ButterflyMX, a cloud-based property access and security platform for multifamily and commercial buildings, has launched a QR Code Intercom, bringing the visitor-facing intercom to smartphones.
Properties can mount a laser-etched QR code plaque at a door, gate or garage instead of installing a conventional intercom at each entrance. When a visitor scans the code, a web-based intercom opens on their phone, providing a searchable resident directory, one-way video and two-way audio. No app is required.
The product aims to reduce hardware and installation costs for extending access control to secondary entrances, garages, and other areas where installing an additional intercom might be costly or difficult.
QR plaque puts the intercom on the visitor’s phone
Each QR Code Intercom plaque is paired with a ButterflyMX access controller, so the system still requires access-control hardware. The difference is at the entrance, where the visitor’s smartphone provides the intercom interface.
The plaques are available in anodised aluminium, stainless steel and brass, and are designed to be tamper-evident and weather-resistant.
Visitors scan the code to start an intercom session in their browser. A resident or staff member can see the visitor via the one-way video call, speak with them via two-way audio, and grant access remotely via the ButterflyMX mobile app.
ButterflyMX CEO Aaron Rudenstine said the product is intended, in part, for properties with multiple entry points that want to provide resident, visitor and delivery access without installing additional intercom hardware at each location.
QR codes already had a role in ButterflyMX visitor access
ButterflyMX had used QR codes for visitor access before the new intercom was launched, although the scanning process was different.
Its Visitor Pass feature allowed residents to create guest passes as QR codes or PINs. Access could be restricted to specific times and expiry dates, or set on a recurring schedule. A guest using the QR option could display the code on their smartphone for a ButterflyMX Video Intercom to scan.
With the QR Code Intercom, the roles are reversed. The QR code is mounted at the entrance, and the visitor scans it with a smartphone, which then becomes the intercom interface.
ButterflyMX adds another option to its access platform
The QR Code Intercom is the latest addition to ButterflyMX’s building access products. The company introduced its Access Control System in 2022, extending its system beyond the front entrance to doors, gates and lifts elsewhere on a property. A next-generation Video Intercom followed in 2023, and Security Cameras in 2024.
The new intercom works alongside ButterflyMX’s Video Intercom, Access Control System and Security Cameras, rather than as a standalone access system.
ButterflyMX said the web-based intercom uses end-to-end encryption, geofencing and rate limiting, with audit trails that record access activity. One-way video lets residents or staff see visitors during a call, while two-way audio allows them to speak.
Properties can use the QR-based intercom at additional entry points while retaining other ButterflyMX access and security products at other locations on the property.
ButterflyMX said the product is intended for multifamily developments, gated communities, commercial buildings, co-ops, condominiums and homeowners’ associations. At the time of the announcement, the company said its wider platform was used across more than 20,000 multifamily, commercial, gated community and student housing properties.
Image: Courtesy of ButterflyMX
