Here's how the two systems actually compare, and the questions worth asking before you commit to either one.
Quick answer: A traditional intercom system lets a visitor press a button and a tenant lets them in blind, with no photo, no record and no way to manage the system remotely. A video intercom adds camera verification, remote access management, and a full entry log, for a higher upfront cost that usually pays back through fewer security incidents and less on-site staff time. For most multifamily and commercial properties, the tipping point is less about building age and more about how often unauthorized entry, missed deliveries, or turnover-related access changes are already costing staff time today.
Here's how the two actually compare, and the questions worth asking before you commit to either one.
A classic intercom panel is simple by design: a visitor presses a unit number, it rings a tenant's in-unit handset or phone line, and the tenant buzzes the door open on trust alone. That simplicity is also its ceiling. There's no camera, so tenants are letting people in without seeing who's actually at the door. There's no log, so if something goes wrong, there's no record of who opened the door or when. And because most of these systems are hardwired, which means any change (whether that be adding a unit, replacing a broken handset or updating a code) usually means a truck roll and a technician on-site.
That wiring is also what tends to fail first. Systems installed decades ago are still in service in a lot of buildings, and aging cabling, dying handsets, and missed visitor calls are the most common complaints property teams raise about legacy intercoms.
The security gap is well documented, too. A visitor who wants in without a legitimate reason can simply press several units in a row until someone buzzes them through. And tenants themselves absorb the cost of the system's blind spots: people living in apartments and condos are more than three times as likely to have a package stolen as people in single-family homes, per Security.org's most recent package theft research. Traditional intercoms, with no way to verify or log who's at the door, don't do much to address this issue.
The upgrade isn't just "intercom plus camera." The practical differences show up in day-to-day property operations:
- Visual verification before entry. Tenants (and staff) see who's at the door before granting access, from a screen or their phone, not just a name on a directory.
- Remote access, not just remote viewing. Property managers can grant or revoke access from any device, without being on-site. This is useful for contractor visits, move-ins, and after-hours issues.
- An actual audit trail. Every entry is logged with a timestamp, a record that's simply missing from a legacy intercom.
- Delivery access without a phone call. Mobile access lets couriers in without a resident needing to be home or reachable.
- No dependency on one hardwired handset. Access routes to a resident's phone, so a broken in-unit unit doesn't mean a locked-out household.
Pricing varies a lot by building size, number of entrances, and whether you're retrofitting existing wiring or starting fresh, so treat any number here as directional rather than a quote.
Generally speaking, repairing or replacing a purely wired intercom tends to run in the low hundreds of dollars per door; a cloud-based video intercom can often be a larger upfront investment, offset over time by lower on-site maintenance visits, fewer emergency locksmith calls, and less staff time spent manually managing access during turnover.
In summary: a video intercom is often both cheaper to install and run over five years.
Neither system is universally "right", the better fit depends on what's actually costing your team time and risk today:
Is a video intercom worth it for a small apartment building?
It depends more on entry-management workload than unit count. A small building with frequent guest and delivery traffic, or a lean on-site team, often sees a faster payback than a larger building with low turnover and a legacy intercom system that's rarely a problem.
Can you add video to an existing legacy intercom system, or do you need to replace it?
In most cases, replacement (or a panel/display-unit swap) is more reliable than bolting video onto old wiring. Legacy cabling and analog handsets typically aren't built to carry video or connect to a mobile app. Some upgrades can reuse existing door hardware, which is worth asking an installer about directly.
Does switching to a video intercom mean rewiring the whole building?
Not necessarily. Systems built around an in-building display unit and mobile access, rather than exterior wiring runs to every unit, can often be installed with far less disruption than a full rewire, since the door-side hardware and the resident-side access are decoupled. Defigo only requires 3 cables and can often reuse existing wiring. It can also be installed without having to involve tenants, because it does not need to be wired to individual apartments.
How long does the switch typically take?
For a single building, installation is commonly measured in hours rather than weeks, though multi-entry properties and older wiring can extend that. The bigger time variable is usually resident onboarding (getting everyone moved onto a mobile app) rather than the hardware install itself.
Sources
Talk to our Sales Team to get a Demo of the Defigo System.
