VTech IS7121-2 2 Handset Audio/Video Doorbell Answering System with Accessory Handset, Keychain TV Remote/Flashlight and $10 Gift Card

I was looking for a solution that would allow us to find out who is at our door without actually having to open the door. We moved to a new townhome that has a 96' high front door. While it does have glass at the top of the door, it is so high that it makes it difficult to see who is outside without opening the door, which then puts our safety at risk.I searched high and low to find a practical solution. I needed a product that was wireless, since our home is all brick and I did not see an easy way to hard wire anything from inside to outisde. In addition, it's a fairly big house, so it takes a while to get to the door if you're upstairs, so I didn't want something like a digital peephole that would require me to go all the way to the front door. So, I settled on this product, which basically does what we need.The overall phone system is very good. Sound quality is great on both the phones and the intercom to the outside doorbell unit. The camera could be better, but it's good enough that between it and the intercom you can tell who is at your door.Now, here is the thing about the product that I find very annoying and which makes me wonder if they really ever thought about actually installing the product in the typical environment; the camera angle adjustment is horrible!The instructions give you various examples of where to position the outdoor doorbell unit. The first example shows it being installed in the center of the viewing area, which in a typical home would mean mounting it on the door. This idea seems crazy considering that they also recommend that you hard wire the unit to external power. It also is designed to be connected to your existting doorbell wires (if you have one) so that your doorbell will also ring when someone presses the button. Now, neither option seems practical if you mounted the camera in the center of your viewing area. I did not even consider this option.I went with the more practical option of mounting the doorbell unit directly to the right of my front door, right on the brick mold (so it is as close to the door as possible. I mounted it a little higher than where my existing doorbell button was located so that it is at an optimal height to view most people. I installed a flat cord channel below the camera unit to hide the wires and connected it to my existing doorbell wires. I adjusted the camera angle as far right as it would go and it does not even capture a person standing in the middle of my porch, which is very narrow as it is (barely wider than the door itself.) This is completely unbelievable to me that a product that would typically be mounted to the left or right of a door can not be adjusted enough to capture video from at least the center of the door when mounted directly beside it. Crazier still is that the camera is actually slightly angled to the right as it is because of how it sits on the brick mold, and even that plus the angle adjustment isn't enough; it only catches the far left side of the porch. The only solution I can think of would be to shim the camera unit at an even greater angle. This kind of thing is very annoying to me, because surely the majority of people who buy this would want to install it beside their door. Lord help anyone who might need to mount it a little further away from the edge of the door, as they won't get anything at all. The manual says the adjustment is 10 degrees either left, right, or up. This just is not enough of an adjustment. I've seen many other products like this that can be adjusted at least 20 degrees.Still, everything considerd, we like the product. It was the only one of it's kind on the market and also is the only one I could find where the outdoor unit was small enough that I could mount it to the brick mold, which was a must have because that is the only location that would work for our house.It's very nice that now if someone rings the doorbell our main doorbell rings immediately, so I can just run to the door if I'm expecting someone (like a delivery) and not worried about screening the person. If someone does show up unexpectedly then all the phones chime shortly after the doorbell rings and we can speak to the person to find out who it is (again, the camera is only somewhat useful between the poor resolution and the fact that the angle does not adjust enough to really see the person, unless they stand all the way to the far side of the porch, directly in front of it.)The phone system is nice and very easy to use. It has very nice backlit buttons and the color displays are easy to read. The push-to-talk feature is really nice, as well as the intercom. Also, one very nice feature is that you can rename all the phones to whatever you want, like 'KITCHEN' or 'MA BEDROOM' and these names show up when you want to use push-to-talk or intercom. This is so much better than trying to guess if 'Handset 2' is in the kitchen or bedroom.The system does have some limitations, which are not mentioned anywhere other than the full manual and are things that the product description lists as features.1. Only the first two registered handsets receive the video snapshot when someone rings the doorbell. The product description states that it automatically snaps a photo and sends it to the handsets when visitors ring the doorbell and the product pictures show an example showing the image on all three handsets, but doesn't mention that it's only sent to the first two handsets.2. You can NOT initiate a video or intercom connection with the doorbell from the handsets UNLESS you connect the outdoor unit to AC power. I actually asked this question, "Can I initiate a 2-way conversation with the person at the door, if they don't actually press the doorbell button" and was told by several people that I could. This is true, but only if I connect it to AC power, which is not practical for me (and likely most people). This turned out not to be a big problem, since I replaced my existing doorbell button with the doorbell camera unit, so now that's the only button they have available to press. If you're thinking of installing this in addition to your regular doorbell and hoping you can respond to the person via the phones if they ring your regular doorbell you won't be able to unless the outdoor unit is powered by AC. They do include an adapter for this, however, expanding on my complaints above about things not being designed with actual installation in mind, the cord is much too short to be of any practical use. I would have to splice wires onto the existing cord that is hard-connected to the power supply. It would have been so much better for them to provide screw terminals on the power supply so we can add our own wire in the length needed rather than put a cord on it that is too short to be useful.I still give the system 4 stars because it does work, is a good value for the money, and while not perfect it does solve our problem, at least to some extent.*** Update 1/22/2015 ***After having some people visit our home and use the doorbell, I have found that they generally have a tendency to step back a bit after ringing the doorbell, and it usually does capture a pretty good picture of them (fairly centered in the frame). Of course, like probably most homes, the sky in the background does wash out the picture to a degree, but I expected this going into it.Also, one additional thing I failed to mention is that the system ships with only an abridged version of the manual in the box; you have to go to the vetch website to download the full manual, which is much more useful and has all of the product information. The web address is listed in the manual included with the phones.Overall, we're still happy with the system.

This is an amazing system! It has several features that make it a great phone, but what I really like about it is the doorbell feature.The doorbell function allows us to hear the bell in every room where a phone is located - even on the deck in back of the house.No more missed deliveries because we couldn't hear the bell. The camera on the doorbell allows you to see who's ringing in a photo with battery power or - if you plug it in - you can stream video from the doorbell to the phone. Also allows two-way conversation with the outside doorbell location. The photo / video works great, but it's a little difficult to get the lighting correct so you can see more than a silhouette on the viewing screen. Your mileage may vary.Still, it's a very nice phone system that you can expand by buying extra handsets - I think it will accept up to five or six handsets in total. Phone sound is crystal clear and the range is very, very good.For us it was a great value that solved our doorbell problem as well as our needs for a great phone system.

Works very well, and the range is great. This is installed in a 5,000 sq ft warehouse so we can see who is at the front gate. Happy with how it's working out. On the down side; the image displayed on the phone is fairly low res. If the person is standing more than about 4 feet from the camera, you're going to have a hard time making out who it is. Also, the batteries in the camera don't last very long with frequent use. You're better off running power to the camera using the included adapter.

I am pretty pleased with the phone system. I purchased it for my mom and I wanted her to be able to see who was at the front door without opening it. The phone is crystal clear and the features are great. The only issue that I have is that the camera is not as clear as I would have liked for it to ab in. You can make out who the person is out the door which is good but I wish the camera was a bit clearer. All in all the system is great.

Love the technology. As I can't see out of a peephole, this is a awesome alternative! Can't get to the door fast enough also, makes this great use of the phone I have in all three rooms. And the bonus the retro phone for my cell. Good plus. Only thing I wish the screen was a bit larger. Sometime if the person isn't close enough you can't see who it is. Otherwise awesome. Didn't expect the speaking ablility. So very nice and can make up for not always clearly seeing the person.

Totally awesome! I spend a lot of time outdoors and upstairs and can't hear the doorbell. Works really well. What I like about it is the fact you only have to connect the base station to a phone line. The rest of the handset bases can go anywhere they can be plugged into the wall.I love the fact that I can answer the door when I'm upstairs and decide whether or not I need to go down stairs and actually open the door. You can check messages, see caller ID from ANY of the handsets.As people have mentioned, the picture/video is not all that great but being able to talk to who is at your door without having to actually get up and go to the door mitigates any picture quality complaints.

Even in optimal indoor lighting, the video stream on the phone looks nothing like the product images - it's grainy, low-res, low-contrast, low-color video, and it would be satisfactory if only it remained that "good" with the camera placed outside. Unfortunately, it's absolutely dismal outside. Mine is installed under a covered porch, so its view is almost always backlit, doesn't matter the time of day, sunny or cloudy, the camera just can't handle the backlight, so there's rarely any usable video to see. The audio intercom works well, so I use that and can at least hear the occasional solicitor walking away in frustration (+1). The phone features are also fine, but I didn't buy just a phone - I bought a video doorbell answering system and got a doorbell answering system instead.