Big or small, read about everything that's going into keeping FreshBuzzer up and running.
Did you ever wish you could set up a Secure Access Code that can only be used a single time? Now you can!
One-time codes can only be used once - well kind of... they can be used repeatedly in a very short amount of time (currently two mintes) in case your guest was able to get in the first time.
As I value full transparency, I have to inform you that a small subset of user accounts could have been accessed by a different logged in FreshBuzzer customer. I have personally reached out to all affected customers and there has been no sign of any malicious activity in any of the user accounts.
The issue has been introduced by a configuration change on Oct 25th and disclosed to FreshBuzzer by a user on Oct 28th. It has been resolved within 2 hours of disclosure and a thorough investigation yielded the list of 72 accounts that technically could have been affected.
At no time any data was accessible publicly nor could have any payment information been accessed. If you have any questions or concerns, please Contact us.
There was an issue that the user's timezone was not correctly applied when FreshBuzzer answered buzzer phone calls. This could lead to schedules having an unexpected offset. Start and end dates of call forwarding, secure access codes and short-term rental bookings were not affected.
The new Help Center and Ticket System are now live to help you get the most out of FreshBuzzer and improve customer communication.
Finally you can change your password on the account page instead of having to go through the password reset flow (which isn't very obvious).
Due to spam/scam regulations being enforced in the US, FreshBuzzer can no longer send text messages (e.g. notifications) from your FreshBuzzer number. All FreshBuzzer text messages are now being sent from selected toll free phone numbers.
To assist with the transition, check-in notification text messages now include the property name in the message.
Canada and the US are - at least in parts - bilingual countries and that's great! Now FreshBuzzer speaks French to your guests with 4 new voices. Try it out!
Thank you Gio for the suggestion and providing translations.
The day has finally come and FreshBuzzer now offers a referral program. It's our way of saying Thank you! for spreading the word and telling others about this service. Learn more on your Referrals page.
We've switched to a hosted Billing & Subscription portal directly from our payment provider. It should make it easier to manage your subscription, payment method and view your invoices. You'll find the link to it on your Account page under Subscription & Billing.
The integration with our payment processor, Stripe, has been upgraded.
You can now easily switch between FreshBuzzer Professional and Personal as well as monthly and yearly billing on your Account page.
A free trial is important to let users get a feel for FreshBuzzer before commitying their hard earned $$$ to it. Unfortunately offering a free trial without requiring a credit card does often lead to users setting up their account and it getting deleted automatically.
No more! Now, anyone can try FreshBuzzer for free - no credit card required - and only start their subscription when they are ready to get their local phone number.
* To use a real FreshBuzzer phone number, a paid subscription is required.
Some users might have noticed that they get logged out very often. This depends a lot on the browser and it's settings. Now you can check the "Remember me" box when signing in and your session will be active for much longer (or until you log out).
Many intercom systems have bad speakers, they are either too loud or too quiet - if you have trouble hearing FreshBuzzer's voice messages, you can now change the volume in your number's Voice Settings.
An issue that caused newly created accounts to be deleted immediately has been resolved.
If you'd like to change yours, you can do so now on your Account page.
Many of you have asked for a way to automatically buzz in your guests - and for that FreshBuzzer offers Secure Access Codes and Party Mode. But those don't always work for everyone.
With Auto Buzz we launch our simplest but most powerful tool. Read more in our FAQs.
Now it is possible to rename and disable Secure Access Codes that are synced via iCal AND have these changes automatically applied to any connected smart locks! This compliments the existing early check-in/late check-out feature.
Access Code Links with schedules were not properly adjusted for the users time zone - this issue has been resolved.
Guesty has been added to our list of supported property management systems. While their calendarts only provide the last 4 digits of the guests phone number - similar to Airbnb - only Secure Access Codes can be created automatically.
For additional security through observability you can now receive notification emails when your Secure Access Codes have been used. This notification can be selectively enabled for each access code and will also trigger when an invalid access code attempt occured.
There was an issue that prevented users from making changes to their existing iCal sync configuration. This has now been fixed.
For everyone listing their property on multiple short-term rental platforms, you can now import bookings from ALL your calendars. You still can use a PMS to combine all listings in a single calendar, but you don't have to!
Flexibility is important and FreshBuzzer is here to make your life easier. Next time a guest is asking to check-in earlier - or check-out later - you can update their booking with one click. Even if their booking changes, the changes will be re-applied automatically to their new dates.
Users can now have multiple Secure Access Codes with the same PIN code - the system will select the appropriate, currently valid code upon guest entry.
The system now correctly sends a check-in notification for your guests, even when you already have been notified of them unsuccessfully checking in previously.
Some short-term rental platforms, e.g. VRBO, do not publish the guest's phone numbers in their iCal which is unfortunate. Now FreshBuzzer will still synchronize these bookings so hosts only have to enter the phone number instead of all booking details.
A while back logs for your Secure Access Codes were introduced to bring visibility to when which code was used or there was an unsuccessful attempt to enter a code. Now you get the same for your call-forwarding - see who got called, who picked up and who didn't.
FreshBuzzer Professional is designed for short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, and brings many advanced features to help automate as much as possible. Now FreshBuzzer Pro lets you manage all your properties in a single account.
If you sync call-forwarding numbers or Secure Access Codes from your iCal bookings, you will notice that any cancelled bookings are now automatically removed.
Instead of passing on your building's caller ID, FreshBuzzer will now use your FreshBuzzer number as caller ID when forwarding your buzzer calls.
We upgraded our default robo-voice to a selection of better sounding voices. Head over to your voice settings and choose your favorite to greet your guests.
Our Plus plan offers additional features aimed at short-term rental properties. Now you can get a text message notification when your guests check-in at your place.
The test call feature has been completely rebuilt. Whether you're still waiting for the building manager to update your buzzer number, or if you just want to try out a settings change - no need to go downstairs and ring the buzzer yourself, do it right here!
Almost half of you are visiting us on your mobile phone, this is a first (small) step to improve the look and feel of FreshBuzzer on small screens.
Your FreshBuzzer should only receive calls from your buzzer - nobody else and definitely not spam and robocalls. Any unknown caller will now be automatically rejected. Please contact us if you're not receiving calls you should, e.g. when using a different entrance in your building for the first time or you have moved to a different address.
Schedules give you more precise control about your buzzer setup. Make sure the nanny or the in-laws can only get in at certain times, or avoid getting buzzer calls when you're at work.
Similar to access code, call-forwarding now also allows setting "valid from" and "valid until". Ideal when setting up forwarding for a temporary visitor!
Secure Access Codes can now have a "valid from" and "valid until" time. This gives you additional security when creating codes for guests by limiting when they are valid.
The new Party Mode puts your buzzer on autopilot when you're expecting guests. For a short, preset, period of time all visitors will be buzzed in automagically - no calls, no codes, just opening the door. Try it now.
FreshBuzzer Professional provides iCal sync to keep your Secure Access Codes or Call Forwarding up to date with your bookings on Airbnb and other platforms. Now Hostify joins Airbnb, Hospitable and HostTools to the list of supported providers.
The Number Search now searches for numbers even closer to you and increases the search area automatically if needed. Also area code maps show what other area codes might be available in your region.
In order to increase FreshBuzzer's resilience to technical issues, fallback numbers will take over when needed and restore the usual buzzer functionality of calling a single phone number. Read more in our blog post.
The time setting for check-in and check-out now take precedence over the times in the calendar events. Previously they were used as a fallback for calendars that only provide dates.
FreshBuzzer Professional already offered iCal Sync for Secure Access Codes - now you can also sync your Call-Forwarding numbers the same way. Simply copy & paste your booking calendar and your guests will receive the buzzer calls during their visit.
Regular security updates have been installed.
Speech recognition continues to be a really hard problem to solve for computers. That's why we recommend to use Number Keys over Speech Recognition for Secure Access Codes. However, we just improved the speech recognition to better handle codes starting with a 0.
Access Code Calendar Sync now also supports Airbnb and Hospitable. Syncronize your iCal now to automatically manage Secure Access Codes for each guest.
Regular security updates have been installed.
You can now up/downgrade and change your billing cycle anytime on your account page. Note: this is only available during the trial period for now, but will be extended to active subscriptions soon.
After contacting our hosting company and a server restart, the slow page load times we observed have been resolved. If you do see any performance issues, please contact us.
We're investigating a technical issue that is causing some pages to load quite slowly. The issue has been raised with our hosting provider and will hopefully be fixed soon. We apologize for this and appreciate your patience.
The new iCal sync feature allows automatic management of your Secure Access Codes based on bookings on short-term rental platforms. This is specifically interesting for professional property usage and therefore comes together with a new FreshBuzzer Professional plan. Learn more in our blog post.
Previously access codes could be entered via key number pads as well as speech recognition. Unfortunately supporting both at the same time sometimes causes issues. So from now on, you can choose - depending on the physical buzzer unit in your building - whether FreshBuzzer expects voice or key press input. Configure yours now.
Secure Access Codes are one of two ways to open your front door with FreshBuzzer. But since you're not getting a phone call when they are used, it is hard to know whether somebody uses them to gain access or now. Access Code Logs give you full visibility into when and which codes are used. Learn more in our blog post.
The time zone select field on the user account page was not correctly displaying the user selected time zone. This issue has been addressed and the time zone displays properly. Additionally the list of priority time zones has been shortened for improved usability.
Regular security updates have been installed.
Regular security updates have been installed.
Voicemail can sometimes interfere with your Buzzer - When you are on another call or your phone is off, your voicemail might pick up any call instantly. This won't give anyone else the chance to answer the call instead. Enable Voicemail detection for your parallel Call Forwarding to get prompted to press any number and therefore prevent your mailbox from picking up. Coming to sequential calls soon!
You might want to set up some Access Codes for friends and family but don't like that everyone else is being asked for a code when ringing your buzzer. Tip: disable Access Codes that are not currently needed and when none of them are active, we now skip the voice prompt.
You can now follow this page to see any new features or regular maintenance work going into FreshBuzzer.