Video Intercom and Telephone Entry Systems for Multifamily and Secured Buildings

Where video intercom and telephone entry fit#

Telelink Business Services is a licensed C-7 Low Voltage Systems Contractor, CSLB License #472017. We install and configure entry systems for multifamily and senior housing, secured office lobbies, gated parking, and any building where the front door has to answer itself. The two platforms we install and configure directly are ButterflyMX, for video intercom and smart access in multifamily, and DoorKing (DKS), for telephone entry and gate and vehicular access. We installed entry and access control systems on the occupied renovations at Little Tokyo Towers in Los Angeles and Horton House in San Diego.

An entry system is the front end of an access control system. Tenants and staff use credentials at the door; visitors, deliveries, and service vendors use the intercom or entry panel. When the two are designed together, one directory drives both, one set of door hardware serves both, and one closeout package documents both. When they are bought separately, the property ends up with two apps, two directories, and a lobby door with two release circuits that nobody has tested together. Our access control page covers the credential side; this page covers the visitor side and the vehicle gate.

Scope from us includes the panels and entry units, keypads and vehicle readers, controllers and power supplies, the cabling and network connection, the release wiring to the door hardware and the gate operator inputs, the directory build, the property staff training, and the as-builts.

ButterflyMX: lobby panels, keypads, elevators, and package rooms#

ButterflyMX is a cloud-managed video intercom and access platform built for multifamily. The lobby panel is a touchscreen with a camera and a directory. A visitor searches for a name, the platform places a video call to the tenant’s phone app, and the tenant sees the visitor and releases the door from wherever they are. The same platform handles the parts of a multifamily building that have traditionally needed separate systems:

• Keypads at secondary doors, amenity spaces, and stairwells, using the same credentials and the same directory as the lobby panel
• Elevator controls that limit a visitor admitted at the lobby to the floor of the tenant who let them in
• Package room access, so a carrier can enter a locked package room with a delivery PIN and the property gets a time-stamped record
• Visitor passes and virtual keys that a tenant issues from the app, time-limited, for a guest, a dog walker or a cleaning service
• Delivery PINs for carriers and food delivery, managed by the property rather than taped to the door
• Cloud directory management, with move-in and move-out handled from a browser, and integrations with property management software on many platforms

For staff, the same app opens doors, and property management can see a log of every entry event with a snapshot from the panel camera. We build the initial directory from the rent roll, program the door and elevator relays, verify every entry point with a test call, and train the property team before turnover.

The lobby panel needs an Ethernet connection with PoE or a local power supply, a release circuit to the door hardware, and a clean mounting surface at the right height. Where the lobby is being renovated we coordinate the rough-in with the GC so the panel sits in the wall rather than on it.

DoorKing telephone entry and vehicular gate access#

DoorKing (DKS) telephone entry systems are the workhorse at vehicle gates, pedestrian gates, and buildings where a phone-based directory is the right fit. A visitor scrolls or searches the directory on the unit, the unit calls the tenant’s phone, and the tenant presses a key to release the gate or door. DKS also builds the access controllers, keypads, card readers and long-range vehicle readers that let tenants enter without calling anyone, and its management software programs the directory and credentials across every entry point on the property.

At a vehicle gate the entry system is one part of a sequence that includes the gate operator, the loops in the pavement that detect a vehicle, the safety devices that stop the gate, and the exit loop or free exit device. Our scope is the entry unit, the readers and keypads, the controller, and the low voltage control wiring to the operator’s inputs. The gate operator, its line voltage feed, and the gate’s safety devices belong to the gate contractor and the electrician. We test the whole sequence with the gate contractor before turnover so a tenant’s fob, a visitor’s call and the exit loop all produce the right result.

DKS units are also common at senior housing and office properties where a tenant base prefers a phone call to a smartphone app. A common configuration pairs a ButterflyMX panel at the pedestrian lobby with DKS at the vehicle gate, both tied into the same access control credentials.

Cellular connectivity when the copper line goes away#

Telephone entry systems were designed around an analog phone line. Carriers across California have been retiring copper lines, and property owners are finding that the line to the gate is either gone or priced to encourage them to leave. When the line goes, the entry system stops calling anyone.

The fix is a cellular gateway or an internet connection. DKS offers a cellular voice and data gateway that gives the entry unit a phone path and a programming path without a landline. ButterflyMX panels run over the building’s internet connection and do not use a phone line at all. On every project we confirm which path the unit will use, verify signal strength at the actual mounting location for cellular, and test calls to a sample of tenant numbers before the old line is disconnected.

Owners with several properties on aging telephone entry units often find that a cellular conversion, with the existing unit kept in place, is the smallest change that keeps the gate working. When the unit itself is at end of life, a new entry system with a modern connection is usually the better spend.

Mounting heights, reach ranges, and the lobby itself#

An entry panel that a wheelchair user cannot reach is a compliance problem and a daily insult. The 2010 ADA Standards put unobstructed forward and side reach between 15 and 48 inches above the floor, and California’s building code accessibility chapter carries similar requirements with its own details for obstructed reach, clear floor space, and operable parts. The touchscreen, the keypad, the call button and the card reader all count as operable parts. We mount panels so the highest operable element is within reach range, keep a clear floor space in front of the panel, and confirm the exact dimensions with the architect on new construction, since local plan checkers vary in how they interpret obstructed reach at a vestibule or a vehicle gate.

Vehicle gate units have their own geometry. The unit has to be reachable from a driver’s window without opening the door, which sets the height and the setback from the drive lane, and a gooseneck post with the right offset is usually part of the package. Where the property serves both cars and pedestrians at a gate, a second unit at pedestrian height is the honest answer.

Weather, glare and vandalism drive the rest of the mounting decision. A panel in direct afternoon sun needs a hood or a shaded location so the screen is readable and the camera is not blinded. Ground-level panels in unattended locations get vandal-resistant models and a camera watching the panel.

Directory administration and tenant turnover#

In multifamily the entry system is only as good as its directory. A directory with move-outs still listed and move-ins missing produces visitors who cannot get in and tenants who prop the door. The design question is not the panel; it is who updates the list and how.

Cloud platforms handle this from a browser, and several integrate with property management software so a lease start or end updates the directory automatically. DKS management software programs directories and credentials across the property from a workstation or over the cellular gateway. We build the initial directory from the rent roll, set up staff accounts with the right permissions, and train the property manager and leasing staff on move-ins, move-outs, visitor pass settings, and pulling an entry log when the office needs to know who opened a door.

Senior housing adds two considerations. Tenants may not use a smartphone, so a telephone call or an in-unit station is the primary path and the app is a supplement. And staff, caregivers and regular visitors need entry paths that do not depend on the tenant answering, which usually means staff credentials, delivery PINs, and a front desk override.

Phasing an entry system replacement in an occupied building#

A lobby door cannot go unsecured while a panel is swapped. On an occupied renovation we survey the existing entry unit, door hardware and cabling; install the new panel, controller and network connection while the old unit keeps working; build and test the new directory; and cut over with property management on site and a written notice to tenants. Vehicle gates are cut over at a low-traffic time with the gate contractor present. The old unit comes out only after the new one has run a full day of real traffic. Our guide to low voltage work in occupied buildings covers noticing, scheduling and unit access in more detail.

Next step#

Send us the site plan with entry points and gates marked, the number of units or tenants, and whether the property has a working phone line at each entry. Use request a bid to upload drawings and we will return a bid with the door and gate handoffs drawn. General contractors can start at for general contractors for our prequalification packet.