The following is a brief – if unofficial – history of visitor-resident communication.
Middle Palaeolithic Period: A visitor arrives at the entrance of a neighbouring cave and knocks on the boulder that serves as the access control system of the day. No one answers, because the resident is out hunting and/or gathering. The visitor would have broken in to steal his neighbour’s collection of woolly mammoth furs, but is mauled by a sabre-toothed tiger before he gets the chance.
480 BC, prelude to the Battle of Thermopylae: A messenger is sent by King Xerxes of Persia in an attempt to persuade the Spartan leader, Leonidas, to form a coalition. He makes it somewhat further than his Palaeolithic counterpart, actually breaching the city gates, but before he has the opportunity to sit down to tea and crumpets, Gerard Butler yells ‘THIS IS SPARTAAAA!’ and kicks the messenger into a pit.
Middle Ages: Visitor-resident communication during the Middle Ages mostly involved shooting an arrow with a message tied to it over the castle wall, or deploying a pigeon to deliver the message. Not very effective if you had a messenger with bad eyesight, or if you kept cats with a taste for pigeon meat.
1894: Electrical engineer Milo G. Kellogg patents the first intercommunicating telephone system.
1950s: Intercoms take on a new role as electronic doorman for apartment buildings.
1980s: Following the invention of transistors and the development of digital communication technology, intercoms are starting to see widespread use in homes as a means of controlling visitor access. However, because these systems are hard-wired, its efficacy relies on the resident actually being home. A visitor arrives, buzzes the intercom and, taking the lack of response to mean that the homeowner is not in residence, breaks in and steals the homeowner’s collection of ABBA records.
2019, a new era in access control: Homeowners all over the world are enjoying the incredible security and convenience that comes with being able to answer their intercoms from anywhere, thanks to CENTURION’s G-SPEAK UTRA GSM-based intercom system.
The late, great Apple CEO Steve Jobs – an incredibly prolific innovator – once said that when they create stuff, they do it because they listen to their customers, get their inputs and also throw in what they (Apple) would like to see. ‘We cook up new products,’ said Jobs, ‘You never really know if people will love them as much as you do’.
With our G-SPEAK ULTRA GSM-based intercom system, we firmly believe that we have created a product that our clients love every bit as much as we do. Here’s why it’s awesome:
It lets you answer your intercom from anywhere in the world
G-SPEAK ULTRA uses your mobile phone as the intercom handset so, whether you are at home, at the office or chilling on a beach in the Bahamas, you are able to answer callers at your gate and in so doing create the impression that you are always home. This is a great security feature and helps to deter would-be burglars. Your ABBA records are safe!
It transforms your phone into a long distance remote control
With G-SPEAK ULTRA, you are able to open your entrance gate (or arm an alarm, switch on a pool pump, geyser, lights, etc.) from anywhere with a 2G network via a missed call, SMS or using the intuitive G-REMOTE mobile app.
It will let you know when trouble’s afoot
Nothing spoils a holiday like constant worry. What if the alarm is triggered and the neighbours aren’t there to hear it? What if power is lost to the electric fence? What if aliens invade? With the G-SPEAK ULTRA, you can remotely monitor up to four different electrical devices, and will be notified via a push notification of input events.
It won’t ruin your property (and your wallet) with wires!
So this is more something that it won’t do, but it’s still pretty awesome! As mentioned above, with G-SPEAK ULTRA your mobile phone effectively becomes the intercom handset, which means no more lengthy, expensive cable runs back to the house. It’s wireless communication with endless possibilities!
