A video intercom lets you see and speak to a caller before you unlock anything. Modern systems are IP-based and powered over the same network cable that carries the video, which makes them far simpler to wire than the analogue systems they replaced. On a British exterior wall, budget for a rain shield from the start.
The single biggest decision is the one people skip: IP or analogue. Get that wrong and nothing else you buy will talk to anything.
1. IP or analogue — the type wall
This is a hard incompatibility, not a preference.
Analogue systems run proprietary 2-wire or multi-core cabling between a door station and specific matched indoor units. IP systems run standard structured cabling and speak over your network.
They do not interoperate. An IP door station will not work on 2-wire analogue cabling, and an analogue handset will not answer an IP door station. If you are replacing a failed unit in an existing building, establish which you have before ordering anything — and check the cable, not the brand badge, because both were sold by the same manufacturers for years.
Trade Tip: Before you order a replacement, pull the old door station off the wall and photograph the back and the cable. Two conductors going into a small screw terminal is almost certainly analogue. An RJ45 plug is IP. That thirty-second check has saved a lot of returns across our counter.
2. Why PoE changes the job
Power over Ethernet sends power and data down one Cat5e or Cat6 cable. For a door station that means one cable run from the comms cabinet to the door — no separate mains supply at the gate, no local power supply in a weatherproof box, no electrician needed at the door position.
The practical implications:
- You need a PoE switch or injector with a spare port and enough power budget.
- Run proper external-grade or ducted cable to the door. Standard indoor Cat5e in a gate pier will not last.
- Keep within the 100 m Ethernet limit — generous for a driveway, tight on a long farm approach.
If the network side is new too, our guides to PoE switches and Cat5e versus Cat6 cover the kit around it.
3. Choosing the door station
The Hikvision DS-KV6113-PE1(C) is a 2MP IP video door station with PoE, an integrated card reader and an IP65 rating. The card reader is the detail worth noticing — it means the same unit handles both “who is at the door” and “let the regular people in without ringing”, which is exactly what a small business or a house in multiple occupation needs.
Where the door station is somewhere exposed to knocks — a street frontage, a yard entrance, a student let — the DS-KB8113-IME1(B) is a 2MP vandal-resistant IP door station. Spend the difference if the unit is reachable from a pavement.
4. IP65 is not the same as sheltered
Here is where UK installs quietly fail.
IP65 means the unit resists water jets. It does not mean the unit enjoys sitting in weather for ten years. Two things degrade an exposed door station: driven rain sitting on the lens and the call button, and low sun straight onto the camera washing out the caller's face.
A rain shield fixes both. It keeps standing water off the front face, shades the lens, and stops the button filling up in a downpour.
We stock surface rain shields for the KV6113 family, 149.78 × 79.56 × 48.63 mm in polycarbonate, and canopies for two-module door stations in stainless steel.
Trade Tip: Order the rain shield with the door station, not after the first winter. It costs a fraction of the unit, and fitting one later means taking the station off a wall you have already made good around. The only exception is a genuinely covered porch — and “under a bit of overhang” is not covered.
5. Siting: height, angle and the light behind
Three things decide whether you can actually recognise a caller:
- Height. Mount so the camera catches a face, not a chest or the top of a head. Around 1.4 to 1.5 m to the lens suits most people, and remember a wheelchair user needs to reach the button.
- What is behind the caller. A caller standing against a bright sky is a silhouette. Where you can, face the station so the light falls on the visitor rather than into the lens.
- Distance from the door. On a gate pier the caller stands further back than at a front door — check the field of view actually covers where they will stand.
Our position: walk to the position and crouch to lens height before you drill. Ten seconds of looking beats a re-drilled brick pier.
Summary: specifying a video intercom
| Decision | Answer |
|---|---|
| IP or analogue | Check the existing cable first. They do not interoperate |
| Power | PoE — one cable, no mains at the door. Check switch power budget |
| Cable | External-grade or ducted; within 100 m |
| Door station | Standard IP65 unit; vandal-resistant where reachable from a pavement |
| Card reader | Worth it wherever regular users shouldn't have to ring |
| Rain shield | Order with the unit unless genuinely under cover |
| Siting | Lens at face height, light on the caller, field of view covers where they stand |
Expert Help in the West Midlands
Villa Road, Birmingham, since 1975 — and we can show you a door station working rather than describe it. Bring a photograph of the existing unit and its cable and we will tell you straight away whether you are replacing like for like or changing system type, which is the difference between an afternoon and a re-cable.
Browse Hikvision cameras and door stations or the wider access control range.
Frequently asked questions
Can I replace an analogue intercom with an IP one using the existing cable?
Usually not. IP door stations need structured cabling, and 2-wire analogue cable will not carry them. Check what is behind the old unit before ordering — changing system type normally means a new cable run.
Does a video intercom need its own power supply at the door?
Not with PoE. Power and data travel down the one network cable from a PoE switch or injector, which is why IP systems are so much simpler to install at a gate or a pier.
Is an IP65 door station fine without a rain shield?
It will survive, but it will not perform as well for as long. A shield keeps standing water off the lens and call button and shades the camera from low sun. On any exposed UK wall, fit one.