Intercom and video doorbell installation in New York buildings

An intercom is a small system that everyone in the building depends on. When it fails, tenants miss deliveries, guests wait outside and the door gets propped open, which defeats the point of a locking entrance.

We trace the existing wiring, tell you honestly whether the system can be repaired or should be replaced, and install new systems so the door strike, the lobby panel and every apartment station work together.

Older audio intercoms run on multi-conductor cable to every apartment, and when a few stations fail the usual culprit is a broken conductor, a failing power supply or corrosion at the lobby panel. We test the system end to end before recommending anything. When replacement makes sense, newer systems can reuse the existing two-wire or multi-wire cable in many buildings, which avoids fishing new cable to every apartment. We phase the changeover so the building never goes without a working door release overnight.

Row houses and brownstones often have a doorbell at the street door and nothing that shows who's there. Video doorbells need a transformer sized for the unit, a secure mount on brick or wood, and a good Wi-Fi signal at the door. We replace undersized bell transformers, run new low-voltage wire where the old chime wire can't support the camera, and set up the app on your phone. For two-family houses, each unit can get its own button and station. The old chime can stay or be replaced with a digital one.

The door release is the part that matters most. An electric strike or maglock at the main entrance has to release reliably when a tenant presses the button, stay locked otherwise, and open freely from the inside. We match the strike or lock to the door and frame, size its power supply, and wire the release to every station and to a request-to-exit device where one is needed. A buzzing door that doesn't open is almost always a strike or power problem, and we fix it at the source.

Smartphone-based systems replace apartment stations with an app: a visitor calls from the lobby panel, the tenant answers on their phone and taps to unlock. They cut the cabling needed to each unit and let managers add or remove residents without a visit. We install the lobby panel, strike and network connection, and we can keep a handset option for residents who don't use smartphones. Delivery access codes and a visitor log are set up with the managing agent before we leave.

Repairs are usually done in a visit once the fault is found. Replacing a small building's intercom with a system that reuses existing cable typically takes one to two days; buildings that need new cable to every unit take longer. Video doorbells for houses are usually installed in a couple of hours. We schedule changeovers so the door release works every night.