Filter Your Front Door: Buzzeromatic Makes Doorbells Smarter
This post is part of our ReadWriteStart channel, which is dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs. The channel is sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark. To sign up for BizSpark, click here.
Apartment-dwellers, rejoice. Seattle-based startup Buzzeromatic is letting you take control of your own front door in a way that's smart and flexible.
The premise is simple: Using Twilio's VoIP API, Buzzeromatic allows subscribers to grant access to visitors, allow delivery folks to leave voice messages,and create passwords for frequent guests, all from a web interface with SMS commands for when users are on the go. And yes, there's an app for that: The team told us their fully functional iPhone application is in the hopper.
Co-founder Andres Krogh told us that he and a friend bootstrapped their startup. "The only reason we're able to pull it off is because of the explosion of commodity VoIP APIs like Twilio lately that make it somewhat cost effective."
Users can customize their building buzzers' behavior from the web interface at any time. Krogh explained, "You can set up passwords for folks to let themselves in with, or have it call a bunch of numbers until it finds you (similar to Google Voice), or both. You can also let people leave voicemails at the door, if all else fails."
They feel the password function will be particularly useful for those who have party guests or others, such as family members or a cleaning service, who need to be granted regular access to a user's apartment.
Access can also be narrowed to a particular time of day; for example, your maid's password would only work during the day, but your pizza delivery guy's password could grant him access any time between noon and midnight.
The service will be free for beta users during the first phases of testing; eventually, Buzzeromatic will operate on a subscription model, with packages starting at $9.95 for unlimited door buzzes and two passwords.
So, what do you think, ReadWriteWeb apartment and condo-dwellers? Would you pay ten bucks a month to have that kind of control over your building's front door? More importantly, what do you think of this team's idea - will this startup sink or swim? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Comments
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I don't like the idea of anyone being able to set up a password to get into my building. Some idiot is going to choose 12345 and I'm going to get robbed in the hallway.
Hey Mike - thanks for the feedback!
That issue has been on our minds - Matt and I both have a bit of a background in security, and we've been mulling that issue over. Especially given that the passcodes are relatively short (4-6 digits), it's something we want to avoid making a home-robbery free for all.
One way we'll be mitigating it will be some amount of sanity checking when you create a user passcode. We'll be prohibiting use of the obvious ones - all-same-digit passcodes, sequential 1234-style passcodes, and a handful of other obvious combinations. We want to keep your front door as secure as it's always been, and make it more flexible and friendly.
WOW! What a wonderful gadget it is, I like it's features. and I would definitely gonna subscribe for buzzeromatic service. Thanks for sharing this wonderful information.....
I can see where someone thinks this is a good idea, but here's the rub. Say your neighbor gives the pizza guy access with a password. If he only gets pizza once a week, what happens the other 6 days the guy has access to the building (because we know you won't specify certain days only, pizza is spur of the moment)? If I were your neighbor and I found out about this, I would be livid that you are granting access to someone who you don't really know and that person has a password to wander around the building. Hand out a password, give anyone access. People rarely change their passwords for their own protected accounts online, let alone change the password to the front door. I know it may seem far fetched, but I sure hope these guys have thought about the legal ramifications of the privacy of those who don't use the service but still live in the building.
I think this is a really fascinating idea in theory. I'm not sure about giving out passwords so lightly such as to pizza delivery guys but I think if used responsibly this could be very convenient. Does it keep record of who comes and goes? For instance, if the pizza guy knew his password was going to be recorded, he wouldn't be as likely to use it at a time when he isn't there for legitimate pizza delivery services. :)
I think this could work with more than one conditional statement (the password). If I could get a text saying someone would like to access my place I could a approve or deny access at which point the person could enter their password to enter. I like the idea of time of day parameters, but that should be an option, although if I don;t respond to the SMS that person is locked out :-/ Integration with a mobile device is key I think. I'd love to test this out.
Thanks for the feedback everyone!
Laura, we're with you 100% on the worry about what the Fedex guy or the maid does with their passcode the other 6 days they're not delivering packages or cleaning house. To keep things secure, we've built some features around the passcodes just for that situation.
When you set up a passcode on the website, you're able to select a certain time of day and/or certain days of the week when the passcode is valid. And if you're going on vacation, you can opt to temporarily disable all of your passcodes. Or just turn off the Fedex guy's passcode when you're not expecting a package.
Nikki -
Yep - we've built a call history feature into Buzzeromatic. Whenever your door lets someone in, it logs who got buzzed in, when the buzz happened, and whether it was a passcode or a call to you that got them buzzed in. So you can keep tabs and cut the pizza guy off if he starts using his passcode a bit too liberally.
Will not be successful. Door closers are slow and often not complete. Additionally, when someone with permission enters they might be followed by others who are not. Aforementioned facts assume door is swinging. Sliding pocket door with sensor/camera to monitor number of entries might work more efficently.
Saving all the tweets is good and fine, but why deleting the tweets by thousands of numbers?
Do we really think that the Commerce Department can run a venture slush fund without political influence and outright corruption? This is not the responsibility of the U.S.
Excellent example of technology for technology's sake.
No real-world case, whatsoever.
Next.
We will share this information with our customers, thanks.
It really sounds like a very innovative idea. I really understand the poster's concerns re: password protecting a common lobby door. It opens the possibility for civil litigation over landlord & tenant negligence. BUT how many people TODAY just push the access button without even checking the CCTV or the intercom - almost all unfortunately.
I think Buzzeromatic will be using rolling codes and one-time pads so that problem is really not an issue. Also all delivery people from responsible corporations are BONDED and insured so your stuff is covered if you can prove the pizza guy did it.
That's why I think a wide-angle wireless web-camera (with sound) should be included. It can be mounted by double-side foam tape on the secured INSIDE of the lobby hallway (with landlord's permission). It can have a long-life lithium 9v battery or plug in an available outlet (See x-10.com for examples). Is only activated when it picks up the call or keypad button being pushed and maintains surveillance as long as the passive-IR detector detects continual motion for about 5-10 minutes. It should have a 300 foot (91 meter) range on 2.4 Ghz. Other tenants can monitor too if they buy the 2.4 Ghz receiver unit.
The Buzzeromatic unit would RECORD video and audio as a legal record for you. The wireless web cam unit also can see in complete darkness in case some Einstein breaks the lobby lamp bulb. It should also be high up on the wall and disguised as a common electrical utility box so other Einsteins (and tenant's kids) don't tamper with it. The landlord might permanently install it for you if you say other tenants can watch it's output too. He gets a insurance premium break if he reports it to his liability insurance carrier.
If he says no way because he already has a very expensive building CCTV system then you can just aim the unit at your lobby TV monitor in your apartment. Same difference right? The call button transmitter should also have a 300 foot range too (or be hardwired which I think the Buzzeromatic is).
In summary Buzzeromatic should post a caveat to protect themselves legally that they are NOT responsible for any common lobby door that is carelessly left or propped open or is in need of repair. Landlords can be FORCED to fixing the lobby door as his insurance company REQUIRES that all common lobby doors be LOCKED with a deadbolt or a electromagnetic release mech. and have a GOOD self-closing mech. as well. Find out his insurance carrier and threaten to contact them if he takes too long to fix it. His rates will go up and all he needs to do is go to Home Depot.
PS - A verbal challenge code should be included (like "pizza time" etc.) just in case the pizza delivery/cleaning guy gets hijacked out in the street and the bad guys get the temporary one time password out of him. This would be for human interrogation while you're home not like an automated voice recognition system which would make the system too expensive to engineer.
Add a ambush panic feature. Tell all guests that if they enter their personal pass-code BACKWARDS* it will not actually open the door but silently summons the unit's owner and any other first-responders (i.e. building security, superintendent, landlord, 911 etc.)that there is a possible guest ambush/hostage scenario in progress and occurring in your lobby at your physical address.
(*Internal database insures no other duplicate reversed pass-code exists normally so it won't go into a false alert.)
Of course the bad guy will be very pissed so the unit goes into a stealth-ploy-stall-mode in where a disarming soft female computer voice says "Please standby... your pass-code has been accepted... however, the door opening mechanism seems to be jammed or otherwise broken... as it is not responding. Please standby while we attempt to rectify the problem remotely." - repeats several times for 5-10 minutes until 1st responders arrive with master override pass-code.
Of course none of that is really happening. Its just stalling for time to save your guest from further harassment from the bad guy(s). Live lobby audio and video is being recorded in the log system until after 5 minutes after master override for criminal court records.
".. however, the door opening mechanism seems to be jammed or otherwise broken... as it is not responding..."
Also has an audio recording of an actual door access solenoid misfiring badly to add to the quasi-realism of the scenario. You should NEVER actually send the REAL access signal as that would allow the bad guys to bring their willful mischief inside to you or other tenants. Its better to contain it all in the lobby or outside.
The recording could have fake progressive audio reports that make it seem like the lock is being slowly but successfully remotely fixed to allow 1st responders time to set up hostage rescue. This will allegedly psychologically calm the 'slightly intelligent' bad guy(s) into thinking that the desired "jackpot" (that will never come) is almost there.
Hopefully the lobby door is good repair and no other tenants or dwellers open it from the other side. Maybe some sort of back-lighted LCD warning sign above the interior side (outside the bad guy's view) can be flashing wildly "AMBUSH ALERT... CALL POLICE NOW!"