The front desk decides who comes in.
Video intercoms and controlled entry for NYC medical practices. The front desk sees and admits each patient without opening the waiting room to anyone who walks in. Camera placement supports your privacy safeguards, and the work is scheduled around patient hours.
Each door gets its own relay and lock power, so a release goes to one door only. People inside can always get out: the handle always lets people out.
Controlled entry that fits the front desk.
The front desk already runs the day. The intercom should let them admit people with one button, without walking to the door.
Video door station at the entry
Patients ring at the suite or street door. The front desk sees them on a monitor or computer and buzzes them in, so the waiting room and exam rooms are not open to anyone who walks up.
Desk monitor or SIP phone
Door calls ring at the front desk on a dedicated monitor, a desk phone or a PC client. Reception sees the patient and admits them without leaving the desk.
After-hours access
Outside office hours the suite stays locked. Authorized providers enter with a credential, and intercom calls go to the on-call option the practice chooses.
Restricted area intercoms
The lab, medication storage and administrative areas can get a call station on the waiting room side, so patients or staff call through before anyone lets them in.
Access control on the same door
Clinical staff enter with a key card or a mobile credential, no call needed. Patients and visitors use the intercom. Both share the same door hardware.
Camera placement for privacy
We aim the door camera at the entry, not into the waiting room or exam areas, so it supports the practice's privacy safeguards. Where the video goes and who can see it are decided up front.
Three doors, one desk.
A master station shows every door's camera and releases only the door that called. Pick a door, then pick how the desk answers.
On the handset, the desk hears the visitor in their ear and answers quietly, so names and appointment details are not broadcast across the waiting room.
On the hands-free speaker, both sides of the conversation carry into the waiting room. Fine for a delivery, less so when a patient gives their name and reason for the visit.
Privacy starts at the door
When anyone can walk into the waiting room, anyone can overhear it. Admitting each patient at the door supports the practice's privacy safeguards, and keeps people who have no appointment out of earshot.
Medication on site
Practices that store controlled substances keep the suite locked after hours. Authorized staff enter with credentials, and deliveries call through, so every after-hours entry is a decision with a record.
A calmer waiting room
For mental health practices, controlled entry keeps the waiting room private and contained. Staff can talk with someone at the door before deciding to let them in.
Multi-specialty lobbies
In a building with several practices, a lobby panel directs each patient to the right suite. Each practice still controls its own door and its own waiting room.
What goes on the door, at the desk and in the closet.
Built for a busy front desk: one button per door, the right lock on each, and nothing that points into a patient area.
Video door station
Street or suite doorWide-angle camera with backlight compensation (WDR) for a bright street door, two-way audio and a call button mounted roughly 4 to 5 ft to the center, within an accessible reach range. Outdoor stations carry an IP rating for weather and an IK rating for impact.
Front desk master station
HandsetShows each door's camera, with a release key per door and a handset, so the desk can speak to a patient without the waiting room hearing. A desk phone or PC client can answer too.
Relay and lock power, per door
12 or 24 VEach door gets its own relay switching a separate low-voltage lock power supply, so a release opens one door only. A supply with battery backup can carry the doors and the intercom through a short outage.
Door release hardware
Matched per doorAn electric strike in the frame for most suite doors; the handle always lets people out. A fail-secure strike stays locked without power, and a fail-safe lock releases without power. We pick the lock for each door around its use and the building's fire and life safety requirements.
Staff door reader
Cards and phonesA station with a built-in card reader, or a reader beside it, at the staff door. Staff tap in on a schedule; couriers press the call button instead.
Cat6 and PoE
Up to 100 mOne Cat6 run per station to a PoE switch, within the 100 m (328 ft) channel limit. Every penetration we make through a fire-rated wall or floor is fire-stopped.
Installed around your patient schedule.
We plan the work with practice management so the entry keeps working through the change.
Site visit
We walk the suite with you: entry doors, front desk, staff door, restricted rooms and where a camera can see the door without seeing patients. You get a written scope and price.
Plan
Which door rings where, who has cards, what happens after hours, and when the work happens, agreed with practice management in advance.
Install
Early mornings, evenings or weekends where possible. Door hardware that has to go in during office hours is staged so the new system works before the old one comes out.
Test and hand off
Every door release is tested from the desk, every card from the staff door, and the after-hours call path end to end. The front desk is shown how to answer and release.
Medical practice intercoms, answered.
How do we set up the intercom so patients ring at our suite but do not get into other suites?
The door station goes at your own suite entry, not at the building lobby. A patient who presses the button rings your front desk, and no other suite is involved. Where all the medical tenants share a lobby, a multi-tenant lobby panel lets patients pick the practice they are visiting, and the call goes only to that practice's answering station.
How does a video intercom fit with HIPAA?
An intercom does not store patient records, so it is not covered by HIPAA the way an electronic health record system is. What matters is how it is set up. A door camera that can see into the waiting room or an exam area could capture patient information, so we aim cameras at the entry vestibule or the corridor outside the waiting room, never the inside of the practice. A handset at the desk keeps conversations at the desk. Door video is handled like any other building security footage: access is limited to the people you choose, and the practice sets how long it is kept. Set up this way, the system supports your privacy safeguards.
Can reception staff admit patients without leaving the front desk?
Yes. That is the main reason practices install one. Reception sees the patient on the monitor or computer, checks who they are, and presses the release without standing up. In a busy practice, that saves a staff member from opening and closing the suite door dozens of times a day.
What happens during a power outage? Can staff still get in?
People inside can always get out: the handle always lets people out, power or no power. For getting in, each lock is chosen on purpose. A fail-secure strike stays locked when the power fails, so staff use a key to get in; a fail-safe lock releases when the power fails, which is simpler for staff but leaves the door unlocked. We pick the lock for each door around its use and the building's fire and life safety requirements, and where the building requires it, doors release on a fire alarm. A lock power supply with battery backup can keep the doors and the intercom working through a short outage.
Do you work in occupied medical offices without disrupting patient appointments?
Yes. We schedule the work around patient hours wherever we can: early mornings, evenings or weekends. When work has to happen during office hours, such as door hardware, we stage it so the entry keeps working: the new system goes in and is tested before the old one comes out, and the switch happens during a break in the schedule that you pick. We agree the timing with practice management in advance.
Intercoms for every kind of business.
Looking for a home or apartment building instead? See residential intercom systems.
Ready to control who walks into your practice?
We look at your suite layout, talk through how your front desk works, and give you a clear written scope and price. The work is scheduled around your patient hours.