How Toronto roommates share buzzer access
Toronto buzzers ring one number, so roommates usually pick one person and that person becomes the doorman. The alternative is to put a number on the buzzer that rings everybody in the apartment. BuzzMeBro does that for up to 4 phones at once, and each roommate confirms their own number by text before the buzzer will ever ring them.
Three people, one lease, one buzzer. Somebody put their mobile on the panel when they moved in, probably whoever signed first, and that decision quietly became a job.
The group chat is where you can see it. Forty messages a month that all say some version of buzz me up.
What each option actually costs somebody
| What you do | Who it works for | Who pays for it |
|---|---|---|
| One number that rings everyone, like BuzzMeBro | Everyone in the apartment | The apartment, once a month |
| One roommate's mobile on the panel | Guests, when that person is free | That roommate, every day |
| Carrier call forwarding | One person at a time | Whoever is at the end of the chain |
| Everyone walks down to the lobby | Nobody | Whoever happens to be home, which is usually the same person |
Forwarding is the one that looks like sharing and is not. It sends the call somewhere else instead of ringing both phones, so the person who set it up stops getting buzzed at all. The full comparison.
The Toronto specifics
Two things about this city change the answer. The first is that a lot of Toronto renters are new to the city and kept the mobile number they arrived with. A lobby panel dialling out on a restricted building line often cannot reach an out-of-province number at all. What to do about that.
The second is turnover. Toronto leases move, roommates change, and every change means another email to property management if the buzzer points at a person rather than at the apartment.
Doing it without making a new problem
Anything that lets one person add a phone to the buzzer without that phone agreeing is worse than the problem it solves. Buzzer access is building access.
- Everyone added should confirm their own number by text before the buzzer rings them.
- Everyone in the apartment should be told when that list changes.
- Removing somebody should take seconds, not a message to the building.
- Only a call from your own lobby panel should be able to open the door, so a wrong number cannot.
BuzzMeBro does all four. How adding a roommate works.
What it takes to switch
- Agree who is on it Usually everyone on the lease. Up to 4 phones ring together.
- Get a number local to your building The panel dials out on a line that is normally restricted to local calls, so the number has to be inside your building local calling area.
- Email property management once One line asking them to change the number stored against your unit. This is the only part they are involved in.
- Test it together One of you stands at the panel and presses the unit code. Every phone in the apartment should ring.
It is $11.99 a month for the apartment rather than per person, so splitting it four ways is not really a conversation. Start here.
Questions people ask
Can we just put two numbers on the buzzer?
No. Toronto lobby panels store one number per unit, and there is no second field for a building to fill in. Every workable answer points that one field at a number which rings more than one phone.
Does each roommate pay separately?
No. BuzzMeBro is priced per apartment at $11.99 a month, and up to 4 phones ring on one buzz. Adding or removing a roommate does not change what the apartment pays.
What happens when a roommate moves out?
Remove their phone and add the replacement. The number on the lobby panel never changes, so property management is not involved and nobody has to chase them again.
Can a roommate add someone without telling us?
Everyone added has to confirm their own number by text first, and everyone already on the apartment is told when the list changes. Buzzer access is building access, so it should never be something one person can hand out quietly.
Do we all need the same phone carrier?
No. The buzz arrives as an ordinary inbound phone call, so any Canadian mobile works and nobody installs anything. BuzzMeBro rings all of them at once and the first person to answer can open the door.