I already have a couple of August locks for the front/backdoor. They are okay, but I'd like to have something with an open API. Does anyone have any recommendations for indoor (or outdoor) residential locks which can be integrated with other software? This would be for locking an office and master bedroom door, and potentially integrating with Milestone ACM.
Alternatively, are their more commercial options available that might be closer in price to higher end residential options?
Going to follow this with interest, as I have not had much luck finding anything in the "smart home" realm that I am comfortable with.
I am in the middle of a home remodel right now, and I am almost certainly going to end up installing a Baldwin electrified mortise lock on my front door and tying it into a Mercury door controller that I have laying around. From there, I will hack together my own "smart lock" system with whatever Hub system I end up using.
While tough to knock up, your approach sounds reasonable if VMS integration (including several Milestone ACM options) is desired. Mercury hardware is widely supported among its various access vendors, and while pricey for residential is very likely going to work well.
For strictly Z-Wave systems, Yale's 'Real Living' products have a solid reputation among the 'smart hub' crowd.
For OP, I'd think about using one or two Axis A1001s (depending on distance between doors), using the onboard Entry Manager platform, and integrate it with Milestone ACM. Pricewise, you can do both doors for ~$1000 (0.5 controller/ 1 strike / 1 reader / cabling per door) if one controller is used for both doors.
The A1001 can integrate a mullion keypad or reader and strike with no problem. It runs off PoE, simplifying wire pulls and power (avoiding irritating battery changes). There is no ongoing license fee for the access features.
Thanks Brian, I wasn't yet considering wired access control w/ strikes but that would obviously be the most reliable and extensible solution. And I wouldn't even need to do any programming to integrate the Axis controller with Milestone ACM.
If I don't find a consumer oriented unit which is basically a door knob / deadbolt replacement with an API, I might just go with the Axis. Honestly I am kindof looking forward to a coding project to develop my own ACM plugin.
I'm fairly up on what locks are available since I've been trying to figure out exactly what to do for a long time.
Have you considered using a hub of some sort with Z-Wave locks?
Smartthings has a documented API. I'm not sure about other control systems (aside from Wink which I hated), but I would think at least some of them have APIs as well. Using this would open up more options, since they've already integrated a bunch of Z-Wave and Zigbee locks.
I personally use Smartthings at multiple locations, with Kwikset Z-Wave locks at home (which I like, but don't love). I was considering August for another door, as someone has written a lock manager that will properly integrate the new models to ST via Z-Wave.
Oh and to more directly answer the question: your options are mainly going to be:
Wifi options are pretty scarce. August seems to be leading. There's another called Friday which I've never really heard anything about. Aaaaand not much else.
I've seen some smart locks from Samsung, Dahua, and Hikvision, but none of them seem to be wifi/wireless (aside from bluetooth). Just battery operated, self contained.
I believe the HikVision and Dahua units have a built-in feature where if the battery dies, or you just can't get in through the front door, it lets you come in through the back door.
For the record, I don't think it's going to be all that tough to knock up at all. I would even go as far as to say it will be pretty straightforward to turn it into a "smart" lock that I can control with the rest of my home automation setup.
The cooler project that I'm working on here at my house is actually setting up a way for the man-door from my garage into my house to automatically unlock whenever my wife or I get close to it. I'm going to set up my garage door to send me an alarm when it opens without either some input from the house recently (i.e. man-door into garage opening prior to garage door going up) or without one of us being close, so that way I will always know if someone is coming or going that (presumably) shouldn't be. Then, when either of us approach the door to go into the house, it will unlock automatically and prevent us from having to fish around for keys if we're carrying groceries, etc. More of a neat thing to do and try and figure out than having any major use, but will still be pretty convenient to have -- assuming it works. :)
Look into the new Qolsys alarm panel. They have a disarm/unlock feature that can be activated automatically on your phone when you or your wife are approaching your front door.
That panel had a bunch of other really cool features and if you do integrate it with your vms I would be very interested to hear about it.
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