Can a landline ring two phones when the buzzer calls?
A landline can ring several handsets inside the apartment, because extensions share one line. It cannot ring two mobiles that are somewhere else. Forwarding moves the call rather than duplicating it, and simultaneous ring is rarely offered on residential lines. Ringing several phones at once needs a number built to do it, which is what BuzzMeBro provides.
The question comes up because extensions feel like the answer. Two handsets, one line, both ring. Then somebody points out that the problem was never being in the apartment.
What extensions actually do
Every handset plugged into the same line rings when a call arrives. That is one line with several endpoints in the same home, not several phones in several places.
For a buzzer, that means somebody home in the bedroom can answer as easily as somebody home in the kitchen. It does nothing for the roommate on the subway, which is the case that made you look this up.
What forwarding does instead
Forwarding sends the incoming call somewhere else. It is a redirect, not a copy, so the line stops ringing when the destination starts.
One person gets the buzz and everybody else is exactly where they were. The same trap in the general case.
| Setup | Rings in the apartment | Rings a mobile | Rings several mobiles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landline with extensions | Yes | No | No |
| Landline with call forwarding | No, it moves | Yes, one | No |
| Mobile number on the panel | No | Yes, one | No |
| A number built to ring a group, like BuzzMeBro | Not needed | Yes | Yes, up to 4 |
Why the panel cannot help
A lobby panel stores one number per unit and places one call. There is no second field and no group behaviour anywhere in the panel.
So whatever rings several phones has to be behind that one number rather than in the panel. What the panel is doing.
What to do in a shared apartment
Put a number on the panel that rings everybody, and stop paying for a line whose handsets are all in a room nobody is standing in.
BuzzMeBro rings up to 4 phones at the same time on one number that is local to your building, for $11.99 a month, and whoever answers first opens the door. What that costs against keeping the line.
Questions people ask
Can I add my mobile as an extension of my home phone?
Not in the way the word extension is normally used. Extensions share a physical line in one home. Reaching a mobile means forwarding the call or having something else place a second call to it.
Does any Canadian provider offer simultaneous ring on a home line?
Some business services do it well. It is uncommon on residential lines, and where it exists it is usually limited to one extra destination, which is short of what a shared apartment needs.
What about a cordless phone with several handsets?
Same answer as extensions. All of those handsets are in the apartment, so they help whoever is home and nobody else.
If forwarding moves the call, can I chain it?
Chaining sends it further down the line rather than to two places at once, and each hop adds delay. A visitor gives up before a chain resolves.
What actually rings everyone at once?
A number designed to fan the call out. BuzzMeBro rings up to 4 phones simultaneously from the one number stored on your panel, so nobody is chosen and nobody is left waiting.