[OBSOLETE] Aeon Labs Aeotec Doorbell

I won’t be converting the Aeon Labs Aeotec Doorbell DTH into an Edge Driver so it will stop working once the Groovy platform is retired, but it might not need a custom driver.


This is a device handler for the Aeon Labs Aoetec Doorbell (ZW056-A).

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

  • If the doorbell button isn’t working, try pressing the up and down volume buttons on the device at the same time.

  • Pressing the Physical Doorbell Button executes the “on()” command, but due to the way the hardware functions, the sound will play before the events are raised in ST.

  • When the device turns on, it automatically plays track 1. Some users have reported the doorbell randomly ringing without the button being pushed, but using a couple of seconds of silence as the first track appears to eliminate that problem.
    Example of empty sound file: Silence.mp3

  • The doorbell button doesn’t work if you’re holding it, but it works most of the time if you have it on a hard surface.

  • The track numbers get assigned to the files based on the order that the files are copied onto the drive.
    More Information (different DH, but it still applies)

  • If the ends of your sound files are getting cut off, add about 0.5 second of silence to the end of them. (I’ve been using Audacity http://audacityteam.org to add the silence. There’s an option for “Silence” in the “Generate” menu that allows you to specify the amount of time you want to add. Before you add the silence you should click the end of the track because that’s where you want the silence added. Afterwards you can use the export option in the File menu to save your changes. If I remember correctly, it made me install some other component in order to export mp3s, but it provided instructions.)

  • The device stops playing after about 25 seconds whether it’s one long track or a short track repeating. Because of this, the siren and switch will revert back to off as soon as the track finishes.


Available Commands

  on()   [Switch Capability]
    - Turns on device which makes it play the doorbellTrack.
    - Sets attributes:
      status: doorbell
      switch: on      
  
  off()  [Switch and Alarm Capabilities]
    - Stops anything that’s playing
    - Sets attributes:
      status: off
      switch: off
      alarm: off
      
  siren(), strobe(), both()  [Alarm Capability]
    - Plays alarmTrack.
    - Sets attributes:
      status: alarm
      alarm: both
      
  beep()   [Tone Capability]
    - Plays beepTrack
    - Sets attribute:
      status: beep
  
  playTrack(number) [Audio Notification Capability]
    - Plays the specified track number.
    - Sets Attribute:
      status: play
  
  playTrackAtVolume(track, volume) [Audio Notification Capability]
    - Plays specified track at specified volume.
    - Sets Attribute:
      status: play
  
  playText(message) [Music Player]
    - Plays the track # specified as the message.
     OR plays repeating track if the message has the track comma and then repeat number.
    - Sets Attribute:
      status: play
  
  playRepeatTrack(track, repeat) [Custom Command]
    - Plays specified track and repeat specified times.
    - Sets Attribute:
      status: play
  
  playRepeatTrackAtVolume(track, volume, repeat) [Custom Command]
    - Plays specified track at specified volume and repeat specified times.
    - Sets Attribute:
      status: play
  


Other Settings

Skip Doorbell Check?

The response time of this device isn’t great, but the additional code needed to differentiate between the button being pushed and a track being played makes it even slower.

If you’re only using the device for one thing (notifications or doorbell) you can enable this setting to bypass that extra check and play the tracks faster. When this setting is enabled, the performance should be the same for secure and non secure devices.

Perform Extra Doorbell Check?

Enabling this setting should eliminate or at least reduce the false doorbell notifications that sometimes occur while playing notifications. Unfortunately it also hurts performance so you should only enable it if you’ve been experiencing problems.

12 Likes

I added new DH using this code. However, when I switch the device type from your other DH, I got this error:

Error
500: Internal Server Error
URI
/device/update

1 Like

[quote=“binhton, post:3, topic:39166”]
However, when I switch the device type from your other DH, I got this error:
[/quote]I’ve found and fixed the problem in version 1.2. Please try the updated code in the top post and let me know if that works.

Thanks Kevin. It works well now. I now have the notification from pressing the hard button also. The track selection slide is a bit hard to choose the track precisely.

I’m not sure what you’re referring to…?

I’ve also found it difficult to choose the exact track so I plan on making the sliders smaller in the next version and adding left and right arrows for each one. That will allow you to easy jump to near the track you want and use the arrows to fine tune the selection.

Does the delay seem worse or better with this DH?

I was referring to the Notify Me When smartapp to push the SMS text to my phone when the doorbell ring. It does not work with your other DH.

The delay seems better with this DH.

For track selection, I think your suggestion of using arrow for back/forth is easier to use.

Thanks a lot for your support.

[quote=“binhton, post:8, topic:39166”]
For track selection, I think your suggestion of using arrow for back/forth is easier to use.
[/quote]I’ve made this change in version 1.3, please let me know if you find it easier to use or if you’d rather see these options in the settings like they are with the Aeon Labs Multifunction Doorbell DH.

The link to version 1.3 can be found in the first post of this topic.

I tried the new 1.3 version and saw your new back/forward arrows for changing the track. It’s great and easier to adjust than before.

1 Like

I really find your doorbell and siren device types to be great. Any way you can set it up so that we can get your updates directly through the SmartThings IDE instead of having to copy/paste? Thanks again!!

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I am doing this now with his other device handler for the Aeon Labs Siren. Do you already have your IDE linked up to GitHub? If not, follow this guide to get it setup initially: FAQ: Github Integration How to Add and Update from Repositories

This guide also shows you how to update apps and devices once they are in your IDE.

Hope that helps!

Got it working. Figured out the right github path.

1 Like

[quote=“dperschonok, post:12, topic:39166”]
This guide also shows you how to update apps and devices once they are in your IDE.
[/quote]Thanks again for helping me get my repository configured correctly and for providing the information on how to link it. I’ve wanted to be able to update Rule Machine this way for a while, but I didn’t know how.

That should do the trick :slight_smile:

When I made that comment, I meant that with what you posted the first time, I was able to setup RM which is something I had wanted to do for a while. Thanks anyways for the additional information.

1 Like

Hello Kevin,

Huge thanks for this! I can select the doorbell as a speech device. But when I do this, I don’t hear any sound using TTS. If I switch back to my Samsung speaker, it works. Is it normal?

LJ

[quote=“Luvien, post:17, topic:39166”]
I can select the doorbell as a speech device. But when I do this, I don’t hear any sound using TTS.
[/quote] The device handler in the first post of this topic doesn’t support the Speech or Music Player capabilities.

I wanted to get a DH for this doorbell published, but since I’m unable to fully implement those capabilities with this device, ST would have most likely automatically rejected my submission which is why I have 2 versions.

My other device handler, the Aeon Labs Multifunction Doorbell supports the Speech capability, but it can’t be used as a true speech device.

The Aeon Labs Doorbell allows you to store up to 100, 20 Second mp3 files and all the Speech capability allows you to do is specify a track number to play. If the message is anything other than a number between 1-100, the speech command will be ignored.

There are some free online websites that allow you to generate speech based mp3 files so that’s what a lot of people are doing with these Device Handlers.

In order to use the custom commands in the DH listed in the first post of this topic, you need to use an app that supports custom commands, like Rule Machine. If you want to be able to play track numbers using the Speech or Music Player capabilities, you need to use the other device handler I mentioned.

Kevin,

Thank you for the well detailed post. I will use my Samsung R5 for on the fly TTS and the doorbell to play mp3. Do you have a suggestion for the best website that can do mp3 in english and french? I don’t care if I have to pay, I just want something easy.

Thanks!

LJ

[quote=“Luvien, post:19, topic:39166”]
Do you have a suggestion for the best website that can do mp3 in english and french? I don’t care if I have to pay, I just want something easy.
[/quote]I’ve tried a lot of them and my favorite is IVONA, it’s fairly simple to extract the mp3s from the example page, but it’s technically a paid site so I can’t go into detail due to SmartThings TOS.

Remember to add some silence to the end of the tracks or they’ll end up getting cutoff.

1 Like

Does anyone have any idea as to y the doorbell just seems to be turning it self off? It was working perfectly for months… Then recently people come to my door push bell and nothing happens… Then if I go to speak to press button on it, bell will ring when pressed… But then it just stops working again?

I can’t seem to figure out y.

I haven’t heard of that happening to anyone else, but here are some ideas:

The button can be finicky so if you didn’t test it yourself before pressing the button on the speaker, it’s possible that it didn’t work because of the way they pushed it.

That’s not an excuse, a doorbell button should just work no matter how it’s pressed, but it’s a common problem with this device.

If it happens again, you should try the button yourself and if it doesn’t work, then try the doorbell button in the mobile app. If the physical button doesn’t work, but the one int he mobile app does, you’ll know that the device is fine, it’s the button that stops responding.

If it’s been happening a lot lately, it’s possible the battery is getting low. I wrote two of the device handlers for this doorbell, but I’m not sure if they report a low battery properly because I haven’t had any batteries get low enough to test it.

You could also try performing a factor reset on the device. To do this, you need to unpair the device and then hold the button on the speaker for at least 20 seconds. I’ve done this multiple times and it’s never deleted my custom sound files, but it’s probably still a good idea to back them up first.

*** Please don’t post the same question to multiple topics…