An intercom answers a question no lock can: who is at the door, and do we want to let them in. For multi-tenant residential, reception-controlled offices and gated properties, it is the front line of access control, and in a lot of GTA buildings it is a panel installed decades ago that half the units can no longer hear.
Typical range: $750–$6500 CAD. Ranges are typical for the GTA and depend on the door, the hardware and the time of day. We confirm the price before dispatching.
System types
- Audio-only entry panels with wired handsets in each unit — the traditional apartment system
- Video entry with a camera at the door and a screen inside, now the default for new installations
- Telephone entry, where the panel dials a resident's existing phone and they release the door with a keypress. No in-unit hardware at all, which is why it dominates in retrofit
- IP and app-based systems, where calls go to a smartphone and residents can grant entry from anywhere
- Office reception systems with a desk station releasing the door
- Gate and vehicle entry panels with long-range reading and call-back
Repairing legacy panels
A large share of GTA apartment buildings run intercom systems from the 1970s through the 1990s. Parts for some are genuinely unavailable, but a great many faults are not the panel at all — they are corroded wiring at the entry, a failed power supply, or water ingress into an outdoor station whose gasket perished years ago.
We diagnose before recommending replacement, because the difference between a power supply repair and a full building system replacement is several orders of magnitude in cost, and a contractor who only sells new systems has little incentive to find the cheaper fault.
Telephone entry for retrofit
Rewiring every unit in an occupied building is enormously disruptive and expensive. Telephone entry avoids it entirely: the panel at the door connects to a line or a network, and calls go to residents' existing phones. No in-unit device, no unit wiring, no entering anyone's apartment.
For an older building where the in-unit handsets are failing one by one, this is usually the pragmatic answer. Residents can also be reached on mobile rather than a landline, which matters as fewer units keep one.
Integration with door hardware
The intercom identifies the visitor; the door hardware lets them in. Those are separate systems that must be correctly interfaced, usually through an electric strike or a maglock released on the intercom's dry contact.
The same egress and fire-alarm requirements apply as on any electrically locked door. An intercom installation is not exempt from them, and on a building entrance that forms part of an exit route this needs to be right.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you repair an old apartment intercom or does the whole building need a new system?
Repair is worth investigating first, and it succeeds more often than people expect. Many faults that present as "the system is dead" are a failed power supply, corroded wiring at the entry panel, or water ingress into the outdoor station — all repairable at a small fraction of replacement cost. Where the panel itself is genuinely obsolete and parts do not exist, telephone entry is usually the least disruptive replacement because it needs no unit wiring.
How much does a video intercom cost?
A single-door system for a house or small office is at the low end. A multi-tenant building panel with a directory, video and per-unit stations is substantially more, with the biggest cost variable being whether unit wiring exists and can be reused. Telephone-entry retrofits in older buildings often come in well below a full wired system precisely because they skip that.
Can visitors be let in remotely from my phone?
Yes. Telephone-entry systems dial your phone and you release the door with a keypress, wherever you are. App-based IP systems go further with video on your phone. Both are common retrofits and neither needs in-unit hardware.
Our buzzer lets people in but the door does not lock afterwards. Why?
That is usually the strike or the door rather than the intercom. Either the strike is not re-latching because the door is misaligned, or the strike itself has failed in the released position. It leaves the building effectively unsecured and is worth treating as urgent — the intercom is working fine, which is exactly why it gets overlooked.
Intercom Systems across the GTA
We provide intercom & video entry systems throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Pick your city for local detail, or call and we will tell you straight away whether you are in range.
Related services
Access Control Systems
Card, fob, mobile and biometric access control designed, installed and commissioned — on platforms you own rather than are locked into.
Electric Strikes
Electric strikes supplied and installed with the correct fail-safe or fail-secure behaviour, proper power and clean frame preparation.
Magnetic Locks
Electromagnetic locks installed with compliant egress — request-to-exit, fire-alarm interface and power-loss release done to code.
Card & Fob Readers
Proximity, smart-card and mobile-credential readers installed, replaced and integrated — including migration off cloneable legacy formats.