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Siemens telephones become home gatekeepers and watchmen

In the future, your visitors may be able to announce their arrival not only by ringing the doorbell but also by making your telephone ring, as cordless phones are on the way to becoming monitoring and communication devices for the home, acting as input and output devices specifically for this purpose.

When a visitor presses the door-bell, not only the bell, but also all of the cordless phones ring simultaneously and a text message such as 'front door' appears on the display. In this way, householders can decide whether to let the visitor in or simply talk to them on the phone, the cordless handset or the intercom system's microphone at the front door. By pressing a button on the handset, an occupant can also open the front door or even turn on the light in the entryway, and can change the ring tones and the texts whenever they like.

Also in the pipeline is the possibility for users to directly identify their guests using the Siemens Gigaset. This is possible with an OPAC (open platform for cordless applications) DECT module that is currently being developed. In this application, a camera photographs the person standing at the front door and transmits the image to the colour display on the handset.

This Siemens telephone could also be utilised as a virtual watchman in the home. In combination with special sensor systems, it could communicate household problems, such as a broken pipe in the basement, and the large display on the handset could show the type, extent and location of the problem. If the user is not at home, the system could automatically contact them on a cellphone, sending - in this example - a short text message such as 'water in basement', or play back a voice message previously recorded by the owner.

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