INTERCOMS
An intercom lets you see and speak to whoever is at the gate before opening it, and release the gate or door from inside. Systems are either traditional wired handsets and monitors, or IP and app-based units that reach your phone anywhere.
INTERCOMS buying guide
Audio or video
Audio-only is cheaper and perfectly adequate for a gate you can see from the house. Video is what you want at a street gate, in a complex, or anywhere a resident should be able to identify a caller before opening. Video also gives you a still or a clip of who called, which audio never will.
Wiring decides most of the choice
Two-wire systems retrofit into an existing run and are the usual answer in an older house or an established complex. Four-wire and network-based systems suit new work, where you can pull what you need and gain the higher resolution and the app features that come with them. Check what is already in the wall before choosing the range.
One door or many
A single house needs a station at the gate and a monitor inside. A complex or a block needs a system that handles multiple entrances, multiple handsets and a call routing plan. That is a different product family, and getting it wrong is expensive to unwind.
App and remote answering
Answering the gate from a phone is genuinely useful in South Africa, where the caller may be a delivery and you may be at work. It relies on your internet and on the intercom staying powered, so put the intercom and the router on backup if you are going to depend on it.
Integration
Most intercoms can trigger a gate motor directly, so the same button that answers the call opens the gate. Confirm the relay and voltage match the motor you have before you buy either.
INTERCOMS questions
Audio or video intercom? +
Video shows you who is there, which is the point of an intercom on a street-facing gate. Audio-only is cheaper and fine for internal doors or where a camera already covers the entrance.
Can an intercom ring my phone? +
Yes. App-based and IP intercoms send the call to your phone over the internet, so you can answer and open the gate from anywhere. They need a stable network connection at the gate station, and they keep working through a power outage only if the router and the station are both backed up.
How many units can one system take? +
A single-house system usually pairs one gate station with one or two indoor monitors. Multi-unit systems for complexes and offices run many stations and monitors on one bus or network, and that scale is what decides between a two-wire system and an IP one.
Can the intercom open the gate? +
Yes. The intercom provides a relay output that connects to the gate motor or electric lock, so answering the call and pressing the release opens it. That connection is the part worth having installed properly, because it wires into the motor controller.