See who is at the door before you open it.
Wired video intercoms and phone-connected door systems for NYC single-family homes: detached houses, attached row houses and brownstones. Answer from anywhere, release the door from the monitor or your phone, and keep a log of calls and door releases.
Schematic plan, not to scale. Every station runs back to one equipment closet, where relays switch lock power to the strikes and give the gate operators a dry contact. Gate operators have their own power, coordinated with the electrician.
Intercom solutions for single-family homes.
A door station outside, a way to answer inside or on your phone, and a door that actually opens when you press the button.
Wired video door station
Camera and two-way audio at the front door, so you see who is there before you answer. A wide-angle lens mounted to see faces, buttons roughly 4 to 5 ft to the center, and an outdoor rating: IP for weather and IK for impact, for NYC summers and winters.
Indoor monitor
A wall-mounted video monitor in the kitchen, the entry foyer or wherever it makes sense. See the visitor, talk to them, and press Door to release it. No phone needed.
Phone app answering
IP systems ring your phone with live video, so you can answer from the backyard, upstairs or away from home entirely and release the door from the app. The app needs your home internet to be up.
Electric strike or smart lock
The door releases when you press the button. An electric strike in the frame takes power from a separate lock power supply through a relay; a fail-secure strike stays locked without power, and the handle always lets people out. Or we tie into a smart lock. We wire and test every door release.
Gate and fence integration
Iron fences, garden gates and driveway gates get a station at the perimeter, and the same system releases the gate and the front door. A magnetic lock on a gate needs a free way out from inside at all times; a motorized gate opens through its operator on a dry contact.
A record at the door, no video plan required
Calls and door releases can be logged, with a snapshot on many systems, kept at home. A wired system needs no paid video plan to work; if app answering on the system you pick uses a paid cloud service, we tell you before you choose.
Why a wired station beats a Wi-Fi doorbell in masonry.
A video doorbell talks to your router over Wi-Fi, and every wall in between costs signal. Brick and masonry cost the most. Pick a wall and see what reaches the door.
A video doorbell talks to the router over Wi-Fi. Through plaster and a wood-frame wall, enough signal usually reaches the door for a steady call.
This is the common NYC case: the router sits deep inside a brick or masonry house, and by the time the signal crosses the exterior wall, little is left at the door.
One Cat6 run from the switch to the door carries power and video. The cable passes through the brick in a sleeve, so the wall no longer matters.
What goes into a single-family install.
Stations, monitors, lock hardware and cable, picked for your doors and the way your household uses them.
Video door station
Outdoor ratedCamera with a wide-angle lens and two-way audio, mounted so it sees faces, with buttons roughly 4 to 5 ft to the center. Outdoor stations carry an IP rating for weather and an IK rating for impact. Flush or surface mount, on the wall, the door frame or a gate pier.
Indoor monitors
Any floorA video monitor in the kitchen or the foyer, and more on other floors if you want them. Each one shows the camera, talks to the visitor and releases the door.
Phone app answering
IP systemsDoor calls ring every phone you add, with live video and a Door button. The station and the monitor do not need Wi-Fi; the app uses your home internet.
Electric strike and lock power
Relay · 12 or 24 VAn electric strike in the frame, on a separate low-voltage lock power supply switched by a relay, or a tie-in to a smart lock. We pick the lock for each door around its use and the building's fire and life safety requirements.
Cable to every door
Cat6 · 328 ftIP stations run on Cat6 with PoE, up to 100 m (328 ft) per run. A driveway gate past that gets a switch, a PoE extender, fiber or a cellular unit. Where the house already has intercom wire, a 2-wire video system can reuse it once it tests good.
Gates and access control
Tie-insA driveway gate opens through its operator on a dry contact from the intercom relay. The same doors can take a keypad or fob reader through our access control work, and the station video can go to your camera recorder.
How a single-family install runs.
One visit to see the house, one written quote, then an install that ends with every door release tested.
Site visit
We look at every door and gate you want on the system, how each one latches, where the monitor should go, and the cable route from each door back to the equipment. If you are weighing a Wi-Fi doorbell, we check the signal at the door.
Written quote and route plan
You get a written quote listing the stations, monitors, lock hardware and cable routes, with any wall openings marked before work starts.
Install and test
We run the cable, mount the stations and monitors, install the strike, the relay and the lock power supply, and test every door release.
Phones and handoff
We set up the app on every phone in the household, show you how to answer and release, and label the equipment.
Single-family intercoms, answered.
What is the difference between a video intercom and a consumer video doorbell?
Door release and reliability. A consumer video doorbell lets you see and talk to a visitor over Wi-Fi, but most do not release the door, so the visitor still needs a key or waits for you; some pair with a smart lock through an app. A wired video intercom has an electric strike in the door frame: when you press Door, a relay switches lock power to the strike and the door opens. The station and the monitor run on their own cable, not your Wi-Fi, which matters in NYC masonry, where the signal at the door is often weak.
Can I answer my front door from my phone when I am not home?
Yes, with an IP video intercom and its app. When a visitor presses the button, your phone rings with live video. You talk to them and press Door in the app to release the door. It works wherever your phone has data, as long as the home internet is up. Most people use it to let in delivery workers, dog walkers, cleaners and contractors without being there.
Can you run wiring through a finished brownstone without damaging the walls?
We keep wall work to a minimum. Routes use existing conduit, the basement and interior wall cavities, or paths you will not notice; sometimes the cable comes through the door frame itself with no visible hole. Where an opening is unavoidable, it is small and we patch it. We go over the route with you and photograph the work before we start. Every penetration we make through a fire-rated wall or floor is fire-stopped.
My front door has an ornamental iron gate. Can a door station be mounted on it?
Yes. Surface-mount stations go on iron gate frames, welded steel posts or the brick pier beside the gate, in weatherproof housings with stainless hardware. The lock depends on the gate frame and how it latches: an electric strike, a gate lock or a magnetic lock. A magnetic lock needs a free way out from inside at all times, so it gets an exit button or sensor. A motorized driveway gate opens through its operator, on a dry contact from the intercom relay. Gate hardware varies more than door hardware, so we confirm it at the site visit.
How long does installation take for a single-family home?
It depends on the house. One station, one monitor and one strike on a single door is a smaller job than fishing new cable through finished walls or running a long line out to a driveway gate; existing conduit or open wall chases make it simpler. We tell you how long your job will take in the written quote, after we have seen the house.
Intercoms across NYC residential properties.
Ready for a proper video intercom?
We look at your doors and gates, plan the cable routes, and give you a clear written quote.