with stand-alone intercoms and smart intercom systems helps prevent unauthorised access.
Areas where such additional security is highly valuable include:
With a smart home intercom system, the receiver panel often doubles up as an interface with other features in your smart home system. It probably has a touch screen and allows you to operate other devices directly from the screen.
As it's part of a smart system with its own smart features, actions performed by the intercom can also be used as triggers to initiate other actions. For instance, opening the gate from the receiver panel could trigger path or driveway lights to come on if it's dark. You could set up the locks on the outer door of a porch to open but the inner door lock to stay closed. That way deliveries could be left safely out of the rain but the delivery driver couldn't enter the house or main building.
Setting up a new device in a smart home system often relies on the homeowners' requirements and their understanding of what can be achieved with this level of interconnected communication. If you wanted the gates to open and Wagner's 'The Ride Of Valkyries' to blast out of your stereo and your coffee machine to make an Espresso, this is all possible if a little ridiculous!
Every smart home system is bespoke so every system is costed individually. Price will depend on the type of intercom, how it is connected, whether the intercom is part of your smart home system or a stand-alone intercom capable of being integrated into a smart home system in the future.
Does the intercom have just speech or voice and video communication? How many receiver panels or handsets will there be inside the house? Is there more than one access point needing a call panel?
Does a new intercom need to be compatible with existing systems? How much time is required to install it?
Gate Automation Supplies is a highly experienced and trusted supplier of gate automation and access control systems to qualified and experienced gate installers. We support gate engineers with gate safety and installation and repair troubleshooting advice.
Our customers are installing more and more smart home products and smartphone enabled and monitored intercom systems. If you like the idea of a video doorbell, keyless access, smartphone communication with your intercom and the latest technology giving you a higher level of convenience in your home, a smart home system may be exactly what you're looking for.
Gate automation and intercom access control has been around for many years. Over this time, electronics and control systems have evolved. We’re now seeing hardware, software and the internet united in the creation of smart systems for home and business premises to add control, reduce costs, save time and make lives easier.
Smart intercom access control systems form just one part of the greater smart home and office revolution. But where access is through automatic doors and gates, intercoms are one of the first smart systems visitors and homeowners interact with. This controlled door communication is vital to home security by restricting entry into your home to eliminate unpleasant surprises and keep undesirables out.
4 Comment(s)
Thank you for providing such detailed information and guidelines.
Most valuable and fantastic blog I really appreciate the work which you have done, many thanks, and keep it up. Very useful info. Hope to see more posts soon! I really like to read this post, it shares lots of information with readers.
Thanks for posting useful information. The global wireless video doorbell directly connects with your smartphones and tablets.
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