What device is required to make a phone call?

[deadeye]

I noticed that one of the alert types is "Make a phone call". This would be an awesome feature to try to use in order to wake me up. I was thinking of getting rid of my VOIP service, but if I could get Blue Iris to make a phone call to wake me up at night (I have my phone on do not disturb and won't wake up from a single vibration notification anyway). But it just says "device" and I was wondering what devices would it recognize in order to use to make an outgoing call? Could I buy a modem (if I could even find one now) and just use that, or does it require some other type of device? Maybe some sort of USB to telephone dongle?
Thanks.

[MikeBwca]

I also have my phone on 'Do not disturb'.

But, you can override 'do not disturb' for specific notifications. Check your SMS app and email app.

[deadeye]

Yeah you can set an override for an app, but I leave my phone on vibrate all of the time and the single vibration isn't enough to wake me up, but if someone calls and it keeps vibrating, it will likely wake me up.

[HeneryH]

I'm thinking a SIP phone?

I use Twilio for SMS based computer interaction and always saw that SIP phone stuff and wanted to play with it but never did.

https://www.twilio.com/blog/registering ... d-outbound

Looked like more in depth than I wanted to get into at that time.

[MikeBwca]

Yeah you can set an override for an app, but I leave my phone on vibrate all of the time and the single vibration isn't enough to wake me up, but if someone calls and it keeps vibrating, it will likely wake me up.

Here's another option to make a IP alarm out of a ptz camera. I use one of the older Foscam FI8918W MJPEG cameras that I've replaced. Any camera with an audio out plug will work. An IP wired/wireless Speaker!

This is way (way way) outside the box!

What I did...
1. Connect a camera that has audio output to BI as usual. Name the camera something like, ALARM1.
2. Take a PC speaker set, one that is powered by a wall adapter, and plug the audio it into the camera. Power into the wall. You only need 1 of the 2 speakers. But, 2 will be better (louder).
3. In BI, for the camera ALARM1, set a group for the camera named 'ALARM1-Only'. Yes, you can have 1 camera in a group.
4. For the camera ALARM1, set an Alert to play a sound. It should play thru the speakers. Set the volume on the speakers loud enough to wake you up, but not give you a heart attack.
5. For the camera ALARM1, uncheck 'Video' in the Record tab. You probably don't require video when the alarm goes off! Unless you want to see what you do when it goes off!
6. For the camera ALARM1, in the 'Trigger' tab, check 'Capture an alert list image'. This will give you a snapshot in the cliplist, for a history of when the ALARM1 camera was triggered. I put a piece of paper over the lens on my camera.
7. You can set any camera, command, to trigger the ALARM1 camera, or, ALARM1-Only group.


To play a sound through the ALARM1 camera, you have a few options.
- In any cameras Trigger tab, check 'Trigger camera group', then select the 'ALARM1-Only' group.
Or,
- Set any cameras 'Alert' to execute a command 'Trigger' to the ALARM1 camera.

Then set the ALARM1 camera and speakers anywhere where you want to be woken, or, alerted.
An there you have it! A IP wired/wireless Speaker!

I did this as an experiment. There's a thread here asking about an IP speaker. This is a great 'cheap' alternative.
I used this when expecting deliveries. Sometimes I can't hear my phone if I'm watching TV.
You can even use the cameras schedule to trigger it - an alarm clock.

[deadeye]

Wow, that's quite the setup MikeBwca! I would have to go with a wifi camera, which I don't have, to put into my bedroom with speakers. I did some reading and I found that any modem would work to call out. The problem is finding a modem that works with Windows 10. Luckily I found a USB modem for $20 on Amazon then 'whitelist' my landline to my cell and see if that works. I'll report back with my results when it comes in (and I have time to set up).