What's New
Big or small, read about everything that's going into keeping FreshBuzzer up and running.
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Some short-term rental platforms, e.g. VRBO, do not publish the guest's phone numbers in their iCal which is unfortunate.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 Professional 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.