Talking through a Wyzecam to the seniors in my family freaks them out. They also don’t have the app to talk to me in the same fashion. Could an intercom device added to the Sense accessories group solve this problem? Most seniors know/remember how intercoms work. It would definitely need a big button for them to press. Could it look like a wall-mounted unit like in Sixteen Candles. Or could it be a desk top unit like in Charlie’s Angels? (I watch too much old timey TV with my meemaw.) The intercom could work within the house but I imagine it could also work through the app. Say my “forgetful” uncle presses it because he’s looking for me to remind him where he is but I’m at my house or doing errands. It could send a notification to my phone or tablet and I can respond to him.
There’s a whole senior-centric aspect to Wyze devices that can be helpful for Depression Era and Boomer seniors. Not for Gen X because WyzeAndroids will be taking care of seniors in the future.
Get them the Facebook portal, this is what seniors are using today. They are selling for $79 during covid.
A Wyze intercom would be better… and less expensive. Thanks.
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I think an intercom system would be great. I would love to have a 2 way Intercom in my kids room (without cameras). I’ve thought about taping over the camera but then they would still need a button to call/talk back.
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It seems to me that the new intercom is already most of the way to being an intercom. Video, voice, push button to alert.
Our property has the main house, guest house, 3 shop buildings, front gate.
It would be really nice to put the intercom not only at the gate or front door, but INSIDE the house or shop. I’d love to be at my workbench and be able to intercom to someone in the house.
Or maybe add “intercom” as an option in the Wyze App. Again virtually all the parts are there, right? Talk back and forth to a camera. All it really needs is an alert button. So someone with the iPhone can chime the main house then talk with someone standing in front of one of the indoor cameras.
If it’s through the app why not just use the phone?
It would be nice if there were physical devices that you could use as Wi-Fi intercoms. The devices would need the ability to alert with lights and/or a tone (selectable by the device user setting and override-able in an emergency). Video should be optional - maybe a with video and without video hardware depending on the device you buy and add into your intercom network. Another option would be a physical shutter that can be closed over the camera lens. Then Android and Apple devices should be able to be added into the home intercom network via an app. Then groups could be created for calling all intercoms in the house, all intercoms upstairs, all intercoms outside, etc. or individual intercoms or apps. It is much more than texting or calling and would get around the problem of people silencing their phone, forgetting it is silenced, and then missing all of your calls. The intercom in the room could flash or emit a tone to let the person know someone is trying to reach them and then they could respond directly on the intercom rather than having to look for the phone that they have obviously misplaced or are ignoring.
I would advocate for a device that should be in every room- something like a carbon monoxide detector or smoke detector. Couple that with an intercom that could have a camera with a physical blocking mechanism for privacy, such as the privacy slide mechanism on laptops. Another option is to not use video at all for the device within the wyze app.
I personally feel an intercom device for a bedroom or office should have a no-video option, as it is the video feed that lags the speak & response time. Many times I’ve wanted to use my wyze cams as intercoms, but the speaker is too weak to clearly replicate my deep voice, and there is always more ambient background sound picked up by the microphone that garbles what a respondent says 15-20’ away from a security camera mounted on the ceiling.
I just meant a straight-forward intercom using Wi-Fi. But now that the rest of you have tossed in all of these unnecessary features, I’ve realized that Wyze or the company that handles their communication server can really spy on customers with such a device. A Wi-Fi based intercom would be a HORRIBLE idea.