Page 17 - New England Condominium June 2019

MAINTENANCE NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM -JUNE 2019 17 Video Intercom Systems Choosing the Right One for Your Building BY A J SIDRANSKY S ecurity is always a primary concern for live in a full-service building. If there’s a of Vertex Security, also located in New homeowners. In a multifamily build- ing without a doorman, the first line of even one in the elevator as well, a simple grading: using existing wiring, or running defense is the front entrance – which more audio-based system is usually sufficient. new wiring. Most new technology is IP often than not features some sort of inter- com system to enable visitors to announce building just has a vestibule, rather than a the router for your computer. The systems themselves, and residents to let them into full lobby – you have options. the building (or not). Traditionally, intercom systems were tercom,” explains Daniel Wollman, CEO easy to control from your cell phone. audio-based. Over the past few decades, of Gumley Haft Property Management however, especially in new construction, in New York City, “it’s nearly impossible hardwired to the front panel of the unit. video capabilities have been added to in- tercom systems. The limitation to both ing, because the intercom wires are bur- these audio-only and audio/video-sys- tems is that they are tethered to the apart- ment; a resident had to physically be in on the problem and where it originates. Europe and still not miss your UPS deliv- the apartment in order to see or hear who If the problems are apartment-related, ery. These apps are most popular with to- was calling, and choose to grant them you can’t rewire them. If the problem is day’s users. They may have need for door access. However, the recent advent and system-related, you can probably change access for multiple reasons, in addition to development of web- and phone-based or replace the brains of the system. Inter- video identification options are changing coms are more efficiently replaced with a people. Now they can identify them and the picture entirely. Making a Change What’s involved with upgrading your In older, prewar buildings, we never re- intercom security system to something place the intercom – we go straight to a may offer convenience, Bob Maunsell, more in step with the times? That depends phone-based system.” to a great extent on what you currently have, what you want, and whether you ter and better,” says Barak Ron, the CEO does acknowledge a benefit of traditional live person at the front door, and maybe York. “There are two main paths to up- If your lobby is unattended – or if your based – it’s the same signal that goes to “When it comes time to replace an in- and not cost-effective to rewire a build- ied in the walls of each apartment. Re- pairing or replacing an intercom depends anywhere you might be. You could be in phone-based system, and that’s what we open the door themselves.” recommend and oversee in our buildings. “The market for tech has gotten bet- combine intercom and cameras, have the ability to provide more features, and are “The video data,” Ron continues, “is The new IP system provides digital data to an app on your phone, and you can answer not only in your apartment, but deliveries: dog walkers, nannies, cleaning Drawbacks, Cost and Convenience While remote access via smartphone president of Electronic Security Group, located in West Boylston, Massachusetts, hardwired systems. “They’re very secure,” he says. “You have to be in the apartment to let someone in. Someone has to be at the front door. We can add video to these older systems. We can also sync them with the local cable provider to create a ‘channel’ on the resident’s television from which to view the front door. On a phone- based system, you can identify someone at your door from anywhere on earth. Is that good or bad?” In terms of security, tech can have some drawbacks – but clearly, one of the benefits of upgrading your existing au- dio-based system to a phone-based app for video is cost. Adding an LED video screen to each unit is possible, but expen- sive. “Running new wiring is expensive, labor intensive, time consuming, and in- trusive,” says Ron. “It takes a lot of time. The wiring has to be run to each floor, and then to each apartment. Residents have to be present to provide access, and that’s inconvenient. Using existing wiring is simple. And as wires are buried within walls, there’s no need to break down and replace plaster. It’s simple; we just set up a new front panel and whatever other com- ponents are necessary in the basement. We may need 10 minutes per apartment for testing.” Ron estimates that labor costs for new wiring are more than double what’s re- quired for an upgrade using existing sys- tems. Typically for, say, a six-story, 50-unit elevator building, full replacement with rewiring can run about $50,000-$60,000, or about $1,000+ per unit. Maunsell puts that estimate in Massachusetts at around $700-$800 per unit. There are costs involved with phone- based systems as well. There are annual fees that must be paid for the app, though they don’t approach the cost per unit of physical replacement. “The most current technology,” says Ron, “has appeared in the past six months or so. It connects the existing wiring to the wifi system in an individual apartment.” Everything is in- tegrated. That integration is a huge draw – per- haps even a requirement – for millenni- als, the largest and fastest-growing seg- ment of the market for these products. As they continue to enter both the work- continued on page 20