Integrate SIP Video Intercom System with Indigo

In the process of fitting out a new house, I am considering the installation of a SIP Video Intercom System to the front door (similar to https://www.activeonline.com.au/shop/residential-intercom/voip-sip-based/active-online/sip-7-colour-intercom-sytem-poe-single/#add-poe-switch).

I have previously used a Ring doorbell in conjunction with the Indigo Ring plugin, but this introduces delays due to reliance on Ring's web server. The SIP intercom system also provides greater flexibility for intercommunication in the house using multiple monitors.

However, I would like to initiate Indigo actions when the button on the door station is pressed - from simply turning on lights or ideally showing the vision from the door station on an Indigo control page. This would require some form of plugin or script to monitor the SIP activity on the network to allow an Indigo trigger, or in more advanced form, retrieve the image from the SIP "stream".

A hunt of the forum has failed to identify any existing plugins or scripts that relate to this application - the closest is the Cisco IP phone integration plugin (https://www.indigodomo.com/library/104/) that operates in the opposite direction ie control of Indigo from the phone.

Any suggestions or contributions would be welcomed!

mclass

Interesting. I think it's certainly possible to write a plugin using https://github.com/AGProjects/python-sipsimple

In the short term, I would start at https://sipsimpleclient.org, install the command line clients from https://sipsimpleclient.org/installation/, and see if you can get those to work for detecting a notification.

If I could find a cheap device to play with, I might look into this as a longer term project. But I currently have two other new plugins in the queue.

I'm using a SIP based video intercom by Hikvision (with a Hikvision indoor panel and a NVR) and what I have done is tied in to the output alarm of the doorbell station which can be set to trigger when button is pressed. I wired up a z-wave contact sensor to the output alarm thereby getting an instant notification of doorbell press. On this signal, I have Indigo play a bell sound through the house speakers and send a notification with images from several front cameras using pushover and email. In pushover, I include the universal link to the Hikvision app on the phone that lets me view a live feed and talk to the person at the door. this setup has been working for about 6 months now without any issues. I think that not going through the SIP protocol to talk to Indigo gives me a quicker response. If the unit that you have has an output alarm, this may be a quicker and more reliable method to tie it in to Indigo.

Thanks for those responses!

I have considered the "hardware" alarm output monitoring solution, but the device(s) I'm considering don't offer these.

My programming skills are such that the "sipsimple" solution may be beyond me.

With a little more research, I understand that SIP sessions are initiated (and responded to) by codes similar to http codes (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_SIP_response_codes). T

These codes may (or may not?) be transmitted via UDP on port 5060. Would it be possible to use Joe's UDP LIstener plugin (or other) to listen for such codes originating from the door station to trigger the required actions? The "streaming" of the SIP call to an Indigo control page would be nice but not necessary as the indoor station and the Indigo station can be co-located.

I am yet to receive the proposed hardware, so my ability to explore is limited (non-existent!)

Comments/ideas gratefully accepted

mclass

These codes may (or may not?) be transmitted via UDP on port 5060. Would it be possible to use Joe's UDP LIstener plugin (or other) to listen for such codes originating from the door station to trigger the required actions?

That's possible, if they are broadcast to all devices receiving UDP on that port. I haven't looked at the protocol docs enough to tell if that's what's going on.

When you get the hardware, set up the listener and see what happens.

When you get the hardware, set up the listener and see what happens.

The gear has arrived and is working on the bench. As with all low cost kit from China, the documentation is incomplete/incomprehensible!!

However, after a few (many?) hours of investigation, it appears that the system will operate without a SIP server - and this appears to be the best solution.

After delving into the comms using Wireshark, I now have Indigo using UDP Listener identifying the "bell press" at the door station and triggering the required alerts. Two UDP messages are broadcast on bell press - one system wide (255.255.255.255) and one to a specific multicast address (238.9.9.1) using port 8400 (source & destination). Both messages are identical and of 80 bytes in length.

The system has the ability to unlock the door through a voltage-free relay at the door station, and this could be used (as suggested by a previous poster) to connect a ZWave sensor to unlock the associated ZWave Yale lock on the door. However this introduces additional hardware at the door that I am trying to avoid.

Upon investigation, I have detected that on activating the "Unlock" function on the indoor station, a UDP message to only 238.9.9.1 is issued. This uses port 8400 (source and destination) and is of 219 bytes in length.

My challenge is to distinguish between the 80 byte "bell press" UDP message and the 219 byte "unlock" UDP message, both of which have destination 238.9.9.1. Is it possible to incorporate a feature into the UDP Listener to match message and/or message length? The other possibility is an added feature to Cynical Network to receive and analyse UDP messages.

Comments/suggestions/solutions welcome!

mclass

The message is saved into a device state. So you could use a condition on the trigger to match the message content.


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AhHah!! I was unaware of the device states for the UDP Listener device.

A few attempts in limited time indicates that this might just work!!

Thanks for your prompt response. Will let you know how I go when I have more time later in the week.

mclass

Hi Joe (and other watchers!)

Thanks for pointing out the details of the UDP Listener plugin that I'd previously missed.

After a bit of detailed configuration I have the required functions "captured" from the video intercom that will allow a "bell press" from the door station to be recognised, and a "door unlock" command to be captured and trigger the ZWave Yale lock.

This video intercom (https://www.activeonline.com.au/product_category/sip-based-intercoms/intercom-systems) is turning out to be versatile, as it can also display control pages from Indigo.

This plugin has been useful in a number of instances. Can I suggest you give it a higher profile by listing in the plugin store?

Thanks for your support.

mclass

Huh. I thought it was. I guess I have too many listed...

Waiting on Indigo team to approve store entry...

[matt (support)]

Done – and thanks!