Every Apartment needs this Upgrade! (WhatsApp/Telegram Notifications)

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In this project I will be solving a problem that I had for a while. Since I love listening to music I always miss the doorbell. That is a big problem for me because there is always a postman at the door trying to deliver the components for the next project. So in this video I will show you how to add an ESP8266 to an intercom so that it can send WhatsApp/Telegram notifications to a phone. This way I and maybe you will never miss the doorbell again ;-) Let's get started!
Websites which were shown/used in the video:
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www.nicht-trivial.de/index.ph...
www.callmebot.com/blog/free-a...
github.com/witnessmenow/push-...
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Thanks to Altium for sponsoring this video.
0:00 My Doorbell Problem
1:30 Intro
2:09 Plan Overview
2:58 Intercom Investigation
4:46 uC WhatsApp Notifications
6:54 uC Telegram Notifications
7:36 Adding the uC to the Intercom
9:31 Verdict

[@BrianLough]

Thanks for the shout-out! I'm really glad people are still finding the telegram library useful, I still think it's the easiest way to do push notifications on an esp device!

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks for your great work :-)

[@ubiquitousingit]

I wasn’t aware of the library and ended up sending the POST request instead. Will be trying it out in my next project.

[@ChunkySteveo]

Brian's last name is pronounced "lock", you were close Scott!

[@efrenbg1]

Use it for everything! Complete and easy to use

[@BuyitFixit]

Thank you for the library. I used it myself about a year ago with a PIR sensor to detect rat activity in one of the barns.

[@SilentlyPrickable]

5:22 The problem with the notification delay is due to Android's standby services (Doze Mode, to be more specific) since like A8, so you need to define "priority: high" parameter (look into dev documentation for HomeAssistant), then it bypasses it and notifications are pushed instantly.

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks for the tip

[@LuLeBe]

Is it just doze mode and not something else as well? Afaik doze activates when the device is not in use for quite some time while stationary. So really he should only have issues when it's sitting on a desk for half an hour, not even in a pocket or so. But android devices have also picked up the habit of trying to shut off everything that's not high priority, even without doze, unfortunately.

[@SilentlyPrickable]

​@@LuLeBe In my experience with multiple Samsung phones, it's basically only the Doze, after disabling it via adb, everything works perfectly fine. Unfortunately without root it needs to be disabled after every restart, soo... after many headscratches I was insanely glad I found that there is something like a critical notification and it's possible to fix it at least for HomeAssistant. But sure, it could be also affected by other processes. (I'm more like stubborn tinkerer than a developer xD ) Btw: Doze intereferes even after 5minutes of "idle" (phone on a desk with display turned off), but it could be manufacturer dependant.

[@WX4CB]

and not to mention that well.. it's the internet and you're relying on someone else not being overloaded (IE the bot or telegram)

[@LC-hd5dc]

the SMS/messaging round trip is also incredibly slow and unreliable. i imagine it would be much faster to send some magic packet across your LAN to your device(s), that way you can even get desktop notifications or use something like Tasker on your phone to alert accordingly

[@seanthiar]

That was the reinvention of the tire. Had the same problem - the solution was a simple system for under 20€ from Reichelt with a sensor next to the bell that sends a wireless signal when it 'hears' sound and a receiver with a second bell or a light that flashes when the bell rings. No significant delay (maybe a few milliseconds) and you don't need an external service (a big plus). Something like that is sold for years for people that are deaf or need hearing aids or have a loud environment and works for every bell. Ritto, the company that built your house phone, has relays in their catalogue to switch external non Ritto products when the bell rings and offers additional wireless remote bells or remote flashing lights. Other companies even offer a high power relay (8KW) that you can integrate in a fuse box to flash all lights when someone rings the bell. It is used when all people in a household are deaf.

[@ritterkeks]

Well yes and no. I did also use a wireless sender/receiver product for my grandma, so she does not miss the bell when she is in the living room with the TV turned all the way up. Not as cheap as an ESP but a lot less hassle for sure! That said, the solution provided here is applicable (and used) for much more than deaf/hearing impaired/working in loud environments or with headphones! Since it is in fact NOT locally extending the bell alert, one can get notified away from home that somebody rang the doorbell and with the second contact mentioned even trigger the door buzzer remotely…. something the local RF extender cannot do.

[@kebman]

Something tells me that this project is not for those who want easy solutions. xD It's a kind of fun all of its own to tinker about in electronic boards and chips and find out which pin does what, to then make some sort of system out of it with just a soldering iron and some cheap electrical components. Oh and an overpriced Rπ ofc.

[@JohnDoe-nz3wq]

As a landlord myself, I would strongly recommend using an optocoupler. These intercom systems are not as stable as you would think. The connected ground and the y capacitor in your smps are some troublemaker.

[@wildekek]

Yep. Especially when other tenants trigger the door opener, you can see huge voltage spikes on these systems caused by the inductor in the door opener.

[@MattFixesStuff]

Why is everyone suggesting optocpuplers. I mean I love optocouplers (theyre so cool *-*..) but couldnt you just also simply use a relais ?

[@randycarter2001]

I would have used an optocoupler. That way the ground of my system won't be connected to the ground outside of the apartment. At any time someone can change the wiring and blow things up. Also reduces the possibility of anything I'm doing creating a shock hazard for others.

[@gavster89]

I was going to say the same thing. Also gets around the level shifting too.

[@m3mem4chine86]

This. You're also assuming that the 5V supply isn't grounded.

[@randycarter2001]

@@m3mem4chine86 From the looks of the layout the supply is basically floating. It can assume any voltage above ground it needs to. When you're running cables a long distance isolation is your friend. You have no control over what can happen on the other end of the wire.

[@hillppari]

Europlugs dont have ground connection that the powersupply used.

[@tw38203]

I actually did it this way and it works perfectly. Tho my bell sits at 18V normally and rises up to 24V when ringing, so I put a zener infront of the optocoppler. Furthermore two optocopplers were used to be able to activate the push buttons on the intercom wirelessly (using homeassistant). Works like a charm!

[@pesterenan]

So cool to see old tech being "modernized" with the help of a little microcontroller :D

[@greatscottlab]

I think so too :-)

[@uvuvwevwevweossaswithglasses]

Thats not a little microcontroller though. Its pretty powerful for a micro controller

[@Engineer9736]

@@uvuvwevwevweossaswithglasses The dimensions are little.

[@yashaswikulshreshtha1588]

@@greatscottlab U can sell cute little greatscott electronic components plushies!! I think people may buy them ! lol..

[@tristan6509]

@@uvuvwevwevweossaswithglasses a micro controller is little, it literally has the word 'micro' on it...

[@remus6649]

TLDR How to get notifications on WhatsApp: Uninstall it, then get Telegram

[@ericjohnson2193]

A lot of apartments around me in the US have really analog systems with terminals by TekTone. They have a dedicated wire for the "warble" tone when the doorbell is pressed. So I put a current-transformer around that and use it as an input in ESPHome, which works reliably. And I figured out what terminals to connect to trigger the door strike and connected a relay to them. It works really well and doesn't even require soldering since all the connections are at the screw-terminals.

[@evilmonkeywithissues]

I am definitely going to be making some modifications to my front door now. I can never hear when people knock when I'm in my room tinkering, but I usually have a video running on my phone, so push notifications are the perfect solution for me.

[@calvinbrowne2126]

In the beginning of your video, I was thinking "this is a job for the telegram botfather". Now that you've started down this road, you'll find you can get homeassistant to talk to the channel as well. My home talks to a house telegram channel, pushing notices as need, such as "hey, do you realise you've left the main gate open for more than five minutes?" And the whole family can subscribe to the channel - win win!

[@birdpump]

Great video Mr. Scott. I love how you make your videos in such a way where it is useful for everyone, and not a very specific project.

[@zrxav]

Something cool you might add to the system you’ve already built is controlling the buttons to open up the door or answering the intercom from your smartphone without having to walk to your intercom

[@JeppeBeier]

Answering the intercom might be a bit tricky, but something like opening the door should be relatively simple given that it's done through a simple momentary switch. Main issue with it would be interfacing in a non-destructive way so that it leaves no traces if you eventually move out again.

[@henriksundt7148]

@@JeppeBeier The mic and speaker of the handset should be quite easy to intercept, as they are analog and accessible via the connector.

[@user-en3lz5lv6t]

@@JeppeBeier i actually did that using a SONOFF RE5V1C whose switch is decoupled from power voltage although it was abit more weird cause my intercom uses 16v AC.

[@black11189]

@@user-en3lz5lv6tlooking for doing this project, with open notification AND open door with this PCB but i’m afraid to breack the intercomms system

[@HochFrequenzFreak]

Did this also to my doorbell. I also connected a relay to the door opener, so the postman can come up to my apartment while I am moving to the door :) I used nodered for the Telegram message receive handling to open the door.

[@joluas_]

I think this is the better approach. If he already opened the intercom, connected an external power supply and created a whole new enclosure, the door opener would have made this project a 10 out of 10 for me.

[@ChessIsJustAGame]

A light that flashes in your work space. A hard of hearing relative of my wife had a system that flashes rapidly if phone rings (old school home phone) and flashes a slower signal if the door bell is rung. Both elderly passed away more than a decade ago. It was part of a commercial security system that is long gone, but great idea.

[@TheRailroad99]

And super easy to implement with common smart home software (like ZigBee lamps)

[@jort93z]

If you have home automation you could probably even make the normal lights flash.

[@Etacovda63]

This could be done with WLED and http notifications - only a few lines of code in the existing esp8266

[@ChristianBrugger]

This is what I would have done. A big flashing light. So much more reliable and easier to integrate than what was presented here.

[@Red24DryBones]

Really cool & useful system,. yet what I find most impressive is how he has cable cover/duct on a wall that has significant texture. Long ago I gave up on using any cable ducts on textured walls because they never last a month before loosing grip.

[@BuyitFixit]

I did something similar a while back. I used an esp + telegram library and a PIR module to detect rats in one of the barns. Worked really well.

[@smitcher]

Neat project but I think, given the size and infrequency of visitors to your door you should have just added a lipo battery, bypassed the 5v->3.3v regulator and created a trickle charge circuit to draw

[@fredfred2363]

Yup 👍🏻🇬🇧

[@der94alex]

an pcb edge connector wouldve been neat, agree

[@NEOX128]

a buck converter like 2596 board is near 90% eficient, so 5v * 0.1a ( 80ma + loss) its .5w in 24v line not 6va

[@casemodder89]

and one day the lipo bulges, catches fire while he's not at home and the landlord WILL be mad if his house is burned down from a not officially approved "smart home" device.

[@sayyidsahal1996]

@@casemodder89 he can use a joule theif

[@07_sev52]

I've done pretty much exactly the same thing about a year ago. I just used a shelly to send a notification to my phone using MQTT and home assistant. It can also be used to controll the lights which would be quite helpful to a deaf person lol.

[@Mare0912]

Two days ago I was talking to some friends, that I need some kind of smartification for my apartment's bell. KZbin's algorithm led me to you. Thanks for sharing the experience! :)

[@lynnashley6247]

It's fortunate for you that your delivery people actually let you know that a package is being delivered. Where I live in the US, they refuse to do that, even though the doorbell is only 18 inches (~ 1/2 meter) directly above where they set the packages.

[@xTerminatorAndy]

This is a great project Scott. Not only for your convenience but also great for people with a hearing impairment that cannot get permission from the landperson to install adapted doorbels

[@greatscottlab]

Glad I could help :-)

[@ohnejayla]

Thanks so much. I wanted to tackle the same system a year ago without reverse engineering the whole circuit board. (I've got the 4 button version without the phone handle) Was about to use ldr and a relay to trigger incomming bells and opening the door but decided against it as it would probably end up pretty unreliable. This makes it a lot easier. I'll probably use an optocoupler and a relay for opening to not interfere with the board but finally some guiding light without interfering with that complicated bus protocol. As said: Thanks! Got new motivation :)

[@FreeUghhh]

Thanks for the info, I was able to have my old 1970's doorbell to send notifications to my phone but i had to make some modifications to the code and the pins!

[@fns58]

Exactly the problem I am facing in my new house! I live in Spain and our system is the same. I also hate how it sounds lol but I cannot change it. Will seriously consider this, thank you!

[@sschueller]

That looks like a standard PCB edge connector. You could also have used one of those and avoided soldering to the board directly.

[@irishRocker1]

Yes, agreed it would be better solution in an apartment you are renting in. If landlord sees you modified something like this they can take your deposit when you leave.

[@florians.4034]

Just a word of warning: it is easy to fry the controller in the basement and sometimes just adding a wire to e.g. the door opening button can make the bus lock up due to some EMV. And the controllers are really expensive so maybe putting a microphone next to the piezo is a more non invasive way :) And yes, I witnessed these kind of projects going wrong three times

[@jucaesar4961]

The problem with a microphone next to the piezo is that vacuuming near the door can, if the noise level is sufficient, also trigger a constant stream of messages. My little brother has cochlear implants, and my father installed a bell add-on in our house such that my little brother would receive an extra audible and visible notification to his room. It was unfortunately also triggered by vacuuming near the door, essentially making it quite useless.

[@Mrcaffinebean]

I bet more of them where from shorting the pins than anything else. It’s an easy mistake to make.

[@florians.4034]

@@Mrcaffinebean nope, definitely not. A 10m long cable attached to the door open buttons to operate it from a table locked up the system, removing the wire then allowed it to be used again

[@Juandachu]

I've had something similar built into my intercoms for years. The first one was easy because there was a pin like yours where I could extract the ring signal. The second one I had to get creative, because I couldn't find such a pin and decided to trigger it based on speaker activity. I also added a relay to control the opening button remotely and this allowed me to open up the door from the Telegram notification itself :P I recently moved and have to open up the new intercom to investigate. Just might start doing that today...

[@systemofapwne]

I also built something similar about 3 years ago with an arduino nano and an nrf24l01 which directly used the power of my Ritto door opener. I also added a solid state relay to turn on/off the bell at will and to fire the buzzer at the front door. It was really a fun project and extremely useful. Now after moving to my new apartment, I opted for a commercial solution: Nuki Door Opener. That thing is extremely easy to integrate with not much tinkering / reverse engineering the original door opener PCB. But OFC way more expensive (~100 Bucks).

[@testman9541]

You could have used a supercap to provide power for the peeks. This would have enabled the whole thing to fit inside the original enclosure... Also you could have used bluetooth LE notifications so that your phone sound only if you are at home 👍

[@Mr.Engine993]

Although this kind of projects might sound boring, it's my favorite (after the super crazy ones) because it solves those annoying little problems that end up being completely frustrating.

[@RestoreTechnique]

Cool project! I was thinking you could of gotten a long range wireless doorbell, wired the button into the intercom system so that when you press the intercom button it triggers the receiver, which you could have sitting on your desk. You could even add flashing lights to the receiver (some already come with this feature) so it's not just an audio chime alerting you. You obviously aren't notified when not at home though.

[@TheBimboBread]

I've same idea a few month ago, It's awesome you have implemented!! Totally respect to you man

[@seanman6541]

Personally, I would recommend placing a small (100nf) capacitor between the ESP's GPIO pin and ground. This capacitor and the upper resistor of the voltage divider form an RC filter that will help to reduce any transient interference which might cause false triggering. I might also suggest a bidirectional TVS diode in the same location to protect against any large voltage spikes or ESD.

[@HawkX189]

You definitely need the same sound as your door bell as notification message sound for that telegram chat 😂

[@greatscottlab]

Haha good idea

[@AB-pb8oo]

I built one last year, after my son got the noise-cancelling AirPods pro and started wearing them all the time. Incredibly useful upgrade!

[@ethzero]

I've never had an excuse to tinker with an ESP before but knowing you can trivially do this kinda stuff I'll almost certainly be adding it to my collection of RPis, Picos and Arduinos :)

[@Alintja]

Awesome project, I pretty much did the same thing last year to the exact same intercom system. Take a look at pushover, I used that instead of telegram to add a custom button to the notification, which can immediately open the door as well. Super handy when you forgot the key or someone arrived earlier than you btw

[@pearcomputers2542]

Yep, i would also recommend taking a look at pushover.

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks for the tips!

[@kekkocheng]

@@greatscottlab You can also cut the the middleman without using universal telegram library and just send a POST request through Telegram API if it's just a one-way communication from ESP to telegram.

[@rocktheworld2k6]

@@greatscottlab Pushover is great, it's also integrated into Home Assistant so you can add everything to Home Assistant and do all your automations and other such stuff there as well, and I found it quick and reliable for pushing notifications.

[@ethzero]

+1 for Pushover. Excellent messaging API. I use it and a backup channel for critical server monitoring notifications so both speed and reliability is key. In practice I almost always get the Pushover message a second or two before the email; the email is configured to send *first* 😛

[@zaprodk]

I believe Brian's surname is pronounced "lock" :) - I'm glad you selected his library. He did a good job on it!

[@epender]

More like a Scottish/German ch :)

[@ChibaCityBlues]

I did something similar using Home Assistant. The compainion app notifies me, and HA saves the state of all lights, changes all lights to red and restores the state of all lights. So useful!

[@theNWdigital]

Thanks for this ingenious idea! I recently figured out that the door opener signal from my parent's house intercom (as you know, intercoms are pretty common in Germany) terminates in the door unit. Ugly security flaw, because the door unit can be disassembled easily (2 screws) and simple shorting opens the door. The open trigger pulse will stay inside the house after my modification. Plus I add an ESP32 (with photocoupler) which enables opening via fingerprint reader (Wiegand protocol) and via HTTP call. Will add a Telegram notification functionality, too.

[@grimd8788]

"Wife alert!" LOL 😆 I love it.

[@0ZeldaFreak]

There are some things to note. Android Smartphones can be very tricky with engery savings, resulting in delayed or even no notification. A deeper look into the settings may help. There are a few things. Usually allowing an app to run it in the background and maybe even start itself and fideling with the engery settings of an app. Some apps can handle it better than others. Maybe it can be even an issue of the app itself. With push notifications there are different types. Usually push means a server is pushing a message to your phone. An old way and a slow one is when the app needs to pull the notification itself. When you are not happy on how apps work with these things, asking for help in the forums might give you options to change and help you to make it work for you better. With the energy I must say that pulling energy from the intercom might be illegal. It can be considered theft. In apartment buildings its usually powered from outside your apartment and meaning the community pays for it. There are smart home door solutions that are aware of it and they have options to power it from your end, so you don't steal energy. In reality it might be hard to spot and the landlord doesn't care. But let's not forget, everyone is paying for it, for something you only use. I also want to mention that this idea isn't new. There are solutions to connect an intercom to your phone. It's for the landline phone. You can control your intercom with it. It's usually for businesses. Also it's not that cheap, especially when you don't have a landline setup at home. But when your intercom supports it, you could open your door and speak to the intercom from your phone. You may not require a landline phone, because there are systems that support soft phones, meaning software phones and that means you could use a smartphone app. It's like a phone call. I think a remote opening might be useful for deliveries. This gives you the time to go to the door, when the delivery guy is going up the stairs. I'm not quite happy with the solution. It relys on external services. I would prefer a solution that doesn't need any external services. It would be nice when you could speak through the intercom via your phone and maybe even open it. The opening part should be optional, because this is a security risk and it might be good enough when you can speak to the person until you are at the door.

[@innomkr]

Interesting topic. A while ago, I did a similar project with intercom but for opening the door at the entrance. The problem in my case was also powering the ESP because on the intercom only 24V AC was available. I tried using a FULL BRIDGE RECTIFIER :D but apparently connecting loads to this 24V AC source caused noice in the earpiece not only on this intercom but on every intercom in the building. So I ended up using an external power source as you did.

[@TheKaylich]

By far the most overcomplicated, overenginieered, unsafe, half-finished, unreliable, overkill semi-permanent solution to a non-problem. Absolutely loved it!

[@andreasu.3546]

9:34: Four seconds from pushing the doorbell and message appearing on the phone. Where I live, that's more than enough time for the delivery person to drop the package at some neighbor's house and race out of sight.

[@michaelmolter8828]

Definitely considered this. Especially a system that I could text to, and have it trigger the door latch button for me. But man, if you short or fry something, what a mess! Those systems are ancient, and finding a new main board would be crazy expensive!

[@andreburre8991]

Neat stuff, I created something similar myself a while ago. When I'm away for a few days, an ESP waters my plants once a day. If I feel they have to be watered again, I can activate the pumps manualy. A little bit like your greenhous automation. Good work, though, realy enjoy your Channel!

[@SmilingRob]

Seeing how much effort this took, I can see why you didn't have time to make the ESP play text-to-speech when you type a whatsapp message to it.

[@gn2b445]

@BBMS Official pateron

[@Gideon_Judges6]

@BBMS Official true. This is a difference between public and private videos.

[@FixTronics]

@BBMS Official Not 11 but 12 days ago😅

[@SmilingRob]

@BBMS Official sorry I should be more careful not to cause paradoxes in the time continuum.

[@CH_Pechiar]

Nice project. I now have interest in more info about the telegram bot. Anyways, I would have added a optocupler between your hardware and the intercom so as to fully isolate both systems.

[@JimmyDSausDE]

I have the exact same doorbel and I used a shelly uni to do this without soldering (just some plugs that fit on the Ritto PCB). I integrated that with home assistant and I have a lamp on my desk that flashes a particular colour when the doorbel rings (and also other stuff like flash another colour when I leave the fridge door open for a couple minutes, which is read with a magnetic door sensor on the fridge door). Since shelly uni has a potential-free output, it can also open the door for you (I'm sure you can do this on the D1 mini as well), so I then used the email integration to read the email that Amazon/DHL sends that a package is arriving today and it automatically opens the door even if I'm not home, so I don't have to go pick up the parcel, the delivery person will simply leave it in front of my appartment door or downstairs inside the building (I can trust my neighbours). The only problem with my setup was that the power supply cannot handle the shelly uni and the voltage stops rising to 5V when ringing after a couple of weeks but your solution is just great to finally make my setup fully functional!

[@tinkmarshino]

I always learn something watching your vid's.. Great Scott! and old dog learning new trick! unheard of.... This was great Scott thanks..

[@EFazy]

i did almost the same in my flat years before :) I used a small mic, glued next to the ring speaker, and - since there was no ESP32 back then (or at least i don't had one) I made a louder alarm sound closer, where I usually stay :)

[@xmfclick]

Yes, early in the video I thought to myself, "Why doesn't he just rig up a louder ringer?" But then, he wouldn't have got a YT video out it!

[@Jehty21]

@@xmfclick because you won't hear a louder ringer in the basement or garden.

[@maker_pt]

@@xmfclick There are maybe a few more ups to it. Because he get's notified even outside of his flat. Also he can use it for automations. I for example built a "Party mode" in mine. If party mode is set to on, it will automatically buzzer the entry door or if at the apartment door, open the nuki. So people arriving to the party or going for a smoke don't need a key or rely on somebody to let them in again.

[@zeendaniels5809]

Upgrade idea: Add an option to open the door from your workbench... Either an option in Telegram or a physical button.

[@ubiquitousingit]

A relay can be added and commanded by ESP to short the “door open button” contacts. But probably he wants to listen to the person on the other side before opening the door!

[@zeendaniels5809]

@@ubiquitousingit Lol... Right. A better idea then! Add a camera to the ESP like the one he uses for security, facing outwards. The moment someone knocks the message contains a picture of whoever is at the door. Seems feasible 👌🏼

[@wayland7150]

Skynet.

[@unutilisateurdeyoutube1256]

Not sure this is a really secure way to do this.

[@Heisenberg2097]

I'm actively working on switching off notifications. I work with bi-polar regularly.. so I am happy to be relaxed without interruptions.

[@arthurkortekaas7357]

i had the same problem, i installed a second buzzer next to my pc and connected it to the doorbell with the coax cable i no longer use but was still in the wall. but your solution is much more elegant haha.

[@KallePihlajasaari]

Important to implement a Opto Isolation if you connect your power supply to any other ground referenced circuits so you do not have strange effects due to multiple grounding points-

[@humphet3750]

Yes, its not more complicated then voltage divider. I'm surprised such "solution"

[@rklauco]

Interesting - I would take DC2DC converter and convert the 24+-V to 3.3V of the ESP. It uses peak 70mA, normally around 40mA, on 3.3V that makes 230mW peak, with 20% losses of the DC buck converter you get to 280mW max. No problem for neighbors :)

[@smitcher]

The 8266 can draw up to 400ma in certain situations so you would definitely need a supercap or a lipo at least...

[@SuperMineMatteo]

It's not a bad idea but I think the DC-DC converter could introduce EMI in the system

[@EdHayes3]

I was going to say the same thing! A DC-DC converter could easily power an ESP. Even at full ESP power, you have PLENTY of headroom. And if there was any worry about EMI, etc, you could just reduce it to 4/5v, and have the 3.3LDO drop the rest.

[@balls2bone]

I designed similar a few years back for my local hackspace. Difference was that the ring signal was PWM 12V so I used a fat capacitor to smooth it out and an opto isolator as wanted it isolated. Then it pumps out MQTT and PA plays a doorbell sound to all rooms. There was also a relay! ;-)

[@wl11lm]

do you have any documentation?

[@davidfekete4409]

Nice solution! The hass inconsistent respond time also boder me in this kind of projects!

[@M_ark19]

Nice would be to add remote door unlocking also, if you can send a message back to the controller you could just close the circuit of the unlock button

[@emaker1233]

Some time later when Scott moves out and forgets the box. New occupant: "Gets a ring* Scott's phone: *Get a notification* Scott: "Oh crap forgot to remove that"

[@jur4x]

Yeah, he might forget about that while taking kitchen apart.

[@DirkSarodnick]

I did a very similar thing more then two years ago. We have a HAT-402 in our appartment and there is a RSR-402 control relay on Amazon, which is basically an upgrade/extension you can more or less plug in. As it is a relay, it was very easy to wire it to an ESP32 like a button. It was my first electronic project and I spend days reading the HAT-402 manual to not mess up anything, but it felt great and it still works like a charm. Fun fact: I can even track the length of each door bell pressing, because the relay closes while the door bell is pressed. 😎 I also used telegram, but I build my own bot. Another plus for telegram: I do not use it for messaging, therefore I can better distingiush between smart home notifications and normal messages. 😉

[@DustinRogersinMO]

I’ve had pretty good results using a webhook via IFTTT and sending a push notification to the IFTTT app from various devices. Whether it be from a raspberry Pi, an ESP32, or a Particle Photon. You can structure the message using various values passed to the webhook. Anything from door opening notifications to low battery monitors, notifications have been pretty quick, usually within a second or two. I need to check out that Telegram library though just for some other options.

[@HighVoltages]

From watching your tutorials as a university student to get featured in your video (indirectly though 5:38 ). I never knew this is going to happen. Thank you for your tutorials which helped me learn alot!!!

[@greatscottlab]

Glad it was helpful!

[@RamiR0000]

Thank you for every inspiring video you post, but i would have to say that this time i was faster on creating similar system with a bit more functionalities. The one i built uses ESP32 and Uses battery as power source all enclosed inside the intercom itself. In addition to the regular notification that uses HA, i wired one of the pin to the unlock button, and using ESPhome that create a sensor, with some useful information such how many times my door being rang a month. I wanted to take that further, so i built an automation that will send actionable notification if i am home or away, but if i am at the building door but not inside the flat the system will trigger the unlock for me. so i do not need keys for the below door. it takes 7 seconds for the system to wake up from deep sleep, and trigger the door or send the notification.

[@basilconscious]

Can you provide more information on this please?

[@alphawarriorthegrandmaster]

This will be awsomw if you could explain this a bit, and do you think it is possible to use this with also a video feed, i gave a comelit with video

[@sygad1]

pressure mat outside the apartment, coupled with a peep hole camera and a permanent display next to where you're working

[@albertolaurella9168]

I was making a project for this EXACT reason and you go and do it for me? nice

[@obd6HsN]

Did you consider putting an opto-isolator between the intercom and the ESP, rather than connecting the intercom's 5v signal directly to the ESP?

[@greatscottlab]

Not really.....

[@a1nelson]

@@greatscottlab I appreciate the honest response - no joke. An optocoupler does seem like a good idea. At minimum, it avoids a potential ground loop from the second (5V) supply many meters away from the system’s supply. Also, who knows how the system will react during power-up, power-down, lightning, etc. It also protects you and your equipment from any other electronics experimenters in your building :).

[@jasond.valentine5931]

curious newbie here, what problem would an octo solve?

[@obd6HsN]

@@jasond.valentine5931 the two main ones for me would have been 1) decoupling the 5v reference of the other system. Who's to say that the ground references can be relied upon to be the same? 2) no risk of the controller putting voltage *out* back on to the intercom for example if the pins are briefly configured as outputs before your code starts to run on boot-up.

[@obd6HsN]

@@jasond.valentine5931 there is another comment made around the same time as mine which has gained more traction with a bunch more answers, so search for that one for more ideas

[@Dachaz]

Out of curiosity - have you looked into Nuki? It’s not DIY, but similarly to your build attaches to the intercom and offers (remote) unlocking as well. I’ve been using it for a few years and it’s been a game-changer.

[@marcosbueno_dev]

I have the same problem since March 2020 with the pandemic and home office, I made something similar but never put it on to work. Thanks for remind me to stop being lazy and finish the project 😅

[@davebutler3905]

That's absolutely Great, Scott! Thanks for explaining everything including your modular approach to solutions. Might be an opportunity to use the esp sleep function!? To save a tiny bit of power.

[@cowidster]

Simply put a relay to the push button of the intercom/doorbell, cable it into a dedicated bright lamp in your room. 😃

[@selvammatthys]

Or a small microphone, tuned to the bell noise and activating a smartlamp on his desk. No fiddling with wires.

[@runforitman]

That doorbell is very far away from the door... its an apartment

[@runforitman]

​@@selvammatthys sound recognition is exponentially harder and more sensitive.

[@selvammatthys]

@@runforitman The bell is not citing Shakespeare, it is a very distinguish sound that a frequency filter and loudness resistor can handle.

[@cowidster]

@runforitman if it is multi storey apartment with addressed doorbel to each unit, then you can relay a lamp from the doorbell speaker in your room.

[@drkalamity4518]

tbh i like the old intro better. I find the real physically built LED sign to be more satisfying. plus im sure most of us can appreciate how long that took to make haha

[@recepby]

It is such an inspring work, I wish to start also upload videos about Electronics!

[@cubiee-sci6190]

Awesome project i implemented a similar system in my home. Brians library is really awesome, but as an alternative telegram bots can be integrated directly into home assistant. Combined with sensors based on esphome you can archive the same result with minimal coding experience and you can use the huge amount of possibilities in home Assistent like logging and automations

[@PioneerAxon]

You could also integrate the telegram notifications with the Home Assistant. That way, you not only can send the notification, but also trigger the door lock with telegram actions from your phone.

[@greatscottlab]

Also a good idea :-)

[@gmourao]

That's not hard. Hard is listening the intercom with the phone to see if you can really open the door.

[@Leonvolt28]

Nice project. But integrating it with esphome and home assistant would have been way better. Home assistant does intergrade with telegram and you could have added an led strip at your desk that could flash a couple times when someone's at the door.

[@alphawarriorthegrandmaster]

Leaving a comment for if anyone explains on how to do this and also in combo with maybe a video feed, because i have a comelit with video 2 wire config and trying to figure it out but i am not that technical, only a bit 😅

[@blitzdose]

Really cool project! I already thought about that too with my system in my apartment. I was also thinking about adding a SwitchBot (or something else) to be able to open the front door with e.g my smartphone

[@benoit616]

Nice project ! You also could use the Home Assistant notification service if you have the app installed on your phone. Pretty simple to do that with the Home Assistant REST API. With that solution, you depend on nothing else than your own Home Assistant installation running on your Pi.

[@Waves0815]

I'm so sorry for you having that intercom. Those things have become a personal nightmare over the past few years. Also I've seen a lot of people do something like this. BUT From the perspective of the guy searching an entire apartment building for whatever causes the intercom system to stop working. Always again fun.

[@firefly2472]

Been there, done that. It sucks. Dont do this ppl.

[@James-fe7wd]

This was super cool, given me some ideas for how to accomplish some projects I've been wanting to do for years now!

[@Reckless-mindfulness]

This is awesome, i was thinking about this for quite sometimes! but for not only ring but unlocking door.

[@AltairScorpio]

Have an idea, to use that intercom system to call to your phone. You can probably use SIM800 modules or similar ones. You can control answering button with esp/arduino also. :) Good video by the way ;)

[@soufi7356]

That system is actually in use in some apartment buildings, at my uncle's house they get a call whenever someone rings the bell and they can talk to the person at the door. I think it's opened by pressing a certain number key on the phone.

[@elmariachi5133]

OMG! I have exactly the same doorbell system in my terrible apartment, and the alarm sounds are just super painful, each time nearly giving me a heart attack! What do you think about a project that would give that crappy system some more pleasant ring tones? xD And I also have another idea: I'm in great fear of loosing my keys, because of the high cost to have some service open the door and possibly replace the door lock - so do you think you could create a system that opens your apartment's door by entering a programmable code sequence using the bell (like some letters in morse code or such..)

[@avejst]

great project 👍😀 great video as always 👍🙂 thanks for sharing your experience with all of us 👍🙂

[@tamas-ruszka]

I had the very same phone in my previous flat and I did a very similar project, (I even found the same post :D) the only difference is that I used a HC-12 to send a signal and the receiver was on my table while I was working. Initially I also tried to connect to the phone's power connection, which only worked when you ringed the bell using the switch next to our doors. (It was funny, because we didn't notice it for a week, so no packages for us) Sadly for my new flat I had to change the design a bit, because someone painted on the phone and I couldn't remove the cover without destroying the wall around it, but I used a light sensor, printed a closed box for it and I glued to the flashing button. (which I don't use anyway) It's working suprisingly good. I'm using a LiPo battery to power and a low voltage alarm to see when I need to recharge (every half a year) and the signal is immediately sent this way.

[@jackofutzi]

Wouldn´t it be better to use a optocoupler between ESP and the phone circuit for electrical separation?

[@laudas11]

Yes, and No, given a near buy Lighting Strike could induce many KV's into the intercom wiring, the optocoupler may be of no value. So I would give this design a fail.

[@benschick86]

Hi. Super Video. Ich suche schon ewig nach genau dieser Lösung. Würdest du vielleicht den Code auf Github o.ä. teilen? Würde mich sehr freuen.

[@taylenmoodley]

The code is in the description Der Code steht in der Beschreibung des Videos

[@alireda646]

I'm very very happy I'm always learning from you, this my first time I make something I taught myself long time before you teach me I'm extremely happy Thank you

[@andrebartels1690]

Hey Great Scott, I like your videos a lot. They're a good bit above my electronics understanding, still I like your hands-on attitude. And I think your new intro is quite fresh 👌

[@anotheruser9876]

Next episode: how to extinguish a fire because the heat gun was left on while answering the doorbell.

[@toekie3352]

wait is that allowed by your landlord/law? I wanted to do something similar when I was living in an apartment but apparently (for me tho) it was illegal to mess with the intercom since I did not 'own' the the intercom.

[@montolio]

The main legal problem is the power supply. Use the power from the intercom is stealing. That is the reason commercial systems like Nuki use batteries

[@greatscottlab]

I am not interfering with the intercom in any way. I use my own power and basically only listen for a certain signal. That is why I think it is kind of like a grey zone. But like always, rebuild it at your own risk.

[@cryingwater]

@@greatscottlab I think you should've used a connector or something. Soldering directly onto the PCB could be considered tampering with it

[@agnag1]

The biggest issue with the solution may be that he soldered the wires on the connector tabs. At least when he forgets to remove the wires and solder when moving out, so adding an accessory with the proper connector there would involve additional work. And some contractor may just say that it has been altered and needs to be replaced entirely.

[@ddpxl]

@@agnag1 If he just clips the wires inside the case, i doubt anyone would ever open it up, if it still works ofc. They will probably not even care at all, till someone tells them that it's not working. Just imagine the contractor opening all electronics and power outlets just to see if everything behind is still how it's "supposed to be" .. not gonna happen, ever.

[@bernhardb6190]

Creative project - nicely done! Personally I would haved used Signal though instead of Telegram. E2E Encryption per default. I implemented a battery powered temperature logger with the ESP8266 a while back ago. The uC captured the room temperature every 30 minutes and sent it to a dedicated Signal Group. Worked really nice and without any delay.

[@markusmitph8987]

Wow, what a great idea!! Thank you for sharing this video!

[@DeDeNoM]

And this is where you realise the delivery guy never actually rang your doorbell in the first place.

[@greatscottlab]

Haha that really happens sometimes....

[@ddpxl]

knock knock

[@DeDeNoM]

@@ddpxl Who's there?

[@NiHaoMike64]

ESP32 camera module would solve that, just need to find a way to mount and power it.

[@haidarkarar1469]

*_THANKS SO MUCH FOR THOSE AWESOME PROJECTS, I WISH YOU DO MORE OF THOSE SMART HOME PROJECTS AND ADD PLAYLIST TO YOUR KZbin CHANNEL, I'M ALREADY CHANGE MY HOME TO SMART HOME SO THAT'S AMAZING ADD TO MY NEW HOME🌹🌹♥️👍👍_*

[@HolgerNestmann]

This is very cool! Since most deliveries dont need signatures any more, I personally would love to be able to answer the door to let the delivery driver in and put it in the hall. I can cycle a few minutes from the office to get it to safety :) One could plugin into the the actual door button and the phone - but anyhows very cool!

[@bbenich]

Lol, I just did this exact thing with a slightly different model; Glad more resources are available for such a DIY solution!

[@FedeBo91]

fantastic project! I also made it for my home! thank you from Italy 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇮🇹

[@WILLYDOGUSA]

Wow great projec! it would be an awesome base to be modified for like temp (fridges, freezers, etc.) or for flood alarm for some remote location in case something happen when not there