Video doorbells are one of the fastest growing categories in video surveillance, especially among residences. The optimal placement of these cameras and their added functionality as a communication device drives their popularity in the market. This directory provides a listing of these products, plus explains the key differences of doorbells to intercoms and lists the 11 key differentiators among doorbells.
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I actually did look into that unit and like the Geovision GV-CS1320, neither unit is designated by the manufacturer to be a Video Doorbell. By feature set, both units fall to the Video Door Station or Video Intercom category as they include access control features require an Ethernet connection.
Even after reading the above "comparison" between the two and knowing some of the products in question, I still don't quite understand the distinction.
The only bottom line -- to me -- with this is that the Axis A8105-E *can* be considered a video doorbell because it DOES do all of the things requested. It may also do more, but I'm not sure why an item would be excluded from a list just because it has MORE features than the the request. Yes, there is a price delta, but we're not talking such a significant one that it shouldn't at least be considered.
The primary factor marking its exclusion is its requirement for an Ethernet line to be run and its inability to run on the existing doorbell power that is typically AC. This basically increases the complexity of install. Honovich and I debated about a couple of other units as well and that seemed to be his main driving point for including the VTech and Optex units just now, even though they don't have a web app and require proprietary viewing hardware.
For the Axis and the Geovision units, I'll revisit that with John and see what we can do.
I think your selection criteria is logical. If we are talking about video doorbells, then a reasonable expectation would be they can be retrofit without requiring new wiring, which is often very hard to run to a doorbell location.
I would expect video doorbells to be able to be installed without requiring large backboxes to be added to house converters or adapters. EG, you could probably take the Axis unit, and put a 24VAC to 12VDC converter and a wifi bridge in a box and "retrofit" it to a doorbell location with the typical 1-pair doorbell wire, but that would be an odd approach given the seemingly better options on the market.
But for new construction or remodels, you can easily run a CAT6 cable as well as the standard low voltage doorbell wire. I think being wired/POE should not exclude products from this category. IMHO the IPVM audience is not looking for an inexpensive 720p, wifi camera solution, but something that is wired, ONVIF compatible and able to be integrated into a third-party VMS. This thread on ipcamtalk.com is literally 3 years old and still going: Link. There is an unmet need here, albeit a smaller market than plug-and-play. I believe dbell and Axis are closest at this point but it would be better if IPVM targeted and tested products like these in this category.
For the Axis and the Geovision units, I'll revisit that with John and see what we can do.
Pro Tip: Calling him “John” after irreverently using the honorific-less “Honovich” reduces any street cred gained by at least half. Always double down on “Honovich” :)
I was curious about this as well, so I looked them up. The following companies have video doorbells that are ONVIF compliant. In most cases, if the company had multiple video doorbells, they were all ONVIF compliant unless they were battery powered. Typically those were not ONVIF compliant.
Some of these companies make it very difficult to determine if their products are ONVIF compliant and it is highly possible that some of the items not on this list are ONVIF compliant.
With the specific definition of video doorbell that we currently have, only Comelit has a model called the Visto that will be added to the list. The rest only offer Video Intercoms by way of their installation complexity. I have added the Visto per your recommendation.
Rongtai (sold as GBF) has been removed from the list as the Amazon entries were deceptive and the actual product pages don't comply with the definition of Video Doorbell.
#8, it's listed above under Google Nest, screencap for clarity:
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Comments (25)
Undisclosed #1
Axis A8105-E is missing from the list.
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Undisclosed Integrator #2
Looks like ADT just released a doorbell from Sercomm that works with their Pulse platform. DBC835.
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Matthew Del Salto
11/06/18 10:04pm
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Steve Keller
What about AIPhonoe or Paxton?
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Undisclosed #3
Have you checked out :
Fermax (spain)
Comelit (Italy)
Commax (Korea)
Kocom (Korea)
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Robert Shih
Rongtai (sold as GBF) has been removed from the list as the Amazon entries were deceptive and the actual product pages don't comply with the definition of Video Doorbell.
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Markus Schiefer
2N which was acquired by Axis is missing.
2N IP and LTE Intercoms
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John Bazyk
IPVMU Certified | 11/08/18 05:48pm
Doorbells are huge, most of them don't work that well. EVERYONE wants a video doorbell.
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Undisclosed #7
Holovision.
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Undisclosed Integrator #8
What about Nest Hello Doorbell.? Seems to meet the criteria
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