Below, review and compare the best apartment intercom systems for 2022 to find the best one for your building.
You may be an apartment owner, property manager, or board member and you want to achieve one of the following goals:
- Looking to replace a damaged wired intercom system that is over 20 years old
- Need help choosing the right walkie-talkie for your building or apartment
- Read more about the best video intercom systems for apartments
- Compare different intercom systems and manufacturers
- Learn more about pricing and features for each system
As a modern video intercom company, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of the best apartment video intercoms below. Use this guide to choosing a phone booth or video intercom system for your apartment - feel free to contact us if you need a free consultation on your access control and security needs. Video intercom system in the apartment.
Important reasons to upgrade your building to a video intercom:
- Residents want to confirm who is at the door before they invade the building
- Porch pirates can pretend to be delivery drivers and can buzz on audio walkie-talkies
- Having a video intercom is one of the top 5 considerations when renting a new apartment
- Residents want remote access to their apartment buildings to allow guests, delivery people, dog walkers, babysitters, and housekeepers to enter the house
- Video intercom gives residents control over their guests, freeing up property managers for other important tasks such as signing new leases and checking in and out
- Burglaries are not uncommon - 1.7 million packages are stolen every day!
- Video intercom provides visual proof of people at the door, ensuring you don’t let anyone in without verifying their identity
How much does a video intercom system cost?
Video intercom systems cost between $1,800 and $6,995. Pricing depends on the feature set and manufacturer. With modern hardware improvements, prices continue to drop. Telephone walkie-talkies cost between $75 and $200 per month for telephone lines. Video intercom uses cloud-based servers to connect calls and is charged per unit or per number of users to cover server hosting costs.
How much does it cost to install a video intercom system?
A wireless video intercom system like the Swiftlane can cost between $1,200 and $3,000 to install. If you are upgrading an existing old walkie-talkie and can reuse the wires, it will be less expensive to complete the installation. The total installation cost includes the cost of the video intercom ($1400-8000) and installation + wiring ($1200-4500). Be sure to get a quote for a video intercom to discuss your specific construction needs.
What is the best video intercom?
The best videophones are:
- Swiftlane
- Latch
- Alphatouch
- Aiphone
- 2N
- ButterflyMX
The best video intercom systems for apartments
Next, we’ll take a deep dive into popular apartment building intercom systems.
Swiftlane video intercom
Swiftlane video intercom page
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Swiftlane is a modern apartment video intercom system that also won the 2020 Best New Access Control and Intercom System award. Swiftlane is headquartered in San Francisco and deployed in du Nord, the USA by certified installers. Swiftlane’s vision is to create safer communities and increase everyday convenience through technology.
- benefit from:
Touch screen video intercom for multi-tenant apartment - Mobile app to unlock doors remotely and receive video and audio calls
- Unique contactless face unlock - just show your face to unlock building doors
- Minimal, cost-effective wiring changes to old phones or analog walkie-talkies
- Many customer reviews
- Provides secure access to couriers like UPS, FedEx, Amazon, USPS, and food delivery companies
Temporary access code with set expiration time - Swiftlane works with local installers who can provide 24/7 support. For example, if you need someone to get you there within 20 minutes
- Ongoing hardware and subscription costs ~30%-40% cheaper than alternatives
- An upgradeable system with over-the-air software updates
- Designed to improve NOI for owners
- For property managers, Swiftlane provides full automation by integrating with property management systems from
- Yardi, Entrata, Realpage Onesite, and more.
- Swiftlane’s data security and privacy efforts are certified to SOC 2, a benchmark for evaluating software vendors’ data security practices.
Swiftlane increases property value and NOI by adding valuable front door amenities and improving tenant safety. It automates the security management of real estate teams.
By eliminating the cost of package theft, removing phone lines, regular door replacement and quarterly field maintenance calls, you can save $4,000-$5,000 per year by switching to a Swiftlane system. . Compared to traditional wired walkie-talkies, Swiftlane offers the fastest and cheapest upgrade path for existing buildings by making wireless video and audio calls to residents. It reuses your building’s Internet or runs on cellular and eliminates the cost of intercom phone lines (up to $2,000 per year). Upgrade requires an Ethernet cable to connect to the door instead of hard-wiring each unit (up to $800 per unit). Swiftlane software comes with over-the-air updates, like Tesla, which means you constantly get new feature updates and lower maintenance costs.
Request a demo and quote for a Swiftlane Multi tenant intercom system.
Resident experience
Swiftlane increases the safety of multi-family homes while reducing friction for residents and adding many desirable modern conveniences:
- mobile access
- Multi-tenant video intercom, which can make video calls directly with the resident’s phone
- Support for regular phone calls for non-techies
- key card access
- Remote door release to allow friends and family to enter the building
- Contactless access by facial recognition
- Guest access by PIN code
- Guaranteed delivery with a unique PIN code
Management experience
- White glove integration of your entire building, we manage the integration for you.
- Simple interface designed for property managers and board members, not technicians - learn in ten minutes
- Manage your website completely remotely from your phone or computer
- Complete unlimited security footage archived in secure cloud storage
- Photographic evidence of visitors, ensuring a high level of building security
- Unique PIN code that can be granted to visitors, delivery drivers, etc.
- Extended reporting capabilities
- Ability to manage dozens of locations through a single centralized interface

Visitor experience
- Obtain a temporary PIN to access public areas
- The virtual reception option makes it easy to connect with doorkeepers or remote workers
- Multi-tenant directory with the ability to quickly find tenants, video call them, and access via remote unlock
Installation experience
- A single Ethernet cable is required to connect and start the system
- Low cost to install and can be finished in less than a day
- Certified professional installers across the United States for ongoing on-site support
- Fully automated, white glove integration
How much does a Swiftlane intercom system cost?
Swiftlane video intercoms range from $1,300 to $2,200, depending on model and features. Swiftlane’s subscription costs are comparable to traditional telephone walkie-talkies and depend on the number of units in the building. Manage the cost of video intercom calls and server hosting varies.
How does Swiftlaned work?
Swiftlane smart access control technology uses video intercom, facial recognition access control, mobile access control, and visitor PIN codes to provide a safer and more secure access control solution for multifamily communities.

video intercom system
Swiftlane’s integrated video intercom system provides integrated two-way audio and video intercom calls for secure visitor and visitor management. The Swiftlane app allows users to receive calls from anywhere and receive calls like a normal phone without monitoring app push notifications. Traditional intercom systems only work when you are inside the building.
- Intercept calls on your phone or computer
- Video and audio intercom two-way call
- Multi-tenant video intercom
- Ensure secure delivery access and reduce package theft and unauthorized access
Mobile access control
Mobile access turns your phone into a key, no key card or keycard is required. Simply use your smartphone to unlock any door, convenience space, parcel room, parking lot, or elevator.
- Simple, contactless door locking using the Swiftlane mobile app available on iOS or Android
- Unlock doors remotely from anywhere - no need to ring visitors inside
- Manage access and users from a browser or mobile phone without being in the field
- Designed for strong data privacy and high security
Face recognition access control
Swiftlane is the only multifamily solution that offers facial recognition access control. Our contactless technology combines high security and convenience for the safest and most seamless way to access any building or community.
- Walk to the door and watch the SwiftReader access any authorized door or access point contactless
- User registration is easy in less than a minute, no fuss about keys, badges, or keychains
- Advanced anti-spoofing with 2D and 3D depth data to prevent unauthorized access
- Works with existing electronic door locks and building infrastructure
- Simple installation based on Power over Ethernet (PoE)
- Swiftlane is designed to protect your privacy - you own the data
guest password
PIN code access ensures seamless management of visitors and deliveries to prevent unauthorized access and reduce package theft. PINs are easily managed via the cloud-based Swiftlane dashboard and mobile app.
- One-time and versatile PIN codes
- Unique PIN for building tenants
- Assign a PIN directly from the Swiftlane app
- Photo Verification Log
- No keys, badges, and key fobs required
- Send PIN by email and SMS
key card access control
Swiftlane provides the ability to enter any multifamily home or community using a key card. Our systems support a wide range of cards and readers to provide customizable and scalable high-security solutions.
- Supports proximity cards, encrypted card formats, and key fob
- Works with existing electronic door locks
- Remote Readers and Receivers for Garages, Elevators, and Parking Doors
- Seamless integration with video intercom, face recognition, mobile phone unlocking
- Simple and intuitive cloud-based remote management
- Grant/revoke credentials instantly using your phone