Room numbering is the kind of detail that seems trivial until it meets a real building. A developer hands over a 120-unit apartment block, and the intercom system has to know which unit is which—not in a spreadsheet, but at the outdoor station, where a visitor presses a number and expects the right apartment to ring. Get the numbering logic wrong, and the consequences surface daily: visitors call the wrong unit, couriers give up, residents complain to property management, and the integrator returns to site to reconfigure a system that was supposed to be finished.

FARHD’s IP apartment video intercom system addresses this at the level where it matters most: room number configuration and directory management on an 8″ touch screen outdoor station. The system supports flexible room number settings—including 1-digit and 2-digit configurations—and provides a structured workflow for generating the room list and calling apartments. For distributors, integrators, and property developers, understanding how these settings work is essential to a smooth deployment.

FARHD, a Chinese manufacturer founded in 1998 with 28 years of experience in video door phones and intercom systems, produces core components—TFT LCD screens, driver boards, and camera modules—in-house, allowing the outdoor station’s display, directory logic, and call routing to be designed as one coordinated system.

Why Room Number Settings Deserve Attention Before Installation

In apartment intercom systems, the room number is not just a label. It is the addressing scheme that connects three things: the physical apartment, the indoor monitor inside it, and the directory entry at the outdoor station. If any of these three disagree, calls fail.

Several practical realities make room numbering more complex than it appears:

Building layouts vary. Some buildings use simple sequential numbering (1, 2, 3… up to perhaps 9 units on a floor or in a small block). Others use floor-based schemes (101, 102, 201, 202) or block-based schemes (A-101, B-205). A small residential building with a handful of units may need only single-digit addressing; a larger apartment block typically needs two or more digits.

Digit length affects the directory display and keypad logic. A system configured for 1-digit room numbers behaves differently from one configured for 2-digit numbers, and the directory display, search behavior, and call routing must match the actual numbering scheme.

Configuration must be reproducible. When a monitor is replaced, a new resident moves in, or a second building is added in a later phase, the numbering logic must be documented so it can be reproduced without guesswork.

Errors are expensive to correct. A misconfigured room number discovered during commissioning means reconfiguring the affected monitors and re-verifying the directory. Discovered after handover, it means a service visit and resident complaints.

The 1-digit and 2-digit room number settings in FARHD’s IP apartment system are designed to accommodate the range of building configurations that partners actually encounter—from small residential buildings to larger apartment blocks—without forcing every project into the same addressing scheme.

1-Digit and 2-Digit Room Number Settings: What They Mean in Practice

The system supports room numbers configured with either one digit or two digits, allowing the addressing scheme to match the building’s actual layout rather than requiring the building to conform to a fixed format.

When 1-Digit Numbering Applies

Single-digit room numbers suit buildings where the total unit count or the per-floor unit count fits within a single digit—for example, a small residential building with units 1 through 9, or a floor with a handful of apartments where residents refer to their unit by a simple number.

In these configurations, the directory can present a short, clean list, and visitors can call a unit with a single digit entry. The advantage is simplicity: the interface is immediately understandable, and there is less room for input error by visitors unfamiliar with the building.

When 2-Digit Numbering Applies

Two-digit room numbers suit buildings with more units per floor or per block—for example, a floor with units 01 through 20, or a small building with up to 99 apartments addressed sequentially.

Two-digit numbering allows the directory to scale beyond nine units while keeping the input pattern simple. Visitors enter two digits, the system routes the call to the corresponding apartment, and the directory displays the entries in a readable order.

Configuration Considerations

A few practical points determine whether the chosen scheme works smoothly:

Consistency across the building. The digit length should be consistent within a building or block. Mixing 1-digit and 2-digit addressing in the same directory creates confusion at the station and complicates the call routing logic.

Leading zeros and display format. Where 2-digit numbering is used, the display format should be consistent—whether the system displays “01″ or “1″ for the first unit matters for readability and for how residents and visitors recognize their unit number.

Directory ordering. The directory should present entries in a logical order (numerical or by floor/block) so that visitors can find the target unit without scrolling through an unordered list.

Documentation. The numbering scheme—digit length, format, and ordering—should be recorded in the handover documentation so that future maintenance and expansion do not require reverse-engineering the logic.

For integrators, the practical benefit of supporting both 1-digit and 2-digit configurations is that the same product platform can be specified across different building types without requiring a separate system for small buildings and larger blocks.

Generating the Room List on the 8″ Outdoor Station

The room list is what makes the outdoor station usable by people who do not know the building. Generating it correctly—and keeping it accurate—is the core of directory management.

The Generation Workflow

The room list generation process is designed to be performed by the installer or property manager, not by a technician from the manufacturer. The general workflow is:

1. Configure the room number scheme — select 1-digit or 2-digit addressing based on the building’s layout, and confirm the display format.
2. Register the apartments — each apartment’s indoor monitor is associated with its room number, establishing the link between the directory entry and the physical unit.
3. Generate the directory — the system compiles the registered apartments into a room list that will be displayed at the outdoor station.
4. Verify the directory — test calls from the outdoor station to a sample of units, confirming that each directory entry routes to the correct apartment.
5. Document the configuration — record the numbering scheme, directory order, and any exceptions in the handover file.

Directory Structure and Display

On an 8″ touch screen, the room list has enough space to be genuinely usable:

• Readable entries at a size that visitors can read without straining, with enough entries visible at once to browse comfortably.
• Touch scrolling and search that work with fingers rather than requiring precision tapping.
• Logical ordering so that units are grouped in a way that matches how visitors think about the building—by number, by floor, or by block.
• Script rendering for resident names where the directory includes names rather than unit numbers only, with correct support for non-Latin characters.

For international communities, the room list display should render names in multiple scripts correctly. Where privacy is a concern, the directory can be configured to display unit numbers without names, or to require a search rather than a full scroll.

Directory Maintenance

Generation is a one-time task; maintenance is ongoing. In buildings with tenant turnover, the directory must be updated as residents change. The practical practices are:

• Assign responsibility for directory updates to property management, and make the update procedure part of routine operations.
• Update promptly when a unit changes occupancy, so visitors are not routed to a departed resident.
• Review periodically to catch stale entries that were missed during busy periods.
• Re-verify after major changes — when a floor is added, a building phase is completed, or units are reconfigured, test a sample of directory entries to confirm routing still works.

Calling Apartments from the Outdoor Station

The call flow is where the directory, the room number scheme, and the indoor monitor all meet. For the visitor, it should be simple; for the system, it requires correct routing.

The Visitor Experience

The intended flow is straightforward:

1. The visitor approaches the station and sees the room list or a prompt to enter a room number.
2. The visitor selects or enters the target apartment — by touching the directory entry or entering the room number on the keypad, depending on the configuration.
3. The station calls the corresponding indoor monitor — the apartment’s monitor rings, displaying the visitor’s video and offering answer and unlock controls.
4. The resident answers and communicates — two-way audio and video, with the option to unlock the entrance door.
5. The call ends and the station returns to its idle state, ready for the next visitor.

For first-time visitors, the room list makes this flow possible without assistance. For residents and staff using the entrance, the flow is familiar and fast.

Routing and Verification

Behind the simple visitor experience, several routing details must be correct:

Directory entry to monitor association. Each directory entry must be correctly mapped to the apartment’s indoor monitor. An error here means the call rings the wrong unit—a problem that residents notice immediately.

Digit-length consistency. The keypad entry logic must match the configured room number scheme. If the system expects 2-digit entry but the building uses 1-digit numbers, visitors will fail to reach units.

Call routing to secondary devices. In configurations where an apartment supports a second video doorbell, the call flow must account for both sources so that the resident can distinguish between a building entrance call and an apartment door call.

Unanswered call behavior. The system should define what happens when a resident does not answer—whether the call returns to the station, times out, or provides an alternative path. This should be configured deliberately rather than left to default.

Verification During Commissioning

Testing a sample of units is not enough. A practical commissioning sequence includes:

1. Test the first and last entry in the directory to confirm the range works.
2. Test entries at digit-length boundaries — units 1, 9, 10, 11, 99 if applicable — to confirm the keypad logic handles transitions correctly.
3. Test a spread of units across floors or blocks to confirm the directory ordering and routing are consistent.
4. Test the unanswered call behavior to confirm it matches the intended configuration.
5. Test in the actual lighting and noise conditions at the entrance, since the visitor experience depends on both the screen and the audio.

For large buildings, a documented test record—listing which units were tested and the result—is a practical safeguard against later disputes.

How the 8″ Touch Screen Supports the Directory and Call Flow

The 8″ touch screen is not incidental to room list management; it is what makes the directory usable at the scale of an apartment building.

Space for readable entries. A larger display shows more entries at a readable size, reducing scrolling and making the directory usable for visitors who are unfamiliar with the building.

Touch input sized for fingers. Directory browsing and room number entry work with normal touch interaction rather than precision tapping, which matters for elderly visitors and for use in rain or with cold hands.

Clear prompts for the call flow. The screen can present the call instructions, the room number prompt, and the call status in a hierarchy that users understand without reading a manual.

Multi-script rendering. For international communities, the display has room to render resident names and prompts legibly across scripts—Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, and others—without the truncation that smaller displays force.

Visibility in outdoor conditions. Brightness and contrast must hold up in daylight, at night, and in rain. Because FARHD produces TFT LCD screens in-house, brightness, viewing angle, color accuracy, and touch response are controlled at the component level rather than accepted as whatever the panel supplier provides.

For integrators, the practical consequence is fewer commissioning issues and fewer resident complaints about the entrance experience.

IP Architecture: Scaling Directory Management Across Buildings and Phases

Room numbering and directory management become significantly harder without IP architecture. In a development completed in phases, or a community with multiple buildings and entrances, each outdoor station must share a consistent directory so that a visitor at any entrance has the same experience.

IP architecture supports this:

• Shared directory data across multiple outdoor stations, so that adding or updating a unit is reflected consistently rather than requiring manual updates at each station.
• Scalability across phases, allowing the system to expand as buildings are completed rather than requiring the entire network to be built at once.
• Structured cabling through risers and service ducts, simplifying distribution across floors and buildings.
• Per-apartment flexibility, including configurations where each apartment supports a second video doorbell in addition to the building entrance station.

For renovation projects, FARHD’s 2-wire IP systems provide an alternative where existing two-wire cabling can be reused, reducing disruption in occupied buildings.

Certification, Scale, and Support

FARHD products hold international certifications including CE, FCC, RoHS, IP65 water resistance, and EMC, supporting market access, customs clearance, and reliable outdoor performance at exposed building entrances.

FARHD’s experience in large-scale residential projects is directly relevant to directory management. Supported by 28 direct sales branches across China, the company has completed over 10,000 large-scale building video intercom projects, including ultra-large communities with 1,000, 3,000, and even over 5,000 households. At that scale, the room number scheme, directory structure, and call routing logic are not minor configuration details—they are the foundation of a system that either works smoothly for thousands of residents or generates complaints daily. That experience informs how FARHD approaches addressing, documentation, and commissioning support for apartment projects.

FARHD also provides a hassle-free after-sales service system: upon product delivery, a dedicated technical support group is established to assist with programming, device installation, and wiring connections throughout the process. For an integrator configuring a large building’s directory, having that channel available during commissioning changes the practical experience of the job.

For partners building a private-label product line, OEM and ODM services cover customized software and hardware development, UI design, functional module adjustments, and tailored packaging solutions—including directory formats and interface localization for specific markets. SKD solutions are available for assembly factories across Europe, the Middle East, South America, Southeast Asia, the United States, Russia, India, Iran, Turkey, South Korea, and Italy, helping reduce production and tariff costs.

A Directory That Works Because the Configuration Was Right

Room number settings and directory generation are not glamorous features. They are the mechanics that determine whether a visitor can reach the right apartment, whether a resident receives the right calls, and whether property management spends its time on operations or on fixing the entrance.

FARHD’s IP apartment video intercom system supports 1-digit and 2-digit room number settings to match the building’s actual layout, provides a structured workflow for generating and maintaining the room list on an 8″ touch screen outdoor station, and routes calls to the correct apartment with a visitor experience simple enough to use without instruction.

Whether you are equipping a new apartment development, upgrading an existing building’s entrance, or building a private-label product line with OEM/ODM support, FARHD can support your project from core components to global delivery.

We look forward to building a strong partnership with you and jointly shaping the future of smart living.

Email: info@farhd.com
Website: www.farhd.com
WhatsApp: +86 188 2370 9809 / +86 199 2545 1918