Where intercoms earn their keep
An intercom lets you control the front door without staffing it. Couriers, visitors and contractors call reception, a tenant or a phone app, are seen and heard, and get let in remotely. The door stays locked the rest of the time.
- Industrial gates: drivers call the office or dispatch from the gate, which opens without anyone walking out to the yard.
- Reception and after-hours entries: staff answer on a desk station, handset or mobile.
- Apartment and multi-tenant buildings: a lobby panel with a directory, with each unit or tenancy answering and releasing the door.
- Schools and medical: a controlled single point of entry during the day.
Options
Audio or video
Video intercoms let you see who is calling and usually record calls. Audio-only can suit simple gates on a tight budget.
IP or two-wire
IP intercoms run over your network and are easy to extend and answer from apps. Two-wire systems can reuse existing cabling in older buildings, which keeps an upgrade simple.
Answering
Answer from a monitor, a desk phone, a mobile app or a combination, with call-forwarding after hours.
Integration
An intercom is most useful when it works with the rest of your security: releasing an access-controlled door, opening a gate or barrier, and recording call video alongside your CCTV. We design these links in from the start. See access control and CCTV.
Upgrading an old intercom
Many Auckland apartment and office buildings still run ageing analogue intercoms with failing handsets. We can survey the building, check what cabling can be reused and quote a staged upgrade, which matters when a body corporate is approving the spend.