Discussion on Resolution for Replacement of Intercom System

11.2 Replacement of Intercom System

To consider and if approved, to resolve by way of Special Resolution to empower the Management Council to replace the intercom system at a budget not exceeding S$3,000.00 to be financed from maintenance fund and to empower the incoming Management Council to negotiate the terms and conditions with the appropriate vendors.
Explanatory notes: The existing intercom system is faulty and the spare parts had been phased out; the existing system is now obsolete. Residents had been complaining about the inconvenience of not being able to be informed of visitors or contacting the guard house without a working intercom system. Some even experienced the faulty intercom ringing in the middle of the night. Council proposes to replace with an updated key entry phone system whereby each household need only to give a contact number, be it a home telephone number or a mobile number. This number will be programmed into the system and can be updated or changed accordingly.


My view:

The intercom system has been unreliable for years now. Problem persist after the handsets have been changed. The current maintainer is also the original designer of the system. For this reason, no other maintainer has been tried. We take their words that the system is inherently unreliable. Council should try out another company for maintenance before taking the words of the current maintainer.


With new key entry phone system:

1. The hand set of the current system will be left redundant. If you take it out of the wall, you will have to cover up the hole left behind.
2. The guardhouse number is being used for another extra purpose. Chances of emergency call getting through will be reduced.
3. SP provides the management with his unit address and the phone number to contact him/her when there is a visitor. This pair of data is stored in a database. The guard key in the unit address and the system will auto-dial up the corresponding phone number. The “safety” feature is that the guard will not know SP's phone number and will not be able to make any nuisance to the SP. This is actually not a critical issue nowadays when Caller ID is readily available. Even if there is no Caller ID, with present day technology, a nuisance call can easily be traced.
4. For the system to work, effort has to be spent to keep the database up-to-date. How much will the effort be depends on how frequent the ownership of property changes in our estate.

This system is unnecessary. Instead of this system, it will be easier for a visitor to tell the guard the phone number of the host. The guard can then contact the host to confirm the visit. If one thinks that for the visitor to speak out the phone number to the guard is revealing it openly, then provide the guard with a cordless phone which can be carried to the visitor. In this case, there is no worry about keeping the phone number up-to-date; and the MCST saves $3000, no maintenance expense and no equipment that depreciates in value over time.