Alarm.com, Arlo Introduce Contactless Smart Video Doorbells

Arlo’s Touchless Video Doorbell, launched at CES, has proximity sensing technology to gauge a visitor's distance, said the company. Once detected, the visitor hears an audible chime and sees a visible light, signaling the doorbell has been "pressed" and the homeowner has been alerted -- so visitors don't have to come into contact with the doorbell. Also new is Arlo’s Essential indoor camera and touchless video doorbell with a privacy mode that allows families to choose when the camera monitors and records video. It has a privacy shield, which, when in disarm mode, disables recording, motion and audio detection until the shield is opened by the user via app. Users can also signal the privacy shield to open and automatically begin recording by starting a livestream or changing the camera to arm mode. Alarm.com, meanwhile, announced a contactless video doorbell that rings without requiring a button press, it said Monday, positioning the Touchless Video Doorbell as a way to reduce public health risks and make home visits and deliveries safer. To alert visitors to the contactless design, the housing has an international sign for touchless on the front showing a hand with a red line through it. Visitors stand on a doormat placed at a “safe distance” to ring the chime, said the company. The doorbell doesn’t use motion detection, instead using what Alarm.com calls “rapid and accurate person detection,” which it says reduces unimportant interruptions. When a person is detected, the doorbell triggers the existing chime in the home, sending a mobile alert to the homeowner, and starts recording video. Homeowners can see and speak with visitors through the doorbell’s live HD video and two-way audio instead of answering the door, it said. The doorbell helps homeowners and visitors maintain social distance and avoid encountering germs, bacteria and viruses that may exist on surfaces around the front door, said Anne Ferguson, vice president-marketing. As part of an Alarm.com system, the doorbell can automatically trigger other smart home activity, such as having lights turn on when a person is detected.