Key takeaways
- A gate call box allows guests at a gate to communicate with residents in their apartments. This way, the guest can enter the property without letting the resident go downstairs to let them in.
- Residents use pieces of hardware called substations to talk to a call box for gates.
- While gate call boxes offer some convenience, their drawbacks include a lack of software integrations and no package delivery solutions.
If you’re looking for an access control solution for your gated property, you might consider installing an apartment call box. You must balance the demands of tenants who want a convenient way to grant access to visitors and deliveries with the need to maintain security at your property. So, are gate call boxes the best way to control gate access?
This post explains how a gated call box works. Then, we discuss some of its drawbacks and offer alternatives.
This post covers:
- What is a gate call box?
- How a gate call box works
- Types of call boxes
- Gate call box benefits
- Limitations of a call box for gates
- Alternatives to call boxes
What is a gate call box?
A gate call box is a device installed at a gated entrance that guests use to speak with the tenant they’re visiting and request property access. They’re also known as gate intercoms.
You’ll find call boxes at gated properties of all kinds, from residential gated communities to high-security office complexes. And when a call box is installed at a door instead of a gate, it’s called a door call box.
Regardless of the type of building or the entry method, all call boxes have one thing in common: They all need to securely accommodate different types of visitors while providing convenient access for the property’s residents and staff.
Call boxes are a type of gate security entry management system that includes:
- Substations. A substation is a piece of hardware that allows a tenant to speak to a visitor at the gated entrance from inside a building. Depending on your call box type, ‘substation’ can mean different things. Call boxes for gates sometimes direct all calls to one substation monitored by a front desk, security office, or receptionist. They often direct calls to individual substations installed in every tenant’s apartment or office.
- Gate opener. When tenants want to let their visitors in, they press a button on their substation. In turn, the motorized gate call box relays a signal to a sliding or swinging gate opener. In some cases, the gate can open automatically.
Watch how ButterflyMX works:
Gate call box benefits
Many property managers have found connecting residents’ phones to the gate opener more convenient than installing a separate substation.
Gate call boxes serve a variety of purposes in enhancing security and access control for residential and commercial properties.
Here are some key use cases that highlight their importance:
- Visitor access control. Gate call boxes allow guests to easily communicate with residents or property management, ensuring that only authorized individuals gain entry. This is particularly useful in gated communities, apartment complexes, and office buildings.
- Enhanced security. In data provided by The Crime and Justice Research Alliance, communities with gates and gate entry systems experience 33% fewer burglaries than non-gated communities. By providing a means for residents to verify the identity of visitors before granting access, call boxes for gates help prevent unauthorized entry. This added layer of security is crucial for protecting residents and their belongings.
- Maintenance of parking. According to City Observatory, the cost of building a surface parking space starts at around $5,000 dollars, which causes parking maintenance bills to increase. For that reason, gate call boxes help maintain the integrity of your property’s parking spaces and garages by controlling who can enter these areas, helping to prevent unauthorized vehicles from parking in designated spots, and ensuring that residents have access to their assigned spaces.
- Streamlined communication. Call boxes provide a direct line of communication between visitors and residents or property management. This streamlines the process of granting access and ensures that communication is clear and efficient.
How does a call box for gates work?
Gate call boxes allow tenants to communicate with their visitors via the master station and its substations. When the tenant confirms that the visitor can access the property, they press an ‘open’ button, which tells the electronic security gate to open.
A resident can also use a gate or call box code to enter the gate.
Since many gates are not near an internet or telephone connection, it’s common to see wireless call box for gates. These call boxes are usually connected to their substations via a cellular network — eliminating the need to install additional wiring.
Here’s how a visitor uses a security gate access control system:
- Visitor finds and calls a tenant. Call boxes have directories that visitors can use to select their intended tenant.
- Call box signals substation. Whether the call box is part of a telephone entry system or uses a radio or WiFi signal, it establishes a line of communication with the correct substation.
- Tenant uses substation to speak to visitor. Tenants talk to their visitors like they would through a traditional phone call. Though most call boxes don’t offer video calling, call boxes with cameras do.
- Tenant grants entry to visitor. If a security call box is hooked up to a tenant’s cell phone, the tenant presses ‘9’ to unlock the gate. Otherwise, the substation has a button the tenant can press.
- Substation sends signal to gate opener. When the gate opens, the visitor can enter the property.
Types of call boxes
Depending on your property’s needs and current budget, you can choose between several types of gate call boxes.
Types of call box gate access systems include:
1. Wireless call boxes
In the past, many call boxes depended on copper wiring to ensure communication between a gate opener and a substation. But wireless technology ensures you don’t have to dig up concrete and tear walls up to lay wire.
You might use radio signals, a cellular network, or WiFi to power a wireless call box.
While wireless call boxes are convenient, you should also take precautions against things disrupting a wireless signal, like WiFi outages or weather events.
2. Call box with camera
Some call boxes come with cameras that residents can use to see guests before they grant entry.
Gate intercoms with cameras increase security by allowing residents to verify the identity of their guests. However, they require the installation of more complicated substation hardware that comes with its own monitor.
3. Phone-based call box
Many property managers have found connecting residents’ phones to the gate opener more convenient than installing a separate substation.
In the past, residents used their landlines to connect to the call box. But these days, you can set up a resident’s cell phone to work with a call box — when a guest uses the call box, a resident can just press ‘9’ to open the gate.
Limitations of a call box for gates
Now that you’re familiar with how call boxes work, let’s review how they fail to meet your property’s needs.
Here are a few drawbacks to call boxes:
- No software integrations. Call boxes can’t integrate with other smart building platforms. In contrast, more advanced IP gate intercoms can integrate with your property management software to automatically sync your rent roll between both platforms.
- No integrations with other access control systems. A call box can’t integrate with other door entry systems, such as keypads and fob systems, for access beyond the gated entrance. So, if you want controlled access throughout your entire building, you’re better off with a front gate intercom that integrates with your other systems.
- Limited visitor access options. Most call boxes require a tenant to be in their unit to unlock the door for a visitor. And even cellular gate telephone entry systems don’t offer any solution for visitors to enter the property without requesting access first. In contrast, modern IP gate intercoms offer virtual keys, which residents can send to visitors for managed access.
- No package delivery solutions. Online deliveries are growing more popular by the day, and more than 20% of property managers say that they hold onto more than 200 packages a week, according to the National Apartment Association (NAA) – making package delivery capabilities an essential feature. However, most call boxes for gates lack options for delivery passes or PINs that ensure seamless access for carriers.
- Easy to hack. When it comes to security, a traditional door buzzer or call box is more vulnerable to hackers. In fact, there are a number of how-to guides suggesting that bypassing security on a gated call box and entering a property is as easy as generating the correct DTMF tone to trick the buzzer system and grant yourself entry.
Alternatives to call boxes
For a robust, feature-rich alternative to call boxes for gates, consider a video intercom with a mobile app like ButterflyMX.
Video intercoms with mobile apps have features call boxes don’t have, such as:
- Smartphone functionality. If tenants can use their smartphones as substations, you save money by not having to install physical substations throughout your property.
- Remote gate access. Tenants can open their gates with smartphones anywhere they have an internet connection—even if they’re halfway around the world.
- More gate unlock options. The best mobile app intercoms prepare tenants for every access scenario with features like customizable virtual keys and one-time delivery passes.
Discover the difference between the ButterflyMX gate intercom and a traditional call box for gates:
The ButterflyMX Video Intercom
ButterflyMX’s suite of intercoms and keypads forms one complete ecosystem, simplifying access throughout your property. Staff, tenants, and visitors alike can easily navigate from the front gate throughout the property.
A gated call box only lets tenants manage access to your property’s gate. However, your gated community or HOA has many more access points that a traditional call box cannot integrate with or control. By choosing a call box, you’re forced to install entirely separate entry systems to manage entry into your building and amenity spaces.
In contrast, ButterflyMX is a mobile gate entry system that residents control with their smartphones. Instead of transmitting audio like a call box, ButterflyMX offers video calling and a mobile app – making it much more secure and tamper-resistant, unlike a traditional call box. Residents can assign virtual keys, create delivery passes, and swipe from the app to open the gate.
Property management is also much simpler for staff in a ButterflyMX building. Management can control access from a web-based dashboard and integrate their gate intercom with other proptech, creating a unified solution that’s more effective and easier to manage.
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