[Tutorial] Easy IoT: Smart Office Doorbell and Entry notification system

As part of our series on Easy IoT, we’re creating simple but effective solutions with Gravio that enable non-technical teams to create simple experiences for their office or other work environments, by using what’s included in a Gravio Basic subscription, for just $4.99 a month!

Overview

Here we’re creating an enhanced doorbell and entry notification solution for a small office space, which not only notifies teams that they have a visitor by using both audio and visual notifications, but also helps let the team know when the visitor has been let in too.

This solution helps solve the usual office challenges like:

• “Someone else will answer the door” or “Has someone answered the door yet?”
• Or no one hears the doorbell as they’re on a call, in a meeting or have their headphones on
• Or perhaps your receptionist is away from their desk, let the rest of the team know so they can support

Also note - no internet connection necessary! Once set up, this system can operate independently.

Requirements

• Gravio Basic subscription
• 2 x Single Buttons
• 1 x Gravio Light
• 1 x Door open sensor
• 1 x Gravio Zigbee USB dongle
• A Mac or Windows machine, with a free USB port (for the Gravio Zigbee dongle)
• Gravio Studio and Gravio HubKit installed, setup and ready to go!

Note: the sensors are battery Note: the Single Buttons and Door sensors are battery operated, and typically last 1-2 years depending on usage.

Setup

We have documented most of getting your Gravio environment setup for this article below, but if you get stuck we also have separate docs for your reference:

• Installing and setting up Gravio
• Creating Areas and Layers
• Adding devices to Gravio - and make sure you pair and bind the 4 x devices listed above‍
• More info on the Button‍
• More info on the Door and Window sensor‍
• More info on the Gravio Light

Steps

1. First, you need to pair the four devices listed above.

  1.1 To pair a device, open your Gravio Studio and connect to the Gravio Hub.

  1.2 Once logged in, click on the “devices” button on the top right - this will open the Devices window which enables multiple ways to connect devices.

  1.3 Select ‘Zigbee’ to open the Zigbee pairing dialogue.

  1.4 Click on the ‘Pairing’ button and while the counter is counting down, hold the devices closeby and hit the pairing button multiple times at various lengths until they all appear in the list of paired devices:

Note: You may need to try a few times to pair, as the timing for the pairing needs to line up between device and computer.

2. Next you’ll need to create an ‘Area’, which is typically the space which your Gravio HubKit is sitting in.

2.1 Go back to the main view and click on the green plus sign to add an Area with the name ‘Reception’:

3. Set up your Devices in the Device tab as we have done below:

This includes creating an Area called Reception.

Create the following 3 Layers:

• ‘Doorbell’ - (Aqara-SingleButton) - the button our Visitors will use
• ‘Door answer button’ - (Aqara-SingleButton) - the button the office team can use
• ‘Door open sensor’ - (Aqara-Door) - the a Window/Door magnet sensor we use to know when the door is opened

Actions

Next we’ll set up your Actions - via the Actions window:

4. Create your Visitor Arrived Action

 4.1 When a visitor arrives at the office, we simply need them to push a button (our Doorbell) to notify the team that someone has arrived and needs to be let in.

1. Click the Create Action button, and name your Action VisitorArrived and if helpful provide a description
2. Click Add Step, click the Devices tab, then select the Gravio Light and click Add
3. The Gravio Light should be in your Steps area now, select that Gravio Light (and give it a name if you like), which should show the Properties for this step below it
4. In the Physical Device ID text box you will need to enter the device ID for your Gravio Light, which is available in the main Gravio window (see here for information where to copy and paste the device ID from) and has the following format XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX
5. Check the On tick box
6. Select Blue in the Color dropdown menu

It should look like the following:

4.2 Next we’ll create the Doorbell-style sound:

1. Click Add Step, click the Devices tab, then select the Sound Effect and click Add
2. The Sound Play should be in your Steps area now, select that Sound Play (and give it a name if you like e.g. Doorbell part 1), which should show the Properties for this step below it
3. In the Type dropdown list select Decision4 - this is the sound we’ll use for the doorbell
4. Next repeat steps 1-3 twice to create two more Sound Effects - this essentially creates a short doorbell loop

Note: the reason we’re using a Sound Effect rather than a Sound File component is due to Mac security not allowing us to play a sound file - so this approach is a cross-platform solution. If you’re on Windows, you may want to look at using a a Sound File component, for example.

It should look like the following:

Triggers

5. Now onto Triggers - this how we enable the interactivity between our buttons and other sensors with our Actions.

5.1 Let’s create the Trigger for when a visitor pushes the Doorbell button:

• First, navigate to the Trigger tab in the main Gravio window
• Click the Create new Trigger button, and name your Trigger Doorbell pushed
• In the Conditions tab:
• Select Area: Reception‍
• Then select Key Layer: Doorbell‍
• For Physical Device ID click the [+] button and select one for your two buttons
• In the Button press: dropdown select Any Value - (we want to keep it simple your visitor!)

• In the Action tab, for the Action dropdown, select VisitorArrived
• Click Save
• Tick the On checkbox in the Trigger view to enable the Trigger

Your Conditions tab should look like the following:

5.2 Let’s create the Trigger for when a team member lets the team know that they’re getting the door:

• Click the Create new Trigger button, and name your Trigger Answering Visitor
• In the Conditions tab:
• Select Area: Reception‍
• Then select Key Layer: Doorbell answer button‍
• For Physical Device ID click the [+] button and select the other of your two buttons
• In the Button press: dropdown select Any Value - (we want to keep it simple your teammate!)

• In the Action tab, for the Action dropdown, select VisitorAnswered
• Click Save
• Tick the On checkbox in the Trigger view to enable the Trigger

Your Conditions tab should look like the following:

5.3 Let’s create the Trigger for when a team member opens the door:

• Click the Create new Trigger button, and name your Trigger Opening Door
• In the Conditions tab:
• Select Area: Reception‍
• Then select Key Layer: Door open sensor‍
• For Physical Device ID click the [+] button and select the ‘’lumi magnet‘’
• In the Door state: dropdown select Open

• In the Action tab, for the Action dropdown, select VisitorAnswered
• Click Save
• Tick the On checkbox in the Trigger view to enable the Trigger

Your Conditions tab should look like the following:

And now we’re all set! Your Smart Office Doorbell entry system is now ready to go!

Summary

This setup takes a classic doorbell solution at an office, and up-smarts it to help your team with receiving visitors without leaving them at the door! It’s an easy solution to create, and only scratches the surface of the kinds of things you can do with Gravio.