Your guest is in the lobby and the buzzer is not reaching you
When a guest cannot get in, the apartment buzzer is usually calling one phone that is silenced, in another room, or belongs to someone else. Before they arrive, confirm your buzz code, buzz your own unit from the lobby to see which phone rings, save the building number as a contact, and text the guest the code. BuzzMeBro makes one buzz ring up to 4 phones at once.
Your friend lands at 11. You are home, awake, waiting. At 11:40 you get a text from the lobby: pressed your number twice, nothing. Your phone never rang.
This is a different problem from letting somebody in when you are out. You are right there. The buzz just went somewhere else.
Why does the buzz miss you when you are home?
A lobby panel stores one phone number for your unit. When your guest presses your code, the panel calls that number and nothing else. Being home does not change where the call goes.
- It rings your roommate. The number on the panel is theirs, and they are asleep or out. When a roommate never answers.
- It rings an old number. A previous tenant, or a phone you replaced. Your guest hears ringing, then nothing.
- It rings you, silently. The building number is not in your contacts, and your phone treats it as an unknown caller.
- It rings you, in another room. The phone is on the charger by the bed and the ringer is down for the night.
- Your guest typed the wrong code. They used your unit number, and your building uses a different buzz code.
Late arrivals make all five worse. Phones go quiet at night, roommates go to bed, and the guest has no way to tell which one happened.
How do you set the buzzer up before a guest arrives?
- Find your buzz code Look for your listing on the lobby directory, or ask the building. It is often different from your unit number. Why the code and the unit differ.
- Buzz your own unit from the lobby Go down, type the code and see which phone rings. If yours rings, good. If a roommate or nobody answers, you know before your guest does. Got a new phone number recently? The free buzzer number check tells you whether the building line can call it at all.
- Save the building number as a contact Check your recent calls after the test and save the number as Lobby Buzzer. On an iPhone, also look at
Settings > Apps > Phone > Screen Unknown Callers. Apple says the Silence option silences calls from unsaved numbers and sends them to voicemail. - Keep the phone loud and close Ringer up, phone in the room you are in, for the hour around the arrival. That is the whole fix for most late-night misses.
- Know your door digit Many buildings use 9, but it is a building setting and yours may differ. Practise the answer and the digit once during the test. How to buzz someone in.
What should you text your guest?
Short, and written for someone standing outside with a suitcase. Send it before they leave, not when they arrive.
- The door. Front entrance on King, not the garage door around the side.
- The buzz code. Type 2041 at the panel. It rings my phone, then I let you in.
- The backup. If nobody answers in thirty seconds, call me and I will come down.
What goes wrong with each setup?
| The panel calls | What happens at 11 pm |
|---|---|
| Every phone in the apartment at once | Whoever is awake answers and opens the door |
| Your mobile, saved as a contact, ringer up | Works, as long as you hear it |
| Your mobile, not saved as a contact | May be silenced or filtered as an unknown caller |
| A roommate | Works only if they are awake and willing |
| An old tenant or a dead number | Never works. The building has to change it. |
If you live alone and the panel already rings your own phone, you probably do not need to buy anything. Save the number, keep the ringer up, and the steps above are enough.
What about short-stay guests?
If the guest is paying to stay, check your lease and your building rules first, and the City of Toronto short-term rental rules, which only allow short-term rentals in a person’s principal residence.
How do you make the buzz reach whoever is awake?
The steps above fix one phone. The harder case is a household: the panel rings one person, and that person is not the one expecting the guest.
BuzzMeBro gives your apartment its own local number for the lobby panel. When your guest buzzes, up to 4 phones ring at the same time, and whoever answers presses the door digit. If nobody picks up, everyone gets a text with a tap to call the visitor back. Each person added confirms their own number by text, so nobody hands out a personal number. It is $9.99 a month for the apartment, and your data is never sold (privacy). Get your number, or see more in deliveries and guests.
Questions people ask
Why did my guest buzz and my phone not ring?
The panel calls the one number stored for your unit. That number may be a roommate, an old tenant, or your phone with the building treated as an unknown caller. Buzz yourself from the lobby to find out which.
Can I give my guest a code to let themselves in?
Give them your buzz code, which rings you. Do not share a code that opens the door, because it works for anyone who has it and is usually against building rules.
What should my guest do if nobody answers?
Agree on it in advance: wait thirty seconds, then call your mobile and you come down. Do not ask them to wait for a neighbour, which means a stranger letting someone into the building.
Is my buzz code the same as my unit number?
Often, but not always. Older directories and renumbered buildings use different codes, so check the lobby directory and test it before you send it to anyone.
How do I make sure someone at home always answers the buzzer?
Have the buzz ring more than one phone. BuzzMeBro gives the apartment its own local number for the panel and rings up to 4 phones at once, so whoever is awake lets your guest in.