Part 2: Here are Two Alternatives for A simple Doorbell With Video Intercoms

The other "modern" asset of this classic intercom is that there is a "Video Intercom" application from Panasonic, on the application store of Google and Apple. To communicate this small world, it will first connect your main monitor Wi-Fi to your router. Then, the application will act as a secondary screen: you can use it to see who is at the door, to dialogue and even to open remotely if you have planned an electric lock.

A solution that is quite expensive but, we told you, sustainable. It takes about 650 € excluding VAT. You can find it on the internet or ask your installer to purchase from Panasonic.

Ring

There are, of course, many alternatives. You can go to a DIY store or a supermarket and buy a kit for 150 €, but nothing guarantees the quality of the image (often it will not be 'wide angle' because such objectives are quite expensive ), nor reliability.

Another option is the Ring wift doorbell. This is an American start-up that released the video intercom in sauce 2.0. Smart, wireless (Wi-Fi + built-in battery), easy to install and only controllable via an application: it sounds too good to be true.

We did not manage to get a test copy, alas. But according to several American sites, the concept is functional.

The principle is the same as at Panasonic, but: the image is of lower quality, you can not connect a standard electric strike (it requires a "smart and connected lock" compatible) and connection (wireless only, and via smartphone ...) is probably less reliable (the time between the bell and the alert on the phone may vary ...).

The smart side is that the application is very well done. This is the basis of the concept, so it is necessarily neat, and full of options (we can set alerts in case of motion detected, review the photos taken as soon as it rings or moves, open the door remotely, and configure it all).

It will cost you about 300 €, including delivery, with one year of subscription to the recording of videos in the cloud: a few seconds of images as soon as movement is detected, or when the bell is pressed, and searchable remotely via the smartphone application (you can download the sequences). Pretty practical.