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1901 points l2silver | 4 comments | | HN request time: 0.619s | source

Maybe you've created your own AR program for wearables that shows the definition of a word when you highlight it IRL, or you've built a personal calendar app for your family to display on a monitor in the kitchen. Whatever it is, I'd love to hear it.
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modeless ◴[] No.35737709[source]
My townhome complex had one of those call boxes at the front gate. When Doordash/FedEx/the cleaners/the in-laws/etc arrived they would have to call me from the call box and I'd have to answer it and listen to garbled audio to figure out who it was and press 9 to open the gate. It was kind of a pain, so I made a Twilio app to answer calls from the call box.

I set up custom entry codes that I could hand out to anyone. Everyone got their own code, and it would text me whenever someone used a code so I'd instantly know who was coming. The text conversation was my timestamped access log. I also put time constraints on some codes so e.g. Doordash couldn't open the gate in the middle of the night, or I could set up a temporary access code for a party, and I rotated codes too, with text notifications if an outdated code was used.

I thought about making a paid app out of it, but it just didn't seem worthwhile. I didn't expect that many people would want to pay for it. For a while I was excited about a YC startup called Doorport that was going to make a hardware device that you'd install inside those dumb call boxes and make them smart with all sorts of cool features, better than my Twilio hack. But I think they pivoted to a much less interesting pure software thing and then got acquihired.

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tshaddox ◴[] No.35737848[source]
That sounds neat. When you say everyone got their own code, do you mean that each person had a separate code for the call box, and the call box would call one of many separate Twilio phone numbers? Or did the call box always call the same Twilio number, and you instructed each person to then input their special code via the call box? My apartments have always just asked me for a single phone number which they program into the call box, so I’m guessing the latter, although it never occurred to me that the guest might be able to press more buttons after the phone call has been connected.
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1. modeless ◴[] No.35737906[source]
You're right, it's the latter. Yeah, you can still use the keypad after the call is started. But it's a little clunky. The instructions you have to give people are like "first dial 542, then wait until you hear the prompt, then enter code 867". Which as it turns out is a little too complex for a lot of people. Another reason why it wouldn't have been great as a paid product.

You could also have a fallback that forwards the call to your cell phone after a failed attempt at entering the code. But most of the reason I built this was so it would stop calling me at random times, so I didn't really want that.

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2. tshaddox ◴[] No.35745601[source]
Yeah, the call box in general is just not a great system in my experience. I often just tell guests and delivery people to text or call me when they get there, which works for me because my apartment is very close to the lobby. It’s just easier than hoping they figure out how to use the call box and follow my directions to get to my apartment.
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3. modeless ◴[] No.35745759[source]
Yeah these call boxes are simply awful. That's why I was excited about Doorport, to have something better.
4. 6510 ◴[] No.35759681[source]
one could put a sign on the door with the number to call + qr code.