Do you have an apartment buzzer system that looks like the one above and want to control it from your smartphone? Here’s how I did it.
After missing a few deliveries because I wasn’t in my apartment when the delivery people arrived, I started searching online for an apartment buzzer system that can be controlled from a smartphone. While there are lots of options, many require the installation of a new intercom system at the entryway of the building.
Since I’m only a renter, this was not an option. I needed something that I could do myself without changing the hardware currently installed at our apartment building.
After more searching, I found this article:
While it accomplished the goal of controlling my current Tektone apartment buzzer from my smartphone, it required a lot of technical knowledge and skill to implement.
This is because it will also send a notification to my smartphone when someone was buzzing me, which is nice but not necessary. Why? Because most people (delivery drivers included) will call my phone when they’re standing outside of my apartment building, they will rarely buzz.
So, I really just needed a way of pushing the ‘door open’ button on the intercom in my apartment — the one below.
This is where SwitchBot comes in.
Notice the little white box above the ‘door open’ button in the picture? That is a SwitchBot, a device with an actuating arm designed to flip switches. The SwitchBot connects to an app on my smartphone via Bluetooth. In order to control the SwitchBot when I was out of Bluetooth range (~30 feet), I needed to buy their Hub.
The SwitchBot Hub connects my SwitchBot to the Internet via WiFi. This allows me to control the SwitchBot from anywhere I have an internet connection. Now, whenever a visitor calls me to buzz them into the building: I open the SwitchBot app on my smartphone, turn it on, the actuating arm comes out of the SwitchBot, and pushes down on the ‘door open’ button for 3 seconds — buzzing the visitor into the building.
A few weeks later I decided to take it a step further when a few friends came by.
Unfortunately, they showed up a bit early and I was still getting food at the grocery store. When they called me to buzz them into the building, I let them know that while I could get them into the building they would be hanging in the lobby until I got back from the grocery store. This is when I decided to add an August Smart Lock to my apartment.
I chose the August Smart Lock because it is really easy to install over my current deadbolt (just a screwdriver and about 5 minutes of my time), and with the addition of an August Wi-Fi Bridge, I’m able to unlock my apartment door from my smartphone.
Now, when someone comes to make a delivery or a friend comes to visit, I can give them access to my building and/or my apartment right from my smartphone.
