drulofs/smart-buzzer-n8n

This project automates answering an apartment building's buzzer so a visitor can unlock the door by saying a secret magic word instead of a resident having to pick up the phone. It works with the common kind of intercom that calls a resident's cell phone and unlocks the door when the resident presses a specific button on the keypad. When someone buzzes the intercom, it calls a phone number handled by Twilio, a phone and messaging service. Twilio answers the call and asks the visitor to say the magic word out loud, then transcribes what they said into text. That text is passed to n8n, a workflow automation tool, which checks whether it matches the magic word you configured. If it matches, Twilio sends back the same touch tone digit the resident would normally press to unlock the door. If it does not match, the call is simply rejected. Setting it up means importing a provided workflow file into your own n8n instance, choosing your own magic word and unlock digit instead of the example ones shown in the documentation, and pointing your Twilio phone number's incoming call settings at the workflow's web address. The author recommends testing the correct word, an incorrect word, and silence before trying it on the real building intercom, and warns that this only works with the older style of intercom that dials a phone number and listens for a touch tone digit, not intercoms tied to closed video systems or a proprietary building app. The author is upfront about several limitations: the workflow does not check Twilio's signature to confirm requests are genuinely coming from Twilio, speech recognition can occasionally mishear the magic word, and there are no limits on failed attempts, no schedules, and no logs or alerts if someone is trying to guess their way in. Running it costs whatever Twilio charges for phone calls and speech recognition, plus hosting for your n8n instance, and the code itself is released under the MIT license, free to use. The author has also built a paid, hosted alternative called BuzzerBee for people who would rather not manage Twilio and n8n themselves.