How to use an Enterphone: the visitor side and the resident side
To use an Enterphone as a visitor, find the suite on the lobby directory or key in its suite code, then wait and talk through the panel. As the resident, the buzz is an ordinary phone call: answer, check who is there, press your building door key, then hang up. The door key is set per building. BuzzMeBro makes one buzz ring every phone in the suite.
In Vancouver the lobby panel is usually called the Enterphone, whoever made it. Everyone uses one, and nobody explains it. A friend stands in the lobby scrolling past forty names. Upstairs, a phone rings from a number nobody saved, and the person holding it is not sure which button opens the door.
This guide covers both ends of that call, in the order things happen. It is written for BC strata and rental buildings, but the steps are the same on most dial-out lobby panels.
How does a visitor use an Enterphone?
Standing in the lobby, you are trying to make the panel phone one suite. There are two ways in, and both end in the same call.
- Find the suite Scroll the directory to the resident name, or use the search if the screen has one. Names are usually listed by last name. If you were given a suite code, you can skip the list.
- Key in the suite code, or press call Type the code on the keypad, or press the call button next to the name if the screen shows one. The suite code is often not the suite number. Unit 1204 might be code 087. What a buzzer code is.
- Wait for the ring to connect The panel is dialling a phone somewhere. Give it several rings. The resident may be on another floor, at work, or digging their phone out of a bag.
- Speak toward the panel Say who you are, clearly and close to the grille. Lobbies are loud and the resident is hearing you through a speakerphone.
- Pull the door when it releases You will often hear a click, a buzz or a short message from the panel. On Enterphone panels that message is please enter, the door is unlocked. Go in straight away, because the lock only releases briefly.
How do you open the door from your phone?
On a dial-out Enterphone, the panel calls the phone number stored for your suite. It might be your mobile, a roommate mobile, or a number you have long forgotten. The call looks like any other incoming call. Often it shows as the building number, or as an unknown caller.
- Answer the call Pick up the way you would for any call. Do not press anything while it is still ringing.
- Find out who is there Keep it short. Many panels end the call on a timer: the Mircom TX3, another common lobby panel, ships with a 60 second talk limit.
- Press the door key Open the keypad on your phone and press the door key once, firmly. Hirsch, the maker of Enterphone, sets newer panels to
6for the main door and8for a second door. Your building can change both. - Hang up You may hear the panel confirm or hang up on its own. If the line is still open, end the call. Tell the visitor which door to pull if your building has more than one.
To keep someone out, hang up without pressing a key. On an Enterphone that denies access. On a Mircom TX3 the 4 key refuses entry and disconnects.
What key opens the door on an Enterphone?
There is no universal key. It is a setting inside the panel, and whoever installed or manages it picks it. Newer Enterphone panels start on 6. The Mircom TX3 starts on 9. Your building may use either, or something else.
- Check your move-in package or strata welcome sheet. The door key is often printed there.
- Ask your strata manager, property manager or concierge. It is a one-line email.
- Ask a neighbour. The key is the same for every suite on the same entrance.
- Check the side door and the parkade. A second entrance can have its own key.
If the right key does nothing, the tone is probably not reaching the panel cleanly. Pressed 9 and the door did not open works through the causes. For the general version of these steps on any panel, see how to buzz someone in.
What should you do if the Enterphone does not ring your phone?
Go to the lobby and buzz your own suite. What happens tells you where the fault is.
| What happens | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Your phone rings | The Enterphone works. The earlier miss was on your phone | Save the building number as a contact and check your spam settings |
| Someone else answers | The panel still has the last tenant, or a roommate, on file | Ask the building to update the number for your suite |
| It rings out or goes to voicemail | Your phone is filtering the call, or the number on file is dead | Check the phone settings first, then ask what number is stored |
| Your name is not on the list | The directory was never updated | Ask for the display name and number to be changed together |
On an iPhone, Screen Unknown Callers set to Silence sends calls from unsaved numbers to voicemail. A panel calling from a number you never saved is exactly that. Carrier spam filtering can do the same thing without telling you. What to do about a buzzer going to voicemail.
If the number on file is wrong, the change goes through your strata or property manager. Changing the number on an Enterphone covers who holds the login, and the Enterphone request form covers what to write if they send you one. Not sure your number is local to the building? The free buzzer number check tells you.
What if several people live in the suite?
The Enterphone stores one phone number for each suite. Some panels can redial an alternate number, but only after the first one goes unanswered. So in a shared suite, one person gets every buzz. If you live alone and your own mobile is on file, you are set and do not need anything else.
With roommates or a partner, the person on file becomes the doorman. When they are at work, in the shower or asleep, the visitor stands in the lobby and the rest of you never hear a thing. The Vancouver apartment buzzer guide explains why panels work this way.
BuzzMeBro gives your suite its own local Greater Vancouver number. Your strata or property manager puts it on the Enterphone once. After that, a buzz rings up to 4 phones at the same time, and whoever answers presses the door key exactly as above. It is an ordinary phone call, so there is nothing to install. It is $9.99 a month for the suite, and customer data is never sold or used to train AI (privacy policy). More guides for BC buildings are in buzzers in Vancouver. Check availability for your building.
Questions people ask
How do I call someone on an Enterphone?
Scroll the lobby directory to their name, or key in their suite code, then wait for the call to connect and speak toward the panel. The suite code is often different from the suite number, so ask the resident for it if you can.
What number do I press to open the door on an Enterphone?
Your building chooses it. Newer Enterphone panels ship with 6 for the main door and 8 for a second door, and your building can change both. Check your move-in package or ask your strata or property manager, then test it once from the lobby.
Where do I find my Enterphone code?
The suite code is beside your name on the lobby directory, or in your move-in package. Your strata manager, property manager or concierge can also tell you. It belongs to the suite, and the building assigns it.
How do I stop someone coming in?
Hang up without pressing the door key. On an Enterphone, hanging up denies access. Never press a key you are unsure of while a stranger is at the door.
Can an Enterphone ring more than one phone?
The panel stores one number per suite, so it rings one phone. BuzzMeBro gives the suite one local number that rings up to 4 phones at once, so whoever is free answers and presses the door key.