Letting somebody in when you are not home
You can let somebody into your building from anywhere you can take a call, because a buzzer call is an ordinary phone call and the door digit travels down that call. What fails is being unreachable: if the panel rings one phone and that phone is in a meeting, nobody answers. The reliable version rings several phones at once, and whoever answers confirms who it is first.
Live with others? BuzzMeBro puts more than one of you on the buzzer. First month free. Start free
Say a friend lands early, the cleaner comes on Thursdays, or the internet technician has a window from noon to four and you have a meeting at one. All the same problem.
Why distance is not the issue
On a dial-out panel, pressing your unit places a phone call to the number stored for you. Mircom’s TX3 user guide describes the rest: you answer, press 9 or the building’s chosen digit, and the door unlocks and the call ends.
None of that depends on where you are, as long as your phone can take the call. You can open your building door from the office or from another city. How the call and the digit work.
What actually goes wrong
The buzz reaches one phone and that phone does not answer. That is the whole failure, however good your intentions were at 12:55.
| What people do | Problem |
|---|---|
| Tell the guest to call you, then you call the building | You cannot open the door from a call you placed |
| Give them the unit code and hope | The unit code rings you. It does not open anything |
| Ask a neighbour to let them in | Works once, and it puts the decision on somebody who does not know your visitor |
| Leave the lobby door propped | Do not. It is a security problem for everyone in the building |
| Have the buzz ring several phones | Whoever is free answers, checks who it is, and opens |
The version that works while you are busy
If the buzz rings more than one phone in the apartment, somebody who is free answers it. A housemate working from home lets the technician in and you stay in the meeting. Away for longer? Answering the buzzer while travelling.
BuzzMeBro rings up to 4 phones at once from the number your building stores, for $9.99 a month for the apartment. Setting it up. It works the same for a parent’s apartment.
If nobody will be reachable, BuzzMeBro can also send a guest you know a pass to tap at the door, or a code to type at the panel. Each can be set for one time, until a date, or for set days and hours, and it only works on your own door.
The safety half
- Know who it is before you press the digit. Talk to the visitor first. If you are not expecting anyone and they cannot say who they are visiting, do not open.
- The door only opens from the panel’s own call. DoorKing’s manual notes that only the panel that placed the call responds to the door tone sent back from the resident’s phone. Somebody dialling your number from outside reaches a phone and cannot open anything.
- Do not share building codes or fobs beyond what your lease and building rules allow. Guest access you control for your own door is a different thing from handing out the building’s keys.
Everyone who can answer for the apartment gets a text when that list changes, and BuzzMeBro keeps a log of each buzz and who opened the door, described in our privacy policy. Granting access without handing out numbers.
From our own door
- BuzzMeBro has run on our founder’s own Toronto apartment door since August 2026.
- A buzz calls the phones on the apartment that are set to ring, at the same time, up to 4, and whoever answers first handles it.
- Whoever answers hears a short spoken prompt first, then presses the door digit (9, or the building’s own digit) to open.
- When nobody answers, everyone on the apartment gets a text saying someone buzzed, with a number to call back.
Questions people ask
Can I open the door if I am in another country?
Yes, as long as you can take the call. The door digit travels down the call itself, so wherever you answer is where you can open the door from. Roaming charges are between you and your carrier.
Can I give a guest a code to let themselves in?
The unit code a visitor presses in the lobby only calls you. Some panels support resident entry codes, but building management sets those, and sharing one may break your building’s rules. BuzzMeBro guest passes and codes are limited to your own door and can expire.
What if my phone is on silent?
Then the buzz is missed, which is why one phone is a fragile arrangement. Several phones ringing at once means somebody who is available answers.
Is it safe to let somebody in remotely?
The call comes from your own building panel, so the person is standing at your lobby door. Speak to them and confirm who they are before you press the digit; if you cannot tell, do not open.
How do I know the door actually opened?
On many panels, pressing the digit releases the door and ends the call. BuzzMeBro logs every buzz and who opened the door, so the apartment has a record rather than a guess.