Doorbell communication systems and methods
The disclosure includes a doorbell having a visitor detection system that can comprise at least one of a camera, a microphone, and a motion detector. The method for using the doorbell can comprise recording, via the camera, video data that represents a video. The method can also comprise recording, via the microphone, audio data that represents audio. The method of using the doorbell can comprise transmitting at least a portion of the video data and at least a portion of the audio data, to a remote computing device that is communicatively coupled to the doorbell. The method can also comprise transmitting the video data and the audio data to a remote server that is communicatively coupled to the doorbell.
1. A method of using a doorbell having a visitor detection system that comprises a camera, a microphone, and a motion detector, the method comprising:
recording, via the camera, video data that represents a video;
recording, via the microphone, audio data that represents audio;
transmitting at least a portion of the video data and at least a portion of the audio data to a remote computing device that is communicatively coupled to the doorbell;
transmitting the video data and the audio data to a remote server that is communicatively coupled to the doorbell; and
pausing transmitting, via TCP, the video data and the audio data to the remote server in response to exceeding a predetermined transmission capacity between the doorbell and at least one of the remote computing device and the remote server being less than a predetermined threshold.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting, via the visitor detection system, a presence of a visitor.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
transmitting, via UDP, at least the portion of the video data and at least a portion of the audio data to the remote computing device; and
transmitting, via TCP, the video data and the audio data to the remote server.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the steps of recording the video data, recording the audio data, transmitting at least the portion of the video data and at least the portion of the audio data to the remote computing device, and transmitting the video data and the audio data to the remote server are performed concurrently.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the video data defines a larger video file size than the portion of the video data, and the audio data defines a larger audio file size than the portion of the audio data.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein pausing the step of transmitting, via TCP, the video data and the audio data to the remote server is performed in response to receiving a request from the remote computing device.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the request is generated by a user selecting an input on a display screen of the remote computing device.
8. The method of claim 3 , further comprising transmitting, via TCP, the video data and the audio data from the remote server to the remote computing device.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the video data and the audio data transmitted, via TCP, from the remote server to the remote computing device is available for viewing and listening on the remote computing device at least 15 minutes after the recording began.
10. The method of claim 3 , further comprising storing, via a ring buffer of the doorbell, up to 20 minutes of video and audio, and wherein the ring buffer processes a queue of the video data and the audio data in a first in first out manner.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein transmitting the video data and audio data to the remote server occurs at a rate that is faster than the camera records the video data and the microphone records the audio data.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the doorbell, a custom message from the remote computing device and emitting, by a speaker of the doorbell, the custom message in response to detecting a presence of the visitor.
13. A doorbell system comprising a doorbell, wherein the doorbell comprises:
a doorbell housing;
a camera coupled to the doorbell housing, the camera configurable to record video data;
a microphone coupled to the doorbell housing, the microphone configurable to record audio data;
a motion detector coupled to the doorbell housing, the motion detector configurable to detect a presence of a visitor;
a communication transmitter coupled to the doorbell housing, the communication transmitter configurable to transmit at least a portion of the video data and at least a portion of the audio data to a remote computing device that is communicatively coupled to the doorbell, and
the communication transmitter configurable to transmit the video data and the audio data to a remote server that is communicatively coupled to the doorbell, and
the communication transmitter configurable to pause transmitting, via TCP, the video data and the audio data to the remote server in response to exceeding a predetermined transmission capacity between the doorbell and at least one of the remote computing device and the remote server being less than a predetermined threshold.
14. The doorbell system of claim 13 , wherein the communication transmitter transmits, via UDP, at least the portion of the video data and at least a portion of the audio data to the remote computing device, and the communication transmitter transmits, via TCP, the video data and the audio data to the remote server.
15. The doorbell system of claim 14 , further comprising a ring buffer communicatively coupled to the communication transmitter, wherein the ring buffer stores up to 20 minutes of video that represents the video data and up to 20 minutes of audio that represents the audio data, wherein the ring buffer processes a queue of the video data and audio data in a first in first out manner.
16. The doorbell system of claim 15 , further comprising:
TCP transmitted video and audio that is stored on the remote server, wherein the TCP transmitted video and audio file is able to be replayed on the remote computing device at least 15 minutes after the recording began, and wherein the TCP transmitted video and audio represents a full version of the video data and the audio data; and
UDP transmitted video and audio that is live-streamed on the remote computing device in near real-time to the video being recorded by the camera and the audio being recorded by the microphone, wherein the UDP transmitted video and audio represents a partial version of the video data and the audio data.
17. The doorbell system of claim 13 , further comprising a speaker, wherein the speaker is configured to emit a first sound in response to receiving, via the motion detector, a first indication of the presence of the visitor, and the speaker is configure to emit a second sound in response to receiving, via the motion detector, a second indication of the presence of the visitor, wherein the first sound is audibly different from the second sound.
18. The doorbell system of claim 13 , wherein the doorbell system is configured to record and store a custom message in response to detecting a first motion of a visitor, and wherein the doorbell system is configured to erase the custom message in response to detecting a second motion of the visitor.
19. A method of using a doorbell having a visitor detection system that comprises a camera, a microphone, and a motion detector, the method comprising:
recording, via the camera, video data at a first point in time;
recording, via the microphone, audio data at the first point in time;
detecting, via the motion detector, a presence of a visitor at a second point in time;
transmitting the video data and the audio data to at least one of a remote server and a remote computing device, wherein each of the remote server and the remote computing device are communicatively coupled to the doorbell, wherein the video data and audio data comprise continuous video and audio beginning at the first point in time until a second predetermined amount of time after the second point in time; and
pausing transmitting, via TCP, the video data and the audio data to the remote server in response to exceeding a predetermined transmission capacity between the doorbell and at least one of the remote computing device and the remote server being less than a predetermined threshold.
20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising recording, via a ring buffer of the doorbell, the video data and audio data from the first point in time.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the ring buffer of the doorbell is always recording video data and audio data.
22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the amount of time between the first point in time and the second point in time is about 8 seconds.
23. The method of claim 19 , further comprising pausing transmitting, via TCP, the video data and the audio data to the remote server in response to receiving a request from the remote computing device.