Call forwarding for your apartment buzzer: the codes, and why each kind fails

Call forwarding is already on your phone and costs little or nothing to set up, so it is the obvious first try. Your building stores one number in the panel, and forwarding lets that number hand the call to a different phone.

It half works. This post covers the two kinds of forwarding, the codes the Canadian carriers publish, and where each one breaks when the caller is a lobby panel. For why a panel only calls one number, start with how apartment buzzers work.

What does call forwarding actually do to a buzz?

The lobby panel dials one number. Forwarding is a rule on the phone line behind that number, and it decides what happens when the call arrives.

There are two kinds. Unconditional forwarding sends every call somewhere else before the phone rings. Conditional forwarding lets the phone ring, and only sends the call on if nobody answers, the line is busy, or the phone is off. The table is sorted by whether the option gets both of you to the door.

Why does unconditional forwarding fail for a buzzer?

Unconditional forwarding is the simplest rule: every call to this number goes to that number. The phone with the rule on it does not ring at all.

It moves the buzz, it does not share it

Say the panel calls your cell. You dial *21* with your partner's number because you work late. Now your partner gets the buzz and you do not, even when you are home and they are out. You have not added a phone. You have swapped one for another. And the rule cannot tell the lobby panel from your dentist, so every call you get rings your partner too.

Somebody has to remember the toggle

Forwarding is set from the phone the panel calls, and only from that phone. If the buzzer rings your roommate's phone, only your roommate can forward it or undo it. Every shift change, trip, or dead battery means a code to dial.

The one case where it is fine

You live alone, your buzzer calls a landline, and you want it on your cell. On a Bell home phone, dial *72, then your cell number. Bell says to keep the line open at least five seconds if someone answers, or the forward does not take. The call stays an ordinary phone call, which gives the door tone its best chance, but test it from the lobby anyway.

The catch is the bill. You are paying every month for a landline whose only job is to forward, and the day you cancel it, the forward ends with it.

Why does conditional forwarding fail for a buzzer?

Conditional forwarding sounds like the fix. Your phone rings first, and if you do not pick up, the call goes to your roommate. It breaks in four places.

1. Voicemail is already using the same rule

On a cell plan, voicemail is itself where unanswered calls go. Rogers says conditional forwarding will not work when voicemail is activated, and Fido says conditional forwarding is only available when you do not have its Voice Messaging. Keep voicemail on and the courier ends up talking to your greeting.

That is the same failure as a buzzer that goes to voicemail, with one extra step.

2. The panel may hang up before the second phone rings

Fido says no-reply forwarding kicks in "normally within 20 seconds". A panel does not wait forever, because the building configures how long a call can last. Twenty seconds on your phone, then a fresh ring on the second phone, can run past that before anyone presses the door digit.

3. The second phone may screen the call

The forwarded call can arrive showing the lobby panel's number, which the second phone does not know. Spam and unknown-caller filters can send it to voicemail without ringing. Both people should save the number the buzzer calls from as a contact.

4. It is still one phone at a time

Even when all of that works, the courier waits through two full rings. Sequential is not simultaneous.

What are the call forwarding codes on Canadian carriers?

Rogers, Fido and Freedom Mobile publish these codes on their support pages. Dial the code like a phone number and press call. Rogers also lists *#21#, *#61#, *#62# and *#67# to check what is set.

Home phone codes on Bell

On a Bell home phone, dial *72, wait for three beeps and a dial tone, then dial the number to forward to. If someone answers, stay on the line at least five seconds. Dial *73 to turn it off. On another home phone provider, check that provider’s own instructions.

1. Decide what happens to voicemail Conditional forwarding and voicemail compete for the same unanswered calls. On Rogers and Fido, conditional forwarding needs voicemail off.
2. Dial the code from the phone the panel calls The rule only takes effect on the number the building has on file. Dialling it from the other phone does nothing.
3. Confirm it took On Rogers, dial *#21# or *#61# and the network reads back what is set. Elsewhere, check the confirmation your carrier sends.
4. Buzz yourself from the lobby Have the second phone answer and press the door digit. Listen for the door release. Repeat on another day, because the timing can vary.
5. Check the bill after a week Forwarded minutes show up as a separate charge if your plan does not include forwarding.

What rings both phones at the same time?

Forwarding is a rule on one phone line, and it sends the call to one place at a time. To get two phones ringing together, the number the building calls has to fan out. That is what BuzzMeBro is.

BuzzMeBro gives your apartment its own local phone number. You hand that number to your building once, and it goes into the panel like any other number. When someone buzzes, the phones on the apartment that are set to ring all ring at the same time, up to 4 of them. Whoever answers first hears a short prompt and presses the door digit your building uses, usually 9. A buzz arrives as an ordinary phone call, so there is nothing to install on anyone's phone.

It is $9.99 a month or $95.00 a year, billed per apartment, not per person. A local number is checked at signup, and a building with no number available goes on a waitlist. For every other way to get more than one phone on a buzzer, free ones included, see the full comparison.