The Doorbell Finally Gets Smart

It’s hard to believe our front doors could hold so much potential for technology—but automated door locks, cameras, facial recognition, intercom stations, lighting, motorized shades, peepholes and smart doorbells are all making the front door a new entry point in the smart custom home.

CEPro.com, a leading trade source for the custom electronics industry, recently unveiled their annual list of High Tech trends for custom homes—front door technology included.

According to CEPro.com, one innovation set to hit the big time is the smart doorbell—a fixture that’s barely seen a makeover since it was invented over 100 years ago!

The residential “access control” system didn’t enter the mainstream until recently, when SkyBell and Ring (originally Doorbot) launched smart doorbells with video cameras, two-way voice and apps, installed without the need for a professional. Since then, many other companies have entered the DIY doorbell fray, including August (of door lock fame), Yale (e.g., the Digital Door Viewer peephole cam with ZigBee and Z-Wave), Chui, DoorBird and Chamberlain.

Professionally-installed products are next to make waves. Case in point: the recently-rolled out Vivint Doorbell Camera has sold over 100,000 units in its first five months on market, according to CEPro.com, making it the company’s best-selling product ever.

This front door technology goes hand-in-hand with automated door locks—another category of growing popularity, CEPro.com reports. Airbnb recently launched Host Assist, a cloud service for managing digital key exchange and keyless entry through the company’s booking platform. Host Assist works cloud-to-cloud with network-connected door locks from August, Danalock, Igloohome, Kevo, Keycafe, Lockstate, Miwa, Nest, and Yale Locks.

Connect with us: Facebook – Twitter – LinkedIn – YouTube – Pinterest – Google+ – HOUZZView Our Communities – View our available new home floor plans – View our photo gallery