To let someone into an apartment building remotely, your buzzer has to reach you wherever you are. Three methods cover almost every situation: forward the buzz to your cell phone and press the unlock digit, set a timed auto-unlock so the door opens without you answering at all, or give the visitor a PIN they type or say at the panel. All three run on the buzzer your building already has.
How does remote entry work on an old buzzer?
Most apartment buzzers are not smart. A visitor finds your name on the panel, presses a code, and the panel places a phone call. You answer, you press a digit like 9 or 6, and the lock releases for a few seconds. That is the whole system. If you want the full breakdown, we wrote a plain-English guide to how apartment buzzers work.
The important part is that last sentence: the panel places a phone call. It does not care what kind of phone picks up. That is why remote entry is possible without a renovation, a new panel, or a landlord willing to spend money. You change where the call goes, not what the hardware is.
Enterkey works this way. You get a unique virtual phone number, your property manager points the buzzer at it, and from then on the app decides what happens when someone buzzes. No hardware and no rewiring. The full walkthrough is on how it works.
Which method should you use for each situation?
The right answer depends less on the person at the door and more on where you are and whether you can pick up a call.
- Call forwardingThe buzz rings your cell phone. You see who it is, talk to them, and press the unlock digit. Best when you are available and want to decide in the moment: an unexpected visitor, a neighbour, a contractor you have not met.
- A timed auto-unlock keyYou set a window, from five minutes to twelve hours, and during that window the buzz is answered automatically and the door opens. You do not need to be reachable at all. Best for deliveries, a cleaner arriving at 10 a.m., or a friend showing up while you are in a meeting.
- A PINThe visitor types or speaks a code at the panel and the door opens. Best when you do not know the exact arrival time and do not want the door openable all afternoon.
- A recurring scheduleThe same unlock window repeats every week. Best for a dog walker every weekday at noon or a housekeeper every other Friday.
- Shared household accessA roommate or partner gets the same controls through an invite link, so entry does not depend on one person's phone being charged.
What if you are at work, asleep, or out of town?
These are the three scenarios where remote entry actually gets tested.
At work. Your phone is on silent in a drawer and the buzz goes unanswered. Forwarding alone does not solve this. A timed key does, because the app answers for you. Set a four hour window over your delivery estimate and the driver gets in without calling you. Package theft is not a small problem either: Security.org's 2024 annual package theft report estimated roughly 58 million packages were stolen in the United States that year. A package that makes it inside the lobby door is a package that is harder to take.
Asleep. A night shift worker coming home, a family member landing late, a partner who forgot their fob. Nobody wants a buzzer ringing their phone at 2 a.m. Give that person a PIN instead. They enter it at the panel, the door opens, and your phone never rings. PINs can be typed or spoken, which matters at panels with sticky or unreadable keypads.
Out of town. This is where people get nervous, and they should. A long unlock window is convenient and also means anyone pressing your unit gets in. Use a tight key timed around a known visit, or a PIN you can retire afterward. Enterkey's longest setting, Forever, requires a PIN for exactly this reason. Check the activity log when you land to see what happened while you were gone. More on timing and limits on the timed keys page.
How do you set it up?
- Check your panel firstDoes the buzzer ring a phone when someone presses your unit? If yes, you are compatible. If it rings a dedicated intercom handset hardwired inside your apartment and nothing else, Enterkey cannot help, and that is worth knowing before you download anything.
- Install the app and get your numberEnterkey is iOS only right now. There is no Android version. The app assigns you a virtual phone number during setup.
- Email your property managerThey need to change the number your unit dials to your new Enterkey number. It is a line in their directory software and usually gets done inside a day.
- Test it yourselfWalk down to the panel, press your unit, and confirm the call lands in the app. Then test a short key and a PIN before you rely on either one.
- Set your defaultsForwarding for normal days, a recurring schedule if someone comes weekly, shared access for anyone else living with you.
Here is a message you can copy and send to your building:
Hi, I would like to update the phone number my unit's buzzer dials. My unit is [unit number] and the new number is [your Enterkey number]. It is a standard phone number, so nothing needs to change in the panel hardware or wiring. Could you let me know once it has been updated so I can test it? Thank you.
What are the honest limits?
Remote entry is only as good as the weakest link, so be clear about what it does not fix.
If your building's intercom is hardwired to an in-unit landline handset and never dials out to a phone number, no app can intercept it. If your property manager refuses to update the number, you are stuck, though most do not refuse because it costs them nothing. If you are on Android, Enterkey will not work for you yet.
And a door that unlocks remotely is still a door. A twelve hour key during a day you are out is a real tradeoff. Shorter windows and PINs are safer. The activity log exists so you can see what actually happened rather than guess.
Enterkey is $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year, which works out to about $5.83 a month. See pricing for the details.
Worth trying?
If you have missed a delivery because your phone was face down in a meeting, or woken up to a buzzer at midnight, or asked a neighbour to go down and open the door again, Enterkey is built for exactly that gap. It uses the buzzer you already have, it takes a day to set up, and new members get their first 14 days free. If it does not fit your building, cancel before the trial ends and pay nothing. Real people answer at support@enterkey.app, usually within hours.
