Door Phone Questions 1

[itcoalition]

Situation is as follows: Doorphone at front entrance, strike is also hooked up to IP500. The strike, when activated, makes NO noise or audible click, so people do not know to PULL on the door.

My first thought was to lengthen the relay timing. Since you can't customize this I created a node in voicemail pro. I did an assisted transfer to the shortcode that opens the relay, added a timer, then another assisted transfer to close the relay.

This works -okay- but the problem is if a user hits the shortcode and hangs up before the timer can finish the door won't be locked again.

So given that, what I would like to do is play a wav file to the door phone once it activates the relay. So something like turn relay on, play wav file "Come on in!!!", tick tick tick, relay off. But I'd like for it to disconnect immediately so users do not accidentally leave the strike open by prematurely hanging up the phone. The problem is its not an analog port its in the ATM4U port.

Suggestions/ideas?

 

[BigWill]

I have never done anything like this before but would something like this work? Since you are unlocking a door via a contact closure, can that contact closure be used to light a light for the duration that it is closed? Some kind of visual indicator to the customer that something has been activated. Their are a number of devices at

http://www.vikingelectronics.com

that can be activated via contact closure. Their is a K-2000-DVA that has up to 8 different announcements, some are capable of being recorded. They are activated via contact closure, maybe that would work better than a light. Does any of this sound cool or am I way out in left field?

 

[itcoalition]

Will,

Thanks for the suggestion, I have thought about the light before, but I haven't thought about the K-2000-DVA. How would you get this to work?

I think the light would work, but isn't the best situation, ideally i'd like to have sound. The K-2000-DVA goes for over $300, so I was hoping to find a solution using our Avaya system rather than having to spend extra money.

I jsut figured that with the system I should be able to play a wav file down to our door phone, but couldn't get it to work.

 

[Drew2400]

We've done something like this before. You ready for this... It's really cheap. Go to your favorite electronics parts store (Radio Shack) and get a 12 volt buzzer of your choice. Insure that the power supply for the strike is around 12 volts.

Connect the buzzer up in parallel to the strike. When the the IPO's relay is activated it supplies power to both the strike and the buzzer for the duration of the activation (the buzzer will sound as long as the strike is open). A word to the wise, do not mount this on the outside. A would-be intruder can just pull the buzzer off and supply 12 volts to the exposed wires to pop the lock.

You should be able to do this for less the $20 (a cursory look at radioshack.com looks to $3.50 to $10). Mission accomplished...

Drew

 

[itcoalition]

I thought about trying this method out, BUT I don't want the buzzer to sound the entire time, I wouldn't mind a short buzz but the length for the entire time would be too long. Thoughts?

 

[mforrence]

I've done this a couple of times with a Radio Shack buzzer - works like a champ. Buy two and leave one on site as a spare. People respond well to the buzzer sound - no further instruction required.
Mike

 

[Bas1234]

Couldn't you use an AC adapter for the doorlock instead of a DC adapter?
Make sure that it is behind a relais.

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It works! Now if only I could remember what I did...
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[Drew2400]

You'd really need it to be DC. Most of the buzzers are DC that you'd get at Radio Shack.

I thought about limiting the amount of time it buzzed. But, most people are familiar with the buzzer ringing for the duration of the unlock. Sometimes you'll get people gabbing at the door and they don't realize that it's re-locked. So, we've found that it's more helpful to have the buzzer ring for the entire duration of the unlock.

Now, what we DID DO is place a piece of tape over the hole of the buzzer to limit the volume of the buzz. Remember, you want this on the inside or you open yourself up to someone trying to break into the building/office.

Radio Shack does have buzzers that sound like doorbells which ring only once upon power being applied. You could try them. The beauty is it's simplistic nature and they draw very little power so you won't overload the relays or transformer. Also, you could try an LED as well with no buzzer. As long as it's 12v or so, you're golden (check the strike transformer and make sure it's 12v).

Now, if you're using the IPO to keep the door unlocked during the day, check with the manufacturer of the strike for continuous duty versus non-continuous duty. If your are using non-continuous and you keep it electrically unlocked for a long time, you'll burn it out.

Hope this helps,
Drew

 

[itcoalition]

I'll look into getting a buzzer and where we can put it.

 

[Bas1234]

Drew the doorlocks we use are all AC but also work on DC.
We always connect them on AC because then you can hear the doorlock. And some are running for 8 or 9 years now.

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It works! Now if only I could remember what I did...
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[itcoalition]

Yes, I actually called up the company to ask about getting one with a noise built in (ours had to be replaced anyways) and he said if you go with AC it will make a noise, but DC will not. Not sure what the difference is.

 

[IPOfficeIreland]

ac will vibrate the contact as it is up/down with voltage. DC is just level voltage