puntloos Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 (edited) Since both my wife and me have fulltime jobs, we probably can't be onsite too often during daytime building activities.. A friend suggested that maybe a smart doorbell would be a cool solution. If builders have any questions, they can literally 'ring the doorbell' and ask their questions, have a chat with us, no matter where we are. Does this seem like a worthwhile plan? The doorbell would give a good video feed of proceedings as a bonus, but the hard part is getting internet enabled for this.. (neighbors don't seem to have wifi!). How often would builders have questions or other points to discuss with us? Edited January 23, 2020 by puntloos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Just use a mobile phone and skype if you need video? Or one of the other video services available? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSniff Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 They may need to be patient builders... my experience with ours is that even with fast internet and a strong WiFi signal (it seems most are quite picky about the signal) there's a fairly long period of time between the bell being pushed and the app opening and connecting. Most visitors have walked away by the time mine has connected. Sometimes that's not such a bad thing... As ProDave I would think a mobile phone and skype would be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntloos Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Yup, perhaps this is a solution in search of a problem.. although having a camera permanently monitoring the build site doesn't seem like a terrible idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 I’m not sure about a door bell But I can answer the last bit There will be lots of questions Your right in trying to make yourself availed during the day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 1 hour ago, MrSniff said: They may need to be patient builders... my experience with ours is that even with fast internet and a strong WiFi signal (it seems most are quite picky about the signal) there's a fairly long period of time between the bell being pushed and the app opening and connecting. Most visitors have walked away by the time mine has connected. Sometimes that's not such a bad thing... As ProDave I would think a mobile phone and skype would be better. Seems to be a common problem. A local watch repair chap has one of these, and I walked away after pressing the bell a couple of times, because it was really slow to trigger on his 'phone. He ran out and caught me just as I was driving off, but did mention that the system was often a bit slow to respond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 For use as an ordinary for bell, you can get them with a chime that works in real time. That said, I never have any delay to my phone, at least while I'm on the same WiFi network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 My brother had one of those Ring doorbells fitted when they were fairly new. It was the day the kitchen was being fitted and the builders were on site and answered the doorbell. Little did they know my brother who was at work had his phone and could see exactly who was at the door and them confess they had just dropped and damaged one of the cupboards and say to the other guy "don't worry, they won't notice"..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adsibob Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 On 23/01/2020 at 19:38, jack said: For use as an ordinary for bell, you can get them with a chime that works in real time. That said, I never have any delay to my phone, at least while I'm on the same WiFi network. @jack is yours a Ring Video Doorbell? If so, do you have the cheaper 2.4Ghz only version, or one of the more expensive models that also comes with 5Ghz functionality? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 There used to be a saying about an automated machine tool that could be run by 'one man and a dog'. The man watched the machine, the dog was to stop him touching it. If the builder won't call when he has a problem, he won't press a doorbell. The problem is the builder, not the communication technology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puntloos Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 3 hours ago, SteamyTea said: There used to be a saying about an automated machine tool that could be run by 'one man and a dog'. The man watched the machine, the dog was to stop him touching it. If the builder won't call when he has a problem, he won't press a doorbell. The problem is the builder, not the communication technology. But you forget that my doorbell is MONITORING HIM 24/7 MUHAHAH Ahem. Seriously though, it's all a matter of efficiency, people will use some technology if it is easy enough to learn and improves something else for the user but indeed not too sure if a wifi doorbell is an improvement over purely a mobile phone and/or a whatsapp connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adsibob Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 27 minutes ago, puntloos said: But you forget that my doorbell is MONITORING HIM 24/7 MUHAHAH Ahem. Seriously though, it's all a matter of efficiency, people will use some technology if it is easy enough to learn and improves something else for the user but indeed not too sure if a wifi doorbell is an improvement over purely a mobile phone and/or a whatsapp connection. I had a facetime call with my project manager the other day whilst he was on site and I was in the office. I found it incredibly useful as he could walk around the site and point his phone at different areas and talk me through issues and explain them to me visually. You can't do that with a video doorbell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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