BAS-IP Mobile SDK: How to Add Video Intercom Features to Your Own Mobile App
A residential development, property management company or PropTech platform may already have its own app. Residents pay service charges, book meeting rooms, submit requests and receive notifications. Then an intercom system is added to the building, and residents are asked to install yet another app just to answer a door call.
BAS-IP Mobile SDK removes the need for a second app. Video calls, door release and mobile access can be integrated into the app residents already use. The partner’s development team takes ready-made BAS-IP components and adapts the experience to its own product.
In our overview of BAS-IP integration with building systems, we covered all the main approaches: standard protocols, Link API, Mobile SDK and Device API. Here we focus on the mobile side: what the SDK can do, what your team needs to prepare and where its boundaries lie.
A Day in the Life of a Resident
The easiest way to explain the SDK is through an ordinary day in the life of someone living in a BAS-IP-equipped building.
While at work, the resident receives a call from a courier at the entrance panel. The phone shows live video from the panel camera before the call is answered. The resident sees the parcel, answers the call and releases the door.
That evening, the resident comes home, brings the phone close to the entrance reader, unlocks the screen and the door opens. The physical keys stay in the pocket.
Later, the entrance door closes downstairs just as the resident’s child is due home from school. The resident opens the panel camera without receiving a call and checks who is at the entrance.
All of this happens in a single app — the same one the resident used that morning to pay a service charge.
Mobile SDK provides the components for each of these actions. Below, we look at how they work and what the development team needs to provide.
What the SDK Includes
BAS-IP Mobile SDK provides libraries, documentation and code samples for mobile developers. It works with BAS-IP Link and supports both iOS and Android.
Using the SDK, an app can:
- authenticate users and provide access to the app;
- retrieve a user profile and the list of devices available to that user;
- receive and place intercom calls;
- transmit audio and video;
- show video from the entrance panel before the call is answered;
- open the entrance panel camera when there is no active call;
- release the door;
- display incoming and outgoing call history;
- use the smartphone as a Bluetooth mobile key;
- call the lift, provided the required equipment is installed on site.
The partner uses only the components it needs and decides how the user experience should look.
Three Components: Core, Calls and UKEY
Core connects the app to BAS-IP Link. It handles user sign-in and password recovery, while allowing the app to retrieve the user profile and the list of available devices. It is also used to initiate calls, release doors, display call history and call the lift.
Calls handles the communication layer itself: incoming and outgoing calls, SIP registration, audio, video and call control. The SDK manages the state of an active call — for example, an incoming call has arrived, the phone is ready to accept it, the call has ended, and which party ended the call. On iOS, CallKit is used for system-level call handling.
UKEY turns the smartphone into a mobile key. The resident scans a QR code, the mobile credential is downloaded to the app, and the door can then be opened over Bluetooth through a compatible BAS-IP reader.
The resident does not need to open the app and press a button every time. A door-release request is triggered when the resident unlocks the phone near the reader. Simply approaching the reader with a locked phone in a pocket is not enough.
There is one important point about mobile credentials. They are issued by BAS-IP and purchased separately, either directly from BAS-IP or through distributors. A partner can buy credentials in advance and issue QR codes to residents, but cannot generate the credentials itself. For the resident, the process is simple: receive a code, scan it and start using the mobile key.
The QR code is used once to load the mobile key onto the phone. It is unrelated to a guest QR code that, for example, allows a courier to enter the building.
How a Call Reaches the Phone
The mobile app does not maintain a permanent SIP registration in the same way as an intercom device or wall-mounted indoor monitor. While the app is in the background or the screen is locked, the resident’s virtual extension is not registered on the server.
For that reason, a push notification comes first:
- The visitor presses the call button on the entrance panel.
- The call reaches the BAS-IP server.
- The partner’s push server sends a notification via Firebase or APNs.
- The app wakes up and re-registers with the SIP server.
- Once SIP registration has been restored, the call itself is delivered and the app is ready to answer it.
This creates an infrastructure requirement: the partner needs its own push server, deployed according to BAS-IP documentation and integrated with Firebase for Android and APNs for iOS. BAS-IP does not deploy this part on behalf of the integrator, but the documentation specifies what needs to be implemented.
If calls are not required in the app, a push server is not required either. A Link server is required in all cases, because the SDK works only with BAS-IP Link.
The User Interface Remains Yours
BAS-IP includes sample screens and icons in the SDK, but partners are not required to use them. Buttons, the call screen, navigation and colours can all be designed by the partner.
To the resident, the intercom experience looks like a native part of the property management app rather than a vendor module inserted into it.
Multiple Phones for One Apartment
A courier calls the apartment and both parents’ phones ring. The first person to answer takes the call, and the call stops ringing on the other phone.
There may be a slight difference in when the call reaches each phone, depending on the network and device state. The list of recipients is defined by forwarding settings in Link. The important point is that the intercom is not tied to a single phone belonging to the apartment owner.
Video Before Answering and Without a Call
Video from the entrance panel can be shown before the resident answers. The resident sees who is at the door first and then decides whether to take the call.
There is also a second scenario: opening the camera when nobody has called. Technically, this still establishes a connection to the entrance panel, but from the user’s point of view it is simply a “see who is at the entrance” button.
Who the Resident Can Call from the App
A resident can call devices available to them in Link: an entrance panel, the indoor monitor in their apartment, the concierge or security desk, depending on how the site is configured.
What the resident cannot do is call another app directly. There are no direct app-to-app calls between two smartphones, which should be taken into account when designing the contact list.
Call History and Door Release
The app can display a call log showing incoming and outgoing calls, date and time, who called or was called, and whether the call was answered or missed. A resident can see that someone called while they were on the metro, for example.
The partner can place the door-release button wherever it makes sense on the call screen. The SDK handles communication with BAS-IP hardware, so there is no need to build a separate door-release mechanism on top of SIP.
Lift Control
The lift call function works when two conditions are met: a BAS-IP lift module is installed and configured on site, and the resident has the necessary access rights.
It will not work with an arbitrary third-party lift system by itself. A BAS-IP lift module is required. The hardware and configuration are defined during the design stage of the project.
Why Use the SDK Instead of Building Your Own SIP Client?
You can build your own. But then your team takes responsibility for SIP registration and re-registration, push notifications, app wake-up, incoming and outgoing calls, audio, video, call states, door release and communication with BAS-IP Link. All of that also has to be maintained as iOS and Android evolve.
The SDK takes care of this layer. Integration, the user interface, the partner’s own infrastructure and testing still remain the partner’s responsibility, but there is no need to build the intercom communication module from scratch.
This matters especially when video intercom is only one feature within a much larger product. A PropTech platform team can stay focused on its own service instead of becoming a SIP-client development team as well.
What the Development Team Receives
Once the project scope has been agreed and an NDA signed, BAS-IP creates a dedicated GitLab project for the partner. It contains ready-to-use libraries, documentation, code samples, a sample application and supporting files. Some dependencies are pulled from external repositories as described in the documentation.
The sample application is particularly useful at the beginning. The examples can be used to build a working prototype and understand how the SDK behaves without touching the main application. The required components can then be integrated into the production app.
Library and documentation updates are delivered through the same GitLab project. The partner works with it like a normal code repository.
What Remains the Partner’s Responsibility
Library integration, the user interface and business logic, the partner’s own push infrastructure, testing, publication in the App Store and Google Play, and ongoing maintenance of the app.
BAS-IP provides the SDK, documentation and examples, and answers technical questions relating to its own components.
Third-party Mobile SDK projects currently use BAS-IP Link Self-Hosted. If a project is planned for Link Cloud, the architecture should be discussed with BAS-IP before development begins.
What the SDK Does Not Include
Mobile SDK is not a complete copy of the BAS-IP Link app. For example, it does not include guest QR code generation or amenity booking, although both are available in the native Link app.
If those scenarios are required, check whether they can be covered by BAS-IP Link API. The tools can work together: the platform backend creates residents and assigns access through Link API, while the mobile app receives calls and releases doors through the SDK.
Server-side scenarios are covered in detail in our article about Link API. Before development begins, it is useful to list every required scenario and decide which integration tool should handle each one.
How Much Does It Cost?
By default, BAS-IP does not charge a separate fee for access to Mobile SDK, its documentation or technical support during the integration.
BAS-IP Link and other products are still licensed under their standard terms, and UKEY mobile credentials are purchased separately from BAS-IP or its distributors. If a project requires custom development by BAS-IP or a change in development priorities, the commercial terms are agreed separately.
The project budget should also include the partner team’s own work: integration, infrastructure, testing and ongoing application maintenance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which iOS and Android Versions Are Supported?
The current minimum supported versions are listed in the SDK technical documentation. Requirements change as the mobile platforms evolve, so they should be checked before development starts and whenever the libraries are updated.
Can We Get the SDK Without an NDA?
No. First, the integration scenario is agreed; then the NDA is signed; only after that does BAS-IP create a GitLab project containing the SDK materials for the partner.
Is There a Public Sandbox?
There is no shared public sandbox. With Self-Hosted, the partner deploys Link in its own environment and uses that installation as the development environment. Terms for test licences and hardware are agreed for each project.
How Long Does Integration Take?
About one month of focused development is a reasonable guideline for a standard project, but it is not a commitment to a launch date. The calendar timeline is usually longer. It depends on the application architecture, team availability, infrastructure preparation, testing and app-store publication.
How Are SDK Updates Delivered?
Through the partner’s GitLab project. The development team decides when to pull the updates, test them and release a new version of its app.
Want to Add Video Intercom to Your App?
Email the BAS-IP integrations team at [email protected] or submit a request through the form.
You do not need a technical specification before contacting us. A short description of the app and the required scenario is enough. For example:
“We have a resident app for iOS and Android. We want it to receive video calls from BAS-IP entrance panels and let residents release the door during the call.”
Or:
“We want to add Bluetooth mobile access. We plan to purchase UKEY mobile credentials and issue QR codes to residents.”
If the hardware and Link configuration have already been defined, include those details. This helps the discussion move faster. The BAS-IP team will advise which components are required, what infrastructure needs to be prepared and how to obtain the SDK.