Seven Penn Plaza Uses Aiphone’s JF Series To Manage Visitors

The challenge is to replace an existing variety of intercoms with a single model type to create a unified building design.

The solution found was to install the Aiphone JF Series video intercom at each office door to allow tenants to identify their own visitors and control visitor management independently from the other tenants in the building.

“The Aiphone product has been bulletproof for us with no unit failures. It’s easy to use so the tenants have had no issues,” says Drew Mulderrig Building Superintendent, eil Organization

The Situation

Opening doors in 1921, Seven Penn Plaza is a 17-story multi-tenant office tower bordering on Manhattan’s trendy Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. Building owners recently completed an upgrade of the entire 368,000-square-foot structure to modernize its aesthetic to fit with its Class A location. Maintaining tenant security was an important part of the project, while still allowing convenient, daytime public access through the guard-monitored lobby.

The challenge

Over the years, Seven Penn Plaza tenants had installed at least a dozen different audio and video intercom systems of various ages, finishes, and states of repair. Some hadn’t worked for years. Building owners wanted them all replaced with one, unified model type.

Requirements:

• Replace a hodgepodge of existing intercoms with one standard unit for all tenants
• Allow tenants to set their own policies for visitor entry
• Include built-in card readers for easy employee egress

Building management liked the station’s all‑in‑one video camera, audio intercom, and optional embedded HID® proximity access, card reader.

The solution

The reader makes it easy for employees to use key cards to enter their suite

Aiphone’s JF Series video intercoms were recommended by Cosmic Fisher Locks (CFL). Both the building owners and CFL agreed there was no need for a front door master station since the main entry remains unlocked during normal business hours. Visitors entering the building are required to sign in with a lobby attendant before getting on an elevator. Instead, CFL and the owners agreed to install a video intercom outside each office door. This empowered tenants to set their own office visitor entry policies

Most tenants added the reader to make it easy for employees to use key cards to enter their suite. A few tenants also added a second‑ or third‑ interior master station so other staff members at different desks could monitor the entries when the receptionist was away.

Ease of Use

The JF Series intercoms allowed visitors to simply push a button to connect with office staff who could remain safe behind the locked door. Inside, video intercoms included high‑resolution color screens to let tenants clearly see visitors while being able to talk with them before deciding to buzz them into the office. The stations’ built‑in picture memory captures visitor images in case they’re needed for later investigations.

JF Series stations can only be answered from inside a tenant’s office, ensuring all visitors are properly screened on site. The stations’ aluminum finish made the building owner, the Feil Organization, happy as it matched new doors being installed throughout the building. And by standardizing on the JF Series video intercom, CFL’s technicians didn’t need to cut different‑sized openings into the newly renovated walls.

Other Advantages of the JF Series Include:

• Each tenant can increase their security with up to 2 door stations, 3 master stations
• Provides access control for the main entrance and an additional service entrance or elevator
• Colleagues can immediately reach one another with room-to-room communication
• Save time with pre-recorded messages to play for visitors at the door station