anon2828 Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Q: Have new Luma IP cameras and Luma 510 NVR. Want to be able to display camera feeds on demand ("Alexa show front door") or be able to swipe through various feeds. Is there any (somewhat easy) way to accomplish this? I'm finding on-screen display through Control4 OSD to be just ok, and using the Luma or C4 app on iPhone or iPad to be a pain when you're trying to also use other functions of the device. Having an Amazon Echo Show, Spot, or other display device would be very helpful in terms of dedicated monitoring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic30101 Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Never done it, I don't have one at home to play with but saw someone talking about this a while back https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Monocle-RTSP-RTP-IP-Cameras/dp/B079P7DZ4D&ved=2ahUKEwjJ_fSSysHiAhULiqwKHbpwAXAQFjAFegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw2zigfplyBrll11m-v1qj8G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon2828 Posted May 29, 2019 Author Share Posted May 29, 2019 Thanks - in my search I also found Monocle. Sounds like it should work. I have a pretty good technology background, but it is still a little unclear to me the security implications of using Monocle. It appears that they are just passing the request to the Amazon Alexa cloud and then matching the appropriate RTSP feed. Thus it would seem to me that on a private camera network, your actual camera feeds never leave the building so to speak. There also seems to be some type of issue with needing the Monocle software gateway under certain scenarios including using the Luma (same as Hikvision) NVR. I think this has something to do with the fact that while the NVR has an IP address within the range of other devices on the home network, the cameras themselves which are fed POE have a private network address schema just within the NVR space (example: NVR is on 10.10.10.x while cameras are 192.168.1.x as addressed within the NVR) If anyone has experience with this I'd be immensely grateful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon2828 Posted May 30, 2019 Author Share Posted May 30, 2019 For those interested, I tested Monocle and it works, although I have some questions about how to properly set the resolutions of the camera streams to be optimized for Alexa/Echo devices. For those that want this functionality it is really very cool. I'm now able to tell my bedside Echo Spot "Show the front door camera" and it instantly pops up like an Alexa compatible device. I feel that my cameras are secure since I did not change any of the IP addressing and no camera is exposed to the outside world. Seems that Monocle is just passing the RTSP request back and forth between the Amazon/Alexa cloud and my Echo device. I would imagine that this type of functionality would be welcomed by customers like me and another revenue generating opportunity for dealers. Happy to share my experience with anyone interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkimedes Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 From Amazon Alexa skill: NOTE: Monocle is not a cloud service that directly hosts or provides access to your camera's audio/video feeds but rather an aggregation and integration service. To access your network camera's audio/video feeds your Amazon Echo video-enabled device must be able to directly access the camera's video/audio stream over the network. This means that the Alexa device must be on the same private network where your cameras reside or you must expose your cameras over the Internet either by placing the camera on a public Internet connection or placing it behind a router and exposing the camera's RTSP port through the router using NAT (network address translation) By far the most common approach is to simply have all your camera's and Alexa devices on the same private network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon2828 Posted May 31, 2019 Author Share Posted May 31, 2019 BakerBalay - what are you saying? I have all of my devices behind a firewall on the same network as the Alexa device, so I don't think I am exposing any camera stream to the outside world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amr Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 Amcrest cams all can display via EchoShow with their skill, however it’s $6/cam/month, a clear ripoff but it works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon2828 Posted June 1, 2019 Author Share Posted June 1, 2019 This way is free. For now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amr Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 7 hours ago, anon2828 said: This way is free. For now. One Cam is free, add a 2nd and it will start to cost u ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic30101 Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 28 minutes ago, Amr said: One Cam is free, add a 2nd and it will start to cost u ... Monocle is free Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmonty2 Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 Where do you want to see the camera? On a TV, on a Echo? If you want to see it on a TV, just program a voice command for it to display each camera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkimedes Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 On 5/31/2019 at 8:58 AM, anon2828 said: BakerBalay - what are you saying? I have all of my devices behind a firewall on the same network as the Alexa device, so I don't think I am exposing any camera stream to the outside world. I was just passing information. I'm fairly new to this, and was on the Monocle skill. Considering the posts above mine, I thought that might be relevant. My apologies if it causes confusion. Tanner_Moore 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyQuintero Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 Hi. First of all, thank you all for sharing this information. Have any of you tried to create a routine from the cameras you connected using Monocle ? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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