TILTS: Smart doorbell with ringtones

Few things annoy me more than answering the door to my home only to find out the person standing on the other side is trying to sell me something I don't want so that he or she can finally take their dream trip to Disney World. Or that unless I sign a petition right now, the city is going to build a Wal-Mart next door to me.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against door-to-door sales. I can never have enough girl scout cookies or boy scout popcorn. But I like to buy these things from kids in my neighborhood that I know. What I don't like are strangers coming to my door. Or anyone else that poses a potential security threat to me.

Make doorbells smarter

That's why the technology I'd like to see is a smart doorbell. My smart doorbell would look just like any other ordinary doorbell. Except that right next to it would be a ten digit keypad, much like the one you see outside garage doors.

Here's how it would work. When someone I know approaches the house, he or she would punch in a 4 digit code. This code could be unique to the person, unique to everyone on my street or unique to just the people I know. The point is this. When the 4 digit code is punched in, the doorbell rings a special ring inside the house. A ring that lets me know the person outside is someone I know.

On the contrary, when a stranger approaches and just rings the bell without punching in a code, I hear the "better think twice before answering the door" ring.

Why should the cell phone companies have all of the fun?

Think of the possibilities with this. Doorbell manufacturers could start selling doorbell ringtones. Then I could assign different ringtones to different codes. So when the neighborhood girl scout comes to my door and punches in her "I'm selling cookies" code, I can hear "C is for Cookie" as I go to get my wallet and answer the door. Or when family comes to visit, I could sing along to "We are Family" on my way to the door.

And for you strangers out there, be aware. I've already got my eye on the "Go Away" ringtone.

Disclaimer: Technologies presented in the TILTS series are based on my original (and sometimes delirious) thoughts. I present them here to the public only because I can not afford to implement any of them myself. If you steal borrow one of my ideas and end up filthy rich because of it, please remember where you got the idea and throw a little love my way. Something like a BMW or a big fat check would do just fine.