Video doorbells: how should you go about choosing the best model for your home security system?

Video doorbells are one of the latest developments in home security. Wave goodbye to the outdated standard doorbells of the past, that gave you no way of knowing the identity of the person on the doorstep of your home before you opened up the door. Say hello to revolutionised video entry systems, incorporating a doorbell chime, integrated cameras, connected smart apps and – overall – added security for your home.

What exactly are video doorbells?

Let’s go way back to basics for a moment and cover some key doorbell terminology:

The doorbell chime

The chime is the element of the doorbell (video and traditional models alike) that emits noise.

Now, this doorbell chime element stays the same in smart video doorbells, but the rest is all new:

External video doorbell device with an integrated camera

This is the section of the video doorbell that’s placed on the wall outside your house.

Any visitors to the home will interact with this component of the video doorbell: they’ll push a button to activate the chime sound, you’ll be able to say hello to them while they’re on the doorstep and their face will be picked up on the integrated security camera.

So, all that information will tell you what you need to know before you can safely open up the door.

Intercom speaker

This is the element of the video doorbell that lets you talk to the visitor before deciding whether to open up the door of your home.

Internal control panel

This part of the video doorbell system might be on the wall of your home’s hallway.

This is the device that allows you as the home owner to interact with all the security features that are incorporated into the video doorbell: the security camera, the intercom speaker, etc.

In fact, your video doorbell’s internal control panel could actually be your smartphone – but more on that a little later!

Smart video doorbells: interactive home security products

Video doorbells are a great way to increase your home security and make it more fun at the same time!

If you’ve got a young family that you want to keep safe and sound, a video doorbell could be a great way to get them on board with your home security set-up.

Let’s take a closer look at how your home’s smart video doorbell would actually work:

Say a person (a friend, an acquaintance, a delivery person, or a total stranger) rings your video doorbell, standing just outside your home’s door. The video doorbell’s integrated security camera will pick up on their face (you can also include additional motion detection features within the video doorbell’s external component).

If your video doorbell is linked up to your connected smart devices, you’ll get an instant alert that there’s someone at the door, wherever you are. In real time, you’ll be able to see who’s at the door of your home via the remote video link that you’ll be able to see on the screen of your chosen smart device.

That’s the case whether you’re at home or away. So, you can keep track of what’s going on at your home even while you’re away at work, or on holiday.

But, if you haven’t chosen to link up your video doorbell with an app on your smart devices, you’ll still be able to see the camera footage – and say hello to the person outside the door via the video doorbell’s intercom speaker – from the internal control panel that’s placed inside your home.

Then, you can make an informed decision about whether it’s safe to open up the door of your home to the visitor.

As long as your video doorbell also incorporates infrared night vision capabilities, it’ll function to its full capacity right around the clock.

Smart video doorbells: an effective part of your wireless home security?

Are video doorbells technically wireless home security devices? Well, this is where the definitions get a little complex.

On the one hand, various video doorbell models do operate using wireless connections. That’s where the ability to view and interact with your video doorbell via your connected smart devices comes in.

On the other hand, the external video doorbell components will often need to be wired into the walls of your home.

So, video doorbells actually combine both wired and wireless home security technology in order to keep your home safe and get you and your family more involved in that process

Does your home still have a classic chime doorbell that you and your family are actually quite attached to? Netatmo has good news for you! You can keep the same doorbell chime sound when you update to a video doorbell system. You just need to install the new video doorbell components and transfer your original chime sound over to the updated video system. For it all to go smoothly, you’ll just need to make sure that your new video doorbell system is effectively linked up to your home’s wireless connection, as well as sorting out the wired devices involved in the video doorbell security system.

Video doorbells: additional features to consider before installing these devices as part of your home security

At Netatmo, we pride ourselves on producing cutting-edge home security products. Install a Netamo Smart Video Doorbell and you’ll be able to access the following additional features:

Integrated motion detection technology that means you’ll only receive an alert when there’s a person outside your door (and not a pet, say)
Free and secure storage options for your video doorbell’s security camera footage
High definition (HD) quality security video
High dynamic range (HRD) security video, allowing you to view incredibly accurate footage of the people who ring your doorbell at any time of day or night
Infrared night vision technology, helping to increase the quality of this night-time security video
An integrated anti-vandalism device, protecting your video doorbell from potential damage
Weather resistance, ensuring the durability of your video doorbell when faced with inclement weather conditions outside your home