Enterphone: changing the phone number your suite dials
An Enterphone entry panel holds a phone number for each suite, plus an optional alternate number it dials only if the first call does not go through. Only a building administrator can change them, on current Enterphone systems through the Enterphone administration pages in a web browser. Email your property manager or strata manager with your suite number and the new number in full, including the area code.
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Enterphone started in British Columbia. Viscount Systems of Burnaby, whose telephone entry business dates back to 1969, made and serviced Enterphone systems across Western Canada, and many people in BC now use the word for any lobby buzzer. Current Enterphone documentation is published under the Hirsch name.
Panels last a long time, so your lobby may have a recent networked Enterphone or one installed decades ago. Which one you have decides what can be changed.
Does your Enterphone dial a phone number at all?
Ask this before anything else. Viscount’s own filings describe two kinds of Enterphone setup.
| Setup | How it works | Can a number be changed? |
|---|---|---|
| Dial-out panel | The panel calls an outside phone number over a phone company line | Yes. This is what the rest of this page covers |
| EPX, the no phone bill system | A control unit in the building’s telephone room rings the phone in your suite over the building’s internal wiring, with a distinctive ring | No outside number is stored. Only a phone on your suite’s wiring rings |
Viscount says most of its panels can be installed either way. If a building says your buzzer cannot call a mobile, an EPX setup is the usual reason, and they are telling you the truth. Your options then are a phone on the suite wiring, or asking the building to change how the panel is connected. How to tell which kind you have.
What does an Enterphone store for your suite?
On a current Enterphone system, Hirsch’s administration guide lists these fields for each suite:
| Field | What it does | Who can change it |
|---|---|---|
| Suite name or number | Identifies the suite in the directory | The building |
| Suite code | The 4 digit code shown in the lobby directory | The building |
| Phone number | The number the panel dials first | The building |
| Alternate phone number | Dialled only if the first number cannot be reached, after a set number of rings | The building |
The alternate number is a backup, not a second phone ringing alongside the first. A visitor waits through the first call before the second one starts. How a backup number differs from ringing both phones.
Some buildings also run the Enterphone mobile app. For a resident set up with it, Hirsch says the app call comes first and the suite’s regular phone number becomes the fallback the panel dials when the app call does not go through. The administrator sets that up, not you.
Who can change the number on an Enterphone?
Not you. On a current system the administrator logs in to the Enterphone administration pages in a web browser, opens the Suites tab and edits the entry. There is no resident page where you type in a new mobile number. On an older panel the building may need its security contractor, so ask how long it will take.
- Email whoever holds the panel login Property manager in a rental, strata manager or concierge in a condo. Give your suite number and the new phone number in full with the area code.
- Ask them to fix the display name in the same message It is often still the tenant before you.
- Ask which key opens the door The default is
6, but it is set per building. Find out before a visitor is standing there. - Test it from the lobby yourself Buzz your own suite, answer, and open the door once. A number that rings but will not release the lock is half a job.
If you live alone and the panel is simply calling a number you no longer use, you do not need to buy anything. Email the manager, get the entry updated, test it, done. How to check what it currently calls.
What actually gets more than one phone ringing?
The panel places an ordinary phone call and cannot tell what happens after it leaves the building. So the fix is in what the number on file does next.
| Approach | Can more than one phone ring? | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| A BuzzMeBro number in the suite’s phone number field | Yes. Up to 4 phones ring at once and whoever answers first opens the door | $9.99 a month per apartment, and a local number has to be available for your building |
| One roommate’s mobile on the panel | No. One phone rings and the rest of you find out later | Free, but everything depends on one person holding their phone |
| A roommate’s mobile in the alternate number field | No. It rings only after the first number fails | Free where the building allows it, but the visitor waits through two calls |
| A Google Voice number in the suite field | It can ring several phones | Free, but test the door key before relying on it, because the tone has to survive the relay |
| Carrier call forwarding from the number on file | No. Basic forwarding sends the call on to one other phone | Whatever your carrier charges, and the original phone stops ringing |
BuzzMeBro gives your apartment its own local phone number. You hand it to the building once, they type it into the suite entry like any other number, and a buzz then calls every phone registered to the apartment that is set to ring, at the same time. A buzz arrives as an ordinary inbound phone call, so there is nothing to install. It is $9.99 a month or $95.00 a year, billed per apartment rather than per person. A local number is checked at signup, and a building with none available goes on a waitlist. If your Enterphone is the EPX kind, no outside number helps. Check availability for your building.
Which key opens the door on an Enterphone?
Hirsch’s guide gives the defaults: 6 releases the door on relay 1 and 8 the door on relay 2. The visitor then hears please enter, the door is unlocked. Hanging up without pressing anything denies access. Both keys can be changed in the panel settings, so ask your building which one it uses.
If the right key does nothing, the problem is often the audio path rather than the panel. Why the door digit fails.
If your panel turns out to be a Mircom, the field names differ. The Mircom TX3 version, and how apartment buzzers work for the general picture.
From our own door
- Switching a panel to a BuzzMeBro number means the building updates the one stored number for your suite and nothing else. Pointing it back at the old number undoes it the same day.
- Whoever answers a BuzzMeBro buzz hears a short spoken prompt, then presses the door digit: 9, or the building’s own digit.
- BuzzMeBro has run on our founder’s own Toronto apartment door since August 2026.
Questions people ask
Can I change my Enterphone number myself?
No. The suite directory sits behind an administrator login, reached through the Enterphone administration pages in a web browser on current systems. Your property manager, strata manager, concierge or the building’s security contractor makes the change.
Can an Enterphone call a cell phone?
Yes, if the panel dials out over a phone company line. It places an ordinary call and does not care what kind of phone answers. An Enterphone set up as an EPX system is different: it rings the phone on your suite’s wiring and cannot reach a mobile.
Can an Enterphone hold two numbers for my suite?
It can hold a phone number and an alternate, but the alternate is only dialled after the first number does not answer. Both phones do not ring together. To get several phones ringing at once, the main number has to ring them itself, which is what BuzzMeBro does for up to 4 phones.
What key opens the door on an Enterphone?
The default is 6 for the main door and 8 for a second door, and your building can change both. Ask rather than guessing, then test it once from the lobby.
Does the Enterphone app replace the phone number?
Not entirely. For residents set up with the Enterphone mobile app, the app call comes first and the suite’s regular phone number is the fallback. The building enrols you. A BuzzMeBro number can sit in that phone number field like any other number.
Sources
- Hirsch, Enterphone Solution Guide
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), Viscount Systems, Inc. Annual Report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015