What to do › Gate or door phone

A gate or door phone on a copper line

Gate phones, door phones and call boxes usually dial out to residents or a guard. Most can move to the cellular network.

First: is the line on copper?

• Ask your phone company: “Is this line on copper or on fiber?” They can see it on the account.
• A corded phone that kept working through a power outage, with no battery backup, usually runs over copper.
• If the phone line plugs into a Verizon Fios box (an optical network terminal) on a wall or in the basement, the line already runs over fiber, and a copper notice may not apply to it.
• Lines from a cable company or a mobile company don't run over Verizon's copper.

The plan

1. Find out how the unit dials

   Find the make and model on the unit, or ask the company that installed it. Ask whether it can take a cellular module, or whether a cellular landline-replacement device can plug into its phone port.

2. Choose a replacement

   A cellular adapter that plugs into the existing unit's phone port keeps the unit working. A new cellular call box or intercom replaces it. An internet intercom works where the gate has a network connection.

   Most cellular call boxes and adapters take a physical SIM card. Ask the seller which networks and plans it works with.

3. Test after the change

   Call from the gate to every phone it should reach, open the gate or door from a phone and from the keypad, and check it still works on a power failure if it did before.

Each office's page shows the date in Verizon's notice. Verizon says it may ask customers to move “well before” that date, so it pays to start early.

What to ask

• Can this unit take a cellular module, or work with a cellular adapter?
• Does it need a physical SIM card, and which networks does it support?

After the change

• Calls from the gate reach every phone on the list.
• The gate or door opens from a phone and from the keypad.

From MeiSIM USA

MeiSIM USA sells its lines as eSIM, and most call boxes take a physical SIM card, so we can't supply this one yet.

In New Jersey?

Check whether Verizon has filed a notice for the office that serves your line, and get an email if it changes.

Check a New Jersey number

The other plans

• Fire alarm panel
• Elevator emergency phone
• Fax machine
• Security or burglar alarm
• Card terminal or ATM
• Home phone or medical alert

Verizon's New Jersey copper retirement notice names the alternatives itself: “VoIP service from Verizon or a cable company, or fixed or mobile wireless service from multiple providers including Verizon Wireless.”