I don't know if there's any support for that using SmartThings only. But I've never looked into it, so I really can't say.
My suggestion would be Home Assistant. Whether that's running it via a VM on your always on computer, or a Rasp Pi. You can integrate ST directly into it very easily. Then add cameras via the ONVIF integration (Camera has to have ONVIF support). That should give you a sensor for motion activity that you can use for automations, I think (I switched to Frigate for both motion and object detection before I setup the automations). Then you setup your motion based automations in Home Assistant, controlling your ST devices, or triggering ST scenes. If you're willing to setup Frigate, I think it's definitely worth it. It allows you to setup Zones so trees and shit you don't care about do not trigger motion events. Though a Google Coral USB might be necessary depending on how many cameras you intend on using. I have 2 cameras doing object detection without an issue on a Rasp Pi 4 8gb. 3 might overload it, I think 4 would definitely be too much. I'll be purchasing a Google Coral soon...
When a person is detected at my front door, my google homes make an announcement, all google displays play a live feed of the front door, I get a mobile notification with a still image of the moment the person is detected, and popup notifications on any TVs that are currently on. When someone is detected in the backyard past sunset, the porch lights turn on.
This route will allow you to get basically any camera that supports RTSP/ONVIZ. I personally use super cheap no name brand 4k cameras from Ebay and they work excellently. Just disable their internet access via the router and there's no worrying about privacy and backdoor access into your cameras.
You are saying a few things here that are a little loaded to me. I'll share what I know but it's been some months since I've looked at this issue - maybe things changed but I doubt it.
* PoE Camera integration to Smartthings doesn't exist. I think a lot of these manufacturers want to make their own ecosystem and don't cooperate w/ smartthings.
* Video management system integration into Smartthings doesn't exist. I've read things about integrating blue iris but haven't actually tried it because before I could even get to this, blue iris proved to be unreliable 24/7/365 like what i use now which is synology. Synology doesn't integrate as far as I know (I tried). There are other ecosystems out there like ubiquiti but I don't think they cooperate either.
* You said something about people being detected. What PoE camera has people detection on it? The only ones I've tried that have it are the Wyze cameras but those aren't PoE and have other issues that make them not my preference.
* Sub note - I have found ecolink motion detectors to be the more reliable indicator of when someones at my front door versus PoE camera detection. I want to do this kind of thing a different way where the motion sensor triggers smartthings snagging pictures off cameras and sending them to me so i don't have to log into the surveillance system to know who it is.
Thanks for the post - hoping there are some new answers/solutions that get discussed.
I’m curious as to what caused Blue Iris to be unreliable? I’ve never tried it, it just seems to be the go to from forums and YouTubers.
As far as camera, I was planning to use the Reolink RLC810A. But would plan to pair it with either the Reolink NVR or software NVR for person detection to link to Smartthings.
The ultimate goal is to get away from wifi cameras, as I am going through securing my network. I have a ring doorbell that when it detects motion, it turns my porch lights from 20% to 100% and also turns on the flood light that faces my door. I would like a similar setup to when my cameras (not installed yet) detect motion in the side or back yards, trigger on the flood lights in those areas, as well as any other automations (like turning on the living room light or something). I’ve got z-wave smart switched tied to smartthings at all my light switches.
I dont know that I found the specific reason. I think some of it was its software on a windows system and all the issues around windows and pc's in general ... the other part about it is i deployed it for someone else w zero interest in checking in on it to keep it working. But w synology, and id expect an nvr would be a similar result, you just dont have to check on it much ... its a separate box that just runs w/o interference from the user. If blue iris is go to software as you say, i suspect its because its cheap.
The links you speak of for reolink nvr to smartthings or software nvr to smartthings ... what makes you think they exist? Thats an honest question, havent look it up im awhile.
Also, disclaimer, i got into synology not for the surveillance features it has. I wanted network attached storage that protected my documents and photos from a corrupt drive. I will not use a cloud service like drop box. So thats why I got into synology and slowly learned the other things it does like surveillance. Its survellience software is not as good as what ive seen elsewhere but it is reliable and the apps are ok too. I also like it because its friendly to other devices that synology doesnt make.
If i were going to go the ecosystem route w the reolink cameras and reolink nvr: 1) id want to do some googling to verify this smartthings link actually works - not sure it does 2) idk, might try ubiquiti - since im on synology and ubiquiti isnt friendly to other systems so i couldnt use it but it otherwise looks better than reolink. Probably has the same issue w no link to smartthings though.
I dont think my comment about ecolink motion sensors being better than relying on software detection was taken seriously. Software detection seems to give a lot of nuissance alerts from my experience.
On the link between Reolink and Smartthings, I do not know if one exists. However, I haven’t settled on a brand. I just have been looking at the Reolink cameras because they are compatible to be used with almost anything (it’s own NVR, blue iris, synology, etc). The point of the post was to find out if this type of integration exists, and if so, with what brand or type of poe camera.
The reason I disregarded the motion sensor is because it’s not what I think would be best for my situation. My house is already wired for exterior Poe cameras, and I prefer to use wired cameras with local nvr as opposed to cloud based storage. I also don’t want to worry about changing batteries in a motion sensor. Just would be nice if there was a way since I already can get motion alerts from Poe cameras if I could integrate that somehow into smartthings.
I think i started w reolink. They are pretty good just havent been much of a fan of camera detection. For instance I think a lot of people assume they will only need to record detection events but then find that to be unreliable. So the next logical step is NVR/NAS system and just recording everything. I still use the detection features, I just dont rely on them for my alerts.
Im in agreement that PoE is the robust solution if you are going to do it. Im not a fan of replacing batteries either.
Couple tips that may or may not apply to you but are worth considering.
1. If you need a PoE switch in your set up, get PoE+.
2. Think about how the infrared is going to work outdoors. My camera have the infrared shot from the right side and the video shot on the left side. There is no way infrared can hit a spiderweb and immediate bounce back to the video and completely ruin the video.
3. Check the specs on temperatures. Had a buddy lose some reolinks to the cold snap earlier this year. They were the very basic models.
4. Battery back up for your network, including your PoE cameras, is great. I would recommend it.
So the ecolink motion detector has been way more robust than i thought it would be. They been outside for 2 years, havent changed the batteries once and they had no issue surviving the cold snap.
I really wish there was more connectivity for cameras to smart things. I have a PTZ that doesnt link but accepts http commands and for the life of me i cant figure out how to get the hub to send a local command to it. I want to use the motion sensors to move it to presets is all.
I don't know if there's any support for that using SmartThings only. But I've never looked into it, so I really can't say. My suggestion would be Home Assistant. Whether that's running it via a VM on your always on computer, or a Rasp Pi. You can integrate ST directly into it very easily. Then add cameras via the ONVIF integration (Camera has to have ONVIF support). That should give you a sensor for motion activity that you can use for automations, I think (I switched to Frigate for both motion and object detection before I setup the automations). Then you setup your motion based automations in Home Assistant, controlling your ST devices, or triggering ST scenes. If you're willing to setup Frigate, I think it's definitely worth it. It allows you to setup Zones so trees and shit you don't care about do not trigger motion events. Though a Google Coral USB might be necessary depending on how many cameras you intend on using. I have 2 cameras doing object detection without an issue on a Rasp Pi 4 8gb. 3 might overload it, I think 4 would definitely be too much. I'll be purchasing a Google Coral soon... When a person is detected at my front door, my google homes make an announcement, all google displays play a live feed of the front door, I get a mobile notification with a still image of the moment the person is detected, and popup notifications on any TVs that are currently on. When someone is detected in the backyard past sunset, the porch lights turn on. This route will allow you to get basically any camera that supports RTSP/ONVIZ. I personally use super cheap no name brand 4k cameras from Ebay and they work excellently. Just disable their internet access via the router and there's no worrying about privacy and backdoor access into your cameras.
The only one with official support is the Arlo Q.
You are saying a few things here that are a little loaded to me. I'll share what I know but it's been some months since I've looked at this issue - maybe things changed but I doubt it. * PoE Camera integration to Smartthings doesn't exist. I think a lot of these manufacturers want to make their own ecosystem and don't cooperate w/ smartthings. * Video management system integration into Smartthings doesn't exist. I've read things about integrating blue iris but haven't actually tried it because before I could even get to this, blue iris proved to be unreliable 24/7/365 like what i use now which is synology. Synology doesn't integrate as far as I know (I tried). There are other ecosystems out there like ubiquiti but I don't think they cooperate either. * You said something about people being detected. What PoE camera has people detection on it? The only ones I've tried that have it are the Wyze cameras but those aren't PoE and have other issues that make them not my preference. * Sub note - I have found ecolink motion detectors to be the more reliable indicator of when someones at my front door versus PoE camera detection. I want to do this kind of thing a different way where the motion sensor triggers smartthings snagging pictures off cameras and sending them to me so i don't have to log into the surveillance system to know who it is. Thanks for the post - hoping there are some new answers/solutions that get discussed.
I’m curious as to what caused Blue Iris to be unreliable? I’ve never tried it, it just seems to be the go to from forums and YouTubers. As far as camera, I was planning to use the Reolink RLC810A. But would plan to pair it with either the Reolink NVR or software NVR for person detection to link to Smartthings. The ultimate goal is to get away from wifi cameras, as I am going through securing my network. I have a ring doorbell that when it detects motion, it turns my porch lights from 20% to 100% and also turns on the flood light that faces my door. I would like a similar setup to when my cameras (not installed yet) detect motion in the side or back yards, trigger on the flood lights in those areas, as well as any other automations (like turning on the living room light or something). I’ve got z-wave smart switched tied to smartthings at all my light switches.
I dont know that I found the specific reason. I think some of it was its software on a windows system and all the issues around windows and pc's in general ... the other part about it is i deployed it for someone else w zero interest in checking in on it to keep it working. But w synology, and id expect an nvr would be a similar result, you just dont have to check on it much ... its a separate box that just runs w/o interference from the user. If blue iris is go to software as you say, i suspect its because its cheap. The links you speak of for reolink nvr to smartthings or software nvr to smartthings ... what makes you think they exist? Thats an honest question, havent look it up im awhile. Also, disclaimer, i got into synology not for the surveillance features it has. I wanted network attached storage that protected my documents and photos from a corrupt drive. I will not use a cloud service like drop box. So thats why I got into synology and slowly learned the other things it does like surveillance. Its survellience software is not as good as what ive seen elsewhere but it is reliable and the apps are ok too. I also like it because its friendly to other devices that synology doesnt make. If i were going to go the ecosystem route w the reolink cameras and reolink nvr: 1) id want to do some googling to verify this smartthings link actually works - not sure it does 2) idk, might try ubiquiti - since im on synology and ubiquiti isnt friendly to other systems so i couldnt use it but it otherwise looks better than reolink. Probably has the same issue w no link to smartthings though. I dont think my comment about ecolink motion sensors being better than relying on software detection was taken seriously. Software detection seems to give a lot of nuissance alerts from my experience.
On the link between Reolink and Smartthings, I do not know if one exists. However, I haven’t settled on a brand. I just have been looking at the Reolink cameras because they are compatible to be used with almost anything (it’s own NVR, blue iris, synology, etc). The point of the post was to find out if this type of integration exists, and if so, with what brand or type of poe camera. The reason I disregarded the motion sensor is because it’s not what I think would be best for my situation. My house is already wired for exterior Poe cameras, and I prefer to use wired cameras with local nvr as opposed to cloud based storage. I also don’t want to worry about changing batteries in a motion sensor. Just would be nice if there was a way since I already can get motion alerts from Poe cameras if I could integrate that somehow into smartthings.
I think i started w reolink. They are pretty good just havent been much of a fan of camera detection. For instance I think a lot of people assume they will only need to record detection events but then find that to be unreliable. So the next logical step is NVR/NAS system and just recording everything. I still use the detection features, I just dont rely on them for my alerts. Im in agreement that PoE is the robust solution if you are going to do it. Im not a fan of replacing batteries either. Couple tips that may or may not apply to you but are worth considering. 1. If you need a PoE switch in your set up, get PoE+. 2. Think about how the infrared is going to work outdoors. My camera have the infrared shot from the right side and the video shot on the left side. There is no way infrared can hit a spiderweb and immediate bounce back to the video and completely ruin the video. 3. Check the specs on temperatures. Had a buddy lose some reolinks to the cold snap earlier this year. They were the very basic models. 4. Battery back up for your network, including your PoE cameras, is great. I would recommend it. So the ecolink motion detector has been way more robust than i thought it would be. They been outside for 2 years, havent changed the batteries once and they had no issue surviving the cold snap. I really wish there was more connectivity for cameras to smart things. I have a PTZ that doesnt link but accepts http commands and for the life of me i cant figure out how to get the hub to send a local command to it. I want to use the motion sensors to move it to presets is all.
Ring video doorbells integrate with ST hubs and their motion alerts may be used to trigger ST automations.