Can these be used with the chime disconnected? I rather just pipe something through my speakers, since it's in my smart home system anyway.
I was going to that that tomorrow... but you seeing as you replied so fast i just tried it!
Interestingly after swapping the connections over the non-responsive door stay the same! Ie the back ringing on the back (wired to the front) didnt work, but ringing the front (wired to the back) did.
This seems to suggest that the is something in the wiring for the back thats not triggering the sensor... insufficient voltage maybe?
It's been a while since I installed mine, but I think the SAGE may be assuming a single transformer driving a pair of solenoids to strike one or two chimes. Your situation it different. Maybe you need two SAGE devices?
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I have a single transformer, external to the bell chime, supplying 15v
Front bell - ding-dong
Back - dong
Model is: https://www.electricaldirect.co.uk/product/friedland-big-ben-doorbell-216212
How would I use 2 sages... ?
Sorry. I was thinking that the Nest Hello was introducing a complication. Perhaps not.
I think thats just acting as a relay... will look at the physical side of things, something is being a little funky!
It's not a good day today for getting things sorted! ho hum 
thanks for your help... will update if i find anything out!
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Testing this morning seems like it does work..... if you hold the bell button down... just a quick press and release to get the 'ding' doesn't appear to work.
Does that make any sense to anyone? (and how could it be fixed?) Would increasing the voltage from the transformer help?
Seems that the voltage builds to about 6v on pressing the bell button.. a quick release doesnt give it time to build sufficiently, pressing ad holding gives it that chance.
If the doorbell is only getting to 6v (and the transformer is rated for 24v) it sounds like one of a couple things:
- There is a bad connection, either between transformer and doorbell button or doorbell and the actual bell mechanism
- The transformer itself is bad (if it is the same one for both bells and the other is working fine, this is probably not the case)
The easiest one (usually) to check is the transformer, depending on where it is mounted. Most have their wire connections exposed so you could just put your meter right onto it and make sure it is actually putting 24v out to begin with. That does not necessarily mean it is good though, if it is the transformer dropping to 6v when the button is pressed. So if possible, have someone else press it while you are checking to see if it drops.
Hi Snell... thanks for this, your thinking followed mine!
Took it all apart, wiring every thing together in various different ways to isolate/remove elements in the chain. Every part worked as it should.
So I increased the supply voltage to the full 24V (it was on a lower supply) and now works perfectly!
I've also ordered a new transformer just to be certain!
Thanks everyone for your help!
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and now its stopped working again
The voltage of the transformer is one aspect but the issue may be that even though you have it on the 24VAC tap, the VA rating might be insufficient (or marginally sufficient) to power the chime. I suspect the Nest Hello is simulating a button press of some set duration to sound the front doorbell chime. As you indicated in an earlier post quickly pressing the doorbell button at the back door causes SAGE sensor to ignore the signal.
Have a look at the VA rating of your transformer--it should be stamped somewhere on the housing. The Nest Hello specs call for a minimum of 10 VA which seems ridiculously low to me. Put a meter across the transformer 24VAC output and take a reading. The output should be 24V +/- !0% ( 21.6V-26.4V). Then check it while someone presses (EDIT: AND HOLD for a couple of seconds) the rear doorbell button--I'm guessing it drops significantly.
Yes you can wire it up without a chime with a smart doorbell. I've just got one of these and have been playing with an EZVIZ DB-1 - took me a while to hit the right wiring. There are a couple of gotchas with the DB-1:
When you initially configure it you must select that you have a mechanical chime (even though you do not have one). You can only do this at initial setup for some silly reason. If you do not do this, the doorbell does not drop the voltage and the SAGE will not work.
You then wire the sage on one side of the doorbell in series. You should have a doorbell resistor (EZBIZ call it the Power Kit) that you attach to each side of the SAGE wiring. See the following picture and replace the chime with the SAGE device:
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Not exactly, my use case is to trigger the doorbell when someone doesn't ring the doorbell. For whatever reason knocking on the door is not audible in the house unless you knock really hard. When my nest doorbell camera detects someone I wanted to ring the doorbell. I tried speech annunciations but that drove the wife crazy. A zwave relay on the doorbell leads to the doorbell would work but that means me climbing into attic to a difficult to reach area.
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Ah, sorry, I misremembered.
A low tech solution.
The second part of that though is I want the doorbell to ring when packages are dropped off. The person detection would accomplish this along with a relay but I don't want to go up in the attic. I'd rather have some kind of zwave or zigbee addon I could stick in the box that could ring it when the camera triggers.
Also our HOA likes writing tickets for signs, stickers, posters, lawn ornaments, decorations, trash cans left out too long, etc...
I got a letter because my rocks around my flower beds were dirty.
Wow...you got some neighbors on the HOA that have WAY too much free time.
Our HOA is more relaxed (though both directions can have their issues of course). 
For giggles, I got a current sensing switch (~£14) and passed one of the 24VAC doorbell wires through it and attached an Aqara contact sensor that has two handy holes to stick a couple of pin cables through:
... and it works! I was surprised. Hit the doorbell, the voltage drops, and the contact sensor closes and then reopens.
An alternative to the fiddly setup with the SAGE. The voltage sensor is self-powered and the Aqara sensor is easy to use and actually shows its battery usage 
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