Google Nest is a privacy nightmare, Ring is even worse. Amazon employees will just randomly access your video feeds, in fact there is a lawsuit about it right now. My go to is Ubiquity UniFi doorbell. It stores the video data locally on a device in my network, and there's no remote access for them to get into it. It sends alerts to my phone which can be answered like a phone call. The only annoyance I have with it is that it still doesn't have a time-based "snooze" function to disable notifications for a set time, so when someone is mucking around in the front yard for a few hours I just toggle off notifications so it doesn't blow up my phone. Caveat with this system is you do need an additional Unifi device in your network to store the footage, but it does not have a monthly fee which is super nice.
Home Automation
Discussion about general home automation ideas and projects, home automation protocols like Z-wave, Zigbee, Matter, etc, and home automation software and hubs like HomeSeer, Home Assistant, OpenHAB, Homey.
Sounds interesting; I'll look into it. When you say we would "need an additional Unifi device in your network" do you mean something like the box that comes with Eufy, or something more complex. I emphasise that our "network" currently is a handful of smart bulbs and our phones; we are not looking to get into a full smart home setup.
You need some device to store the footage the camera generates. A Cloud Key would suffice, I currently have a Dream Machine which is a firewall and NVR all in one.
I like my unifi doorbell but it recently died, I just ordered the POE new version so hope to get it installed this weekend and hope not having that old chime connected to it will keep it alive.
When someone rings the door bell I get a phone call from my doorbell so I can see who is there or just look at the notifications if there's is movement in areas I choose or the AI detection if it detects a person in the yard.
I'm not sure if you can use the doorbell on its own, you'd need the app at least to set it up and either the dream machine or maybe host the unifi is on a machine yourself but at least it's all self hosted
I've got the Arlo Essential, it's also a privacy nightmare but it 'calls' you and your wife on your phone, as well as making a noise itself. It's possible to make a smart speaker say something (even though you don't want that) and you can use the ringing of the doorbell as a trigger for all sorts of home automation (like changing the colour of a light bulb or have a dedicated indication light or something that blinks).