Many legacy alarm system included a pleasant door chime to let you know when doors were opened. When you transition to Smart Home Alarms there are several options to make this happen.
Use the Buzzer
We have included a Piezo buzzer that can be hooked up and configured via the smart lighting app to sound (any number of times) to indicate a door opening. (Note: be sure to wire it correctly as the pins on the buzzer are not interchangeable).
Some folks don’t like the ‘harshness’ of the buzzer. So here are a few other options.
Connect a Chime
There are several chimes that are available that will work with Smart Home Alarms to provide a more pleasant sounding chime. Some are even configurable with custom sounds.
Use a Tablet
You can use a combination of software, virtual devices, and Smartapps to create not only a chime but other alerts as well. Here are the steps:
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Install LANnouncer on your android tablet.
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Create a virtual device in ST for LANnouncer. After this is set up you can test to make sure you have it configured correctly.
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Install BigTalker2 SmartApp. This is a text-to-speech app that can be used for a variety of announcements. (Be sure to make your virtual device the ‘speaker’).
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Create rule in Bigtalker2 for the chime to play when your door is open. You can use the default chime by inserting – @#ALARM=CHIME – in the “what to say” field when a door is opened field. Also be sure to leave ‘personality’ off (It’s off by default).
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If it’s not loud enough for you can also connect a bluetooth speaker to the tablet to play sounds and alerts.