When was the last time you found a "we tried to deliver" card on your door mat, but you were home? With more and more of us opting to have things delivered to our home, it can be challenging to not only make sure we are are in, but that we also hear the doorbell.

If that scenario sounds a little too familiar, then it is probably time to upgrade your doorbell. We've been living with the new Honeywell Series 9 and Series 5 doorbells to find out how we can avoid never missing a caller at the door again.

200m range

The Series 9 range of doorbells from Honeywell come with a wireless range of up to 200m meaning your doorbell is likely to chime wherever you put in in your home.

Furthermore, Honeywell allows you to link it to other doorbells it makes, extending that range up to a whopping 400m. That should be suitable for most mansions, or perhaps more likely, the ability to reach your home office at the far-end of the garden.

Take it anywhere

Previous wireless doorbells we've had in the past have required the need to be plugged in to a wall socket, limiting your options. If they aren't wireless, you normally need a power supply constantly connected, which can limit things even further.

The Honeywell range of doorbells can either be wired, or wireless, with the wireless models offering up to a five-year battery life. That makes a huge difference when it comes to positioning them somewhere central where they can be heard.

A wireless push button

Drilling through your door frame or trying to hide a wire through your hallway to connect to the chiming unit aren't necessary with Honeywell doorbells.

All the Honeywell doorbell ranges come with wireless push button units that come with a two-year battery life, an LED Confidence light so those pressing it will know the unit has responded, and even a secret knock function.

Secret knock function

"It's only me" - but how do you know it really is? The Honeywell Series 9 doorbell features a special knock feature, as mentioned above.

When activated, this feature means the doorbell plays a different melody, so you will instantly know if a family member or friend is at the door, rather than a stranger. It has been great for answering the door in our dressing gown without fear.

Play a different tune

For the most part, doorbell chimes are fairly dull. Ding Dong, or the famous Westminster Chime perhaps? What if you could have Star Wars - The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) playing every time someone knocked at the door? Or perhaps Adele's "Hello, from the other side".

The top of the range Series 9 doorbell (model DC917NG) offers the ability to upload any MP3 track to customise beyond the choice of eight melodies already available. 

Do not disturb with Sleep Mode

You've just got the kids to sleep when the doorbell rings, waking everyone up. Rather than running the gauntlet, you can silence the Honeywell doorbell range so you don't disturb those sleeping in your house.

Sleep mode mutes the sound for 3, 6, 9 or 12 hours, so you can relax free of any disturbance. Should you never want to be audibly disturbed, you can mute the doorbells altogether or until you decide otherwise.

Get visual alerts

If you're wondering how you'll know someone is at the door if you don't have the doorbell ringing, don't. The Honeywell range of doorbells has a unique halo light and LED strobe features that provide visual alerts so you can see rather than hear when it is activated.

That's great for when sleep or mute mode is activated, for parties, or for the hearing impaired. The halo light comes with seven colours so you are sure to see it and some of the models even come with a nightlight mode so you can see where you're going when it's dark. You can even assign the  different colours to communicating different things like green for the back door and red for the front door.

Charge your phone at the same time

You can use the doorbell chime unit on the Honeywell Series 3 range that plugs into a wall socket to charge your USB gadgets. Yep, not only can you hear when you have a visitor at the door, but also charge your phone at the same time. Amazing.

Five-year battery life

The Series 9 range comes with a five-year battery life, while both the Series 5 and 3 come with a two-year battery life. That means for the most part, you don't really have to worry about power for a very long time.

Add sensors to turn it into an alarm system

A doorbell chimes when you press the door push button, right? Wrong. With the Honeywell doorbell range, you can add a number of accessories to expand the doorbell system into an alarm system.

Optional extras include a wireless door and window sensor, as well as, a wireless motion sensor. The former will ring the door chime when a specific window or door is opened, while the motion sensor will set off an alert when something, or someone, walks within its 12-metre sensing range. Handy if you need to be alerted of something without someone pressing a button to tell you they've arrived.

Keep on adding

The Honeywell doorbell system is modular, so you can build up your system over time, adding to it when needed. That's great if you want to start with a single doorbell, then add more doorbells or sensors over time.