How to add a roommate to your apartment buzzer
You cannot add a roommate as a second entry on the lobby panel, because each unit stores one phone number. Instead you replace that number with one that rings both of you. A service built for it, like BuzzMeBro, rings every phone in the apartment at once for one monthly fee. The free routes, taking turns, call forwarding and Google Voice, each leave one person on door duty or fail at the door itself.
Somebody moved in. Maybe a roommate, maybe a partner, maybe you took over a lease. The buzzer still rings one phone, and that phone belongs to one person, and now that person is the only one who can let anyone into the apartment.
It sounds small until the week they go away and you spend it walking down to the lobby for every delivery.
Why the building cannot just add them
The panel in the lobby stores one phone number per unit. Not one per person. When someone presses your unit, it dials that number. There is no second field to put your roommate in, which is why property managers say no to this even when they are being helpful. The longer explanation is here.
What actually works: a number for the apartment, not a person
The version of this that holds up over a whole lease is a number that belongs to the apartment rather than to whoever currently answers the buzzer. BuzzMeBro does that: the apartment gets its own local number, you give it to the building once, and up to 4 phones ring at the same time whenever someone buzzes. Whoever is free answers and presses the digit. It is $11.99 a month for the apartment, split however you like.
The part that matters specifically for roommates is that nobody owns it. It is not on anyone's phone plan, not tied to anyone's Google account, and when someone moves out you remove them without the number changing or the building being involved again.
The three free routes, and why roommates outgrow them
Take turns being the number: free, and one of you is always on duty
Email the building and ask them to change the number. It costs nothing and it works if one of you is home most of the time.
Most people try this first and stop within a month, because every swap needs the building to make a change, and because whoever holds it is the doorman until they hand it over.
Forwarding: sends your whole phone, or arrives too late
Unconditional forwarding sends every call you get to your roommate, which is nobody's idea of a good time. Conditional forwarding only fires when you do not answer, which is better behaved but puts a full ring-out between the buzz and their phone starting. Couriers do not wait through that.
Google Voice: rings you both, then will not open the door
Free, rings both of you, and needs one of you to own the account. The catch is the door digit, which often does not survive the trip back through Google Voice, so you get the call and then cannot let anyone in. Test it from the lobby before you rely on it.
What to do when a roommate moves out
This is the step people forget, and it is the one with a real consequence. If the buzzer rings a phone belonging to someone who no longer lives there, that person can still let strangers into your building.
- If the buzzer rings their personal number, email the building and change it the week they leave, not the month after.
- If you are using forwarding, turn it off. Forwarding survives a move-out silently.
- If you are using a Google Voice or shared account, remove their device and change the password if they had it.
- If you are on a service built for apartments, remove them from the apartment. The number stays, everyone else keeps working.
Fair warning about how many people you can add
Most services cap the number of phones per apartment, and the cap exists because a buzzer number that rings fifteen phones is not an apartment, it is a business. BuzzMeBro rings up to 4, which covers a unit with four adults in it. If you need more than that, you are looking at a building-level system, and that is a conversation with your property manager.
Questions people ask
Can my roommate be added as a second name in the lobby directory?
Your name in the directory and the phone number your unit dials are two different fields. Some buildings will happily list both names while still dialling one number. Ask for both, but do not assume the second name means a second phone rings.
What if my roommate and I are on different phone carriers?
It makes no difference. The entry panel places an ordinary phone call, and any service that fans that call out will ring phones on any carrier.
Can we split the cost?
BuzzMeBro is billed per apartment rather than per person, at $11.99 a month, so there is one charge to split however you want. Nothing in the product tracks who paid.
Does my roommate need to install an app?
Not with BuzzMeBro. A buzz arrives as an ordinary incoming call on their phone, and they press the building digit to open the door. Setup happens once on the website.