ᐅ New Building Doorbell System – Experiences

Hello everyone,

Slowly but surely, the exterior plaster is going on, so we urgently need to decide on an intercom system.

The general contractor is installing some kind of "standard unit" (I don’t remember the manufacturer – but he said it’s a very cheap one for 200€) which we actually don’t really want.

However, we don’t want to spend a fortune either and have set a budget of around 700€.

We have:

- Front door with fingerprint reader and motorized lock (fully wired electrically)
- All necessary connections in the entrance area prepared for this (2-wire system and LAN)
- Our tech setup in the basement with PoE switch, Speedport for fiber optics, 2 access points (one each on the ground floor and top floor) to provide sufficient Wi-Fi (if that matters at all for the choice of intercom system)

We want:

- No intercom upstairs (we consider it “unnecessary” nowadays – however, it would be important that the doorbell can be operated via app or external device, so we can open the door and speak even when upstairs on the move)

- Intercom on the ground floor (preferably a “tablet” with video – but not a must! Audio would also be sufficient, but it should look nice and not be a handset with cable or similar)

- Is a door chime necessary inside the house? Is it possible to install something so I can hear the doorbell upstairs and maybe also in the hallway area? Otherwise, I would only hear the chime on the tablet and possibly on the external devices, right? What would be the best way to do this?

- Appearance is very important – a nice, simple doorbell (if possible with name engraving) and a nice indoor unit (preferably tablet-style if possible)

--> I read a lot about the company Metzler here – this could also fit within the 700€ budget in my opinion (model VDM10). After some research, I think you can hardly go wrong with this. The question I have, though, is: Can I find it somewhere cheaper?

I would appreciate any personal experiences with your “intercom search” and how satisfied you are with your current system.

Also, I welcome tips/tricks, installation advice for the home network (with app control via Wi-Fi, etc.), and the best ways to manage it all.

Thanks in advance!

Prager91 schrieb:


--> I had read a lot about Metzler here – I think it could also fit the budget of 700€ (model VDM10). After some research, it seems you probably can’t go wrong with this. The question I have is: Can I get it somewhere cheaper?

When I read the title and the first sentences of your "requirements," I immediately thought of the VDM10. You already mentioned it, and in my opinion, it meets almost all of your desired criteria. Also, it fits within the set budget. If you want to find it cheaper, check marketplaces to see if something is being offered by chance… That’s actually what I did; I found and bought a brand-new unit for almost half the price 🙂 Admittedly, I still haven’t installed it, so my recommendation isn’t yet based on practical experience 🙁

I always wonder about the reasoning behind such doorbell requirements. I’m not very knowledgeable about this; we have one that simply rings “Ding Dong,” and then someone goes to the door.

But just out of curiosity:
- If you have an indoor unit in the form of a tablet, do you carry it around with you everywhere, like a smartphone?
- Why do you need an intercom system on the upper floor? Don’t you have to go to the door anyway when someone rings? Even if I could unlock the door from upstairs, how often would there be situations where I’d want to open the door for someone without going there myself?

We’ll soon face this topic again, so maybe there are use cases I haven’t considered yet but actually need. 🙂

kati1337 schrieb:

Why do you need an intercom system on the upper floor?

You don’t have to go downstairs to ask who is at the door. Maybe you just don’t feel like talking to the Jehovah’s Witnesses about religion or the sales team from some so-called charity organization. Then you simply keep the door closed.
Even if someone arrives whom you want to let in, I find it convenient not to have to walk from the upper floor down to the door. I have my home office on the upper floor and planned for this kind of situation when the delivery person comes.

kati1337 schrieb:

Even if I could open the door from the upper floor, in how many situations would I want to open the door for someone without going to the door?

Or if a child comes home from school and has forgotten their key, you can open the door directly from upstairs.

kati1337 schrieb:

I always wonder about the reasoning behind such doorbell requirements. I really don’t know much about it; we have one that just goes “ding dong,” and then someone walks to the door.

But just out of curiosity:
- If you have an indoor unit shaped like a tablet, do you carry it around everywhere like a phone?
- Why do you need an intercom system on the upper floor? Don’t you have to go to the door anyway when someone rings? Even if I could open the door from upstairs, how many situations are there where I would want to open the door for someone without going there first?

We’ll soon face this topic ourselves again, so maybe there are use cases I haven’t thought of yet but actually need. 🙂

In theory, we don’t really need many functions either.

It should ring in the living area on the ground floor (indoor unit in the form of a nice tablet mounted on the wall). We don’t want an “ugly” device with a curly cord here.
I also don’t need an intercom on the upper floor, but at least a chime or some kind of notification about whether I have the option to open the door via a device or similar, or to notify the visitor (audio) from upstairs through a device.

That’s basically it 😀

So far, I haven't seen anyone really satisfied with those fingerprint locks on doors. They are marketed as great but, in my opinion, they are rubbish. Usually, they only work reliably after the third or rather the fifth attempt.

That's why we decided to go for an NFC reader, because it always works, and I carry my keys anyway.

Gira offers nice outdoor units, and their indoor intercom units are simple and elegant.

Siedle provides different intercom units, for example, they also cooperate with Jung, so the system fits well with the switch program.

However, video systems from them usually start at around 1000 degrees.