Strata Access Control Upgrade in Vancouver: 400-Unit Video Intercom Case Study

0:00 – BC Strata Tech Visits Chelsea Gardens

0:00 today we're following up with Subhan Vora from we Tech Security Solutions to check out their latest implementation of the access control and security systems at Chelsea Gardens come check it out with me hi Ryan how are you good good to meet you again yeah good to meet you yeah thank you for stopping by here

0:18 yeah um yeah this is the building that we were um you know I think we did a podcast a year ago we were mentioning about all the cool features and stuff yes now it's the time to see it in the person awesome yeah this is really cool because we've been waiting to see a whole bunch of implementations I've been talking

0:34 with other stratas and seeing what they've been kind of having problems with so now following up with subh we're able to see what stratas are implementing and why they've chosen some features and why they may not choose others and what caused them to even upgrade

0:49 – Why This 400-Unit Strata Upgraded Its Security

0:49 yeah so I mean um you know for this particular strata what they had is it's a huge community as you can see there are about 400 units right they had six different servers so if they want to program a single FOB they have to go to six different computers wow right so that's itself is is too much work

1:06 and the system was kind of 35 years old so they had so many fobs that they didn't have the account for so that one of the key reason because there are so many fab that were lost sold units did not return the fab and stuff like that so that was one of the reason and then the main reason is

1:23 we are in Newton so you can imagine there are so many things here so right so for the security aspect of it

1:30 – Traditional Intercom vs Video Intercom

1:30 the traditional intercom that did not have the video yes so they had people like people would pretend to be Amazon or UPS and then get into the complex right so now this one solves a huge problem you have the video you can see it you can visually verify them they chose to upgrade exactly

1:53 – Simplifying Strata Access Control Management

1:53 yeah and yeah again for those that don't know the administration of these systems can be very cumbersome right the councils either have to do it or they have to have a uh strata agent do it or some on site manager caretaker that can do all that stuff but now with these modern systems that can be consolidated

2:13 or make it easier where they don't have to go around to multi site areas if it's a massive complex uh to change all those different access controls of those users and having all these security systems with all the different cameras integrated um it's nice to have one system where you could do access control

2:32 and security all in one so people get into buildings and also monitor the buildings too yeah

2:38 – One Platform for Intercom, Access Control, Gates & CCTV

2:38 yeah so that's one of the one of the reason uh is to have this system is you have uh most Stratas what they have is they have a different software for the intercom they have a different software for the access control they have something different for the gate control they have something different for the the camera right

2:55 now versus in this one everything is just into one web portal yes so the management becomes so much easier right and then you don't need to go in into any electrical room next time when you wanna edit the fob or anything like that everything can be done remotely anywhere in the world all you need is a computer

3:15 and you just enter your credential and then do it that's you you don't want any residents or you don't want any council members to really be going into those rooms those service rooms if they don't have to right it's much better if people could do things online on an app or on the website

3:33 and be able to access and and manage the platform instead of having to go to those specific spots my own complex which is a pretty big high rise complex we do have an older system it's almost 30 years old and we had lead acid batteries and stuff like that to help with when power goes out um to protect the system

3:56 and I know those are still pretty common nowadays but nonetheless um we hadn't really upgraded anything it's all being 30 years old and we haven't been maintaining it to the best of our ability because we just don't know too much about that stuff right um but these there's a system boards that need to be replaced yeah um

4:16 that we've been learning about and when there's downtime uh then we run into these problems right of thinking oh shoot people can't even access into the building as well because everything has to be maintained and it's regularly failing every few months we're having to replace something so that could be a big issue

4:34 maybe as well that people are gonna start seeing as their properties age uh we should go uh we should go in and take a look at uh what the installation looks like here yeah

4:46 – Video Intercom System Walkthrough

4:46 so this is our um the intercom panel yeah right so this is our most selling model right and then the way that this works and then what is the traditional access control system of course we mention a lot of time it has a video functionality yes so you can see who's at the front

5:03 visually verify them and then you can grant them access right we have four different options here so the one is directory you press on the directory you find the person that you're trying to call and you just press it I'm not going to show you cause we don't want to expose the residents

5:17 name in the camera right and then the another functions

5:20 – Temporary PIN Access for Deliveries

5:20 here is the temporary key and pin which is very important so like let's say what the temporary key and pin does is if you're expecting a Amazon or UPS or something yes and if you're not unable to call them like let's say if you're not able to pick up the call then what you can do is you can actually make a key

5:36 right from your application and then you can just add it onto your instruction on the Amazon oh that's really good when they come here all they need they don't even need to call you they can just go and press the temporary pin and they're good they enter it and then they get access into the building as soon as they enter it

5:53 the resident gets a notification right away on their smartplus app it's been delivered so it's perfect for and then there are other other thing here is there's a guest access as well ah

6:03 – QR Code Guest Access for Residents

6:04 so like let's say if you have a guest coming here for 6 7 days yeah usually with the traditional access control what you have to do is you have to either give them a FOB or key or something to get around through the place in and out of the door yeah right so with this one the resident can actually generate the QR code

6:19 okay right so and all the readers that we install we have about 40 readers 7 entry coms so and all of them are equipped with the QR code scanner so once you generate that QR code that guest can roam around the building and then just using the their QR code yes you don't need to download

6:38 the app or anything yeah they don't need to come and get a card from you or anything like that makes it so much easier yeah and with the traditional like let's say if you're giving out the fob to the contractor yes to someone if they lose it yeah if they forget to give it back when they leave

6:52 in the day or something right yeah and versus the temporary code you can always set the time yeah so during like it's for one week two weeks or whatever and then once it's done you can just manually disable it uh exactly you know when you just they say they're done and you can go and manually disable it

7:08 right then right yeah yeah make sure it's done another cool thing I just saw here

7:11 – Multilingual Video Intercom Features

7:12 was it has different languages yeah absolutely that's really I've never seen that where you know a a intercom with a different languages but that that could be really helpful right yeah yeah so uh this intercom supports uh around 17 languages but we only have option to display 4 yeah which is the most popular one yes we have the English Spanish

7:33 French and then the Mandarin okay yeah so the good thing is there are so many small things we're not gonna talk about but I'm no yeah it's good thing that you brought up here for me I thought cause I do have sometimes people that that come and you know they're visiting visitors that we've heard from other residents in my building right where they

7:51 they didn't know how to get into the building and stuff and maybe this would be a little helpful to them to be able to read the options right yeah I mean what they can do is they can just select any language that they like yes and now all the prompts are gonna be in that language

8:06 you change so like let's say if someone use that they just go on with their business now automatically after 30 seconds it will switch back to the English okay good right so there's a default language always uh one of the thing you uh you know this uh when we create when we tap on the different language yeah

8:25 it's still said in English right the reason for that I just remembered it this strata had a special request their old Entercom used to say gate code and this one says OK so what we did for them is we created a custom audio template and we uploaded it for that one for them so that one

8:43 that's one of the reason that I start OK good right but I think they get the basic what they're calling right yeah perfect else to say absolutely but we can also show people look how big this complex is it's huge yeah there are about 400 units um different language yeah and then apartment code apartment code

8:45 saying the prompt into them yeah exactly idea if they just press it directly then they can see we can move on to some other areas unless you had anything

9:06 – Built-In Access Control & Mobile Credentials

9:06 apart from there this is not like uh in the traditional access control system you see this uh intercom and access control differently yes you don't see any reader here no right so the reason for that is this has an inbuilt access control right so you don't need actual reader beside it so it just programmed

9:26 everything in just one access control yeah and everything yeah so there are cool features about the access control NFC and then the Bluetooth and then yes facial recognition so there are so many things with this and those access control feature comes into the small reader as well we're gonna take you to the reader

9:43 part and then we'll kind of show you more there more there perfect let's go see

9:47 – Facial Recognition Access Control

9:47 so sub I wanted to learn more about why this is saying access denied when I first walk up to the system yeah um so basically this system is equipped with the facial recognition right so right now the system is continuously trying to detect your face cause you're not added onto the system but if you were to switch

10:05 places then of course it's gonna say access granted cause my face is added so let's try that let's see right so soon as I come here it says access access granted and the door should be unlocked perfect right so that that that's your answer there okay why it was saying access denied in the first place right

10:21 – Future of Smart Building Access

10:21 so that was really great what we saw but I wanna learn now what are all the different options that are gonna be coming out in the next five years because right now we've Learned there's Bluetooth access there's facial recognition and there's NFC right but where do you go from there that already seems

10:39 pretty feature packed and you know what can people kind of vision for the future of access control systems and would a system like this uh be able to get new features right without having to be completely upgraded yeah so um the good thing is is this is an Android based system right so the update comes frequently perfect so um

11:00 in the next few years I know there are some features are on the way so one of them is um just imagine if we're going into building yeah there's already a radar detection so soon as the human walks in front of it the screen turns on yes right so just imagine if you're going into the building and then the

11:18 intercom greets you an intercom ask you question who are you trying to call and you just say unit number or buzzer code or name yes and then the intercom calls your guest calls your unit number without you pressing any button wow right you can talk to them yes and they can unlock the door

11:37 like a virtual assistant concierge type thing exactly right so I know a few companies that are working on it right now right but uh it's not it's everything is in beta right now yeah so it's not out there yet but I'm I think that's coming exactly in the next couple of years in the next couple of years yeah

11:53 yeah I think we should see that option because it's it's really great like you can without touching anything yes you can still enter into the building right access control part so um that that comes with the intercom right yes and now if we talk about the access control yes there's this one feature I think that's gonna change everything

12:15 um they already made it it's not released in Canada yet oh but this is the feature that I'm the most excited about

12:22 – Palm Vein Access Technology

12:22 it's a palm vein feature so basically you can just show your hand to any of the reader and it will open the door exactly so the it's the device is out there it's not launched in Canada yes but as soon as it launches I'm planning to make a video of it yes that

12:41 that sounds amazing I mean not everybody will always want all these features in technology but yeah the ones that do at least there's so many options now available yeah incoming that you can't even imagine like that right I wouldn't never thought yeah yeah I mean uh you know the first time when I saw it I'm like oh my God this is the way

12:59 cause just imagine uh in BC Stratas we are always gonna have people that does not have a cellphone or stuff like that so they can just actually no fab no cellphone you can just just be yourself and then just show your hand and then we'll just unlock the doors for you even uh less technology than

13:16 uh the old systems where you had to have you know the landlines or the cell phone uh set up and uh for some people it was already too stressful and complicated enough to have to always have that around right yeah so this this uh makes it more convenient for some uh implementations right the the communities might uh prefer that yeah yeah absolutely

13:36 and one of the thing that I uh you know what I what I think is

13:40 – Apple Wallet & Digital Building Access

13:40 I think the keys are going to be uh extinct because you see the newer car that are coming out they're without keys they have this apple wallet yes yes stuff like that right which is already exist in this system you have like a apple Wallet card and you just tap your phone and done right wow so what they're working on right now is um

14:01 you can imagine you have your phone to unlock the front doors and all the common doors yes but the residents still have to carry keys for their unit doors right yes so they are trying to release the product in future that they have the deadbolt yeah and then they can just tap their phone so there's no key

14:18 there's no key at all so on your unit door you're gonna have the deadbolt installed yep that is part of the system exactly and then uh you can have the access control system linked up so that it's uh seamless exactly exactly right and then the newer cars that are coming out so your car key is in your wallet yes your FOB is in your wallet

14:38 so it's just completely digital no keys anymore right it's it's easier to manage as well because nobody can copy it the cards are in your wallet no of course you cannot lose it awesome let's go see some other things yeah absolutely so

14:54 – Strata Gate Access & Resident Options

14:54 now we are approaching at the gate here yeah the there is a gate control here and there is also a reader side so we're gonna take you to the gate first as I said um there are always going to be people that does not want to do the application yes we still have those

15:13 simple FOB and remote options perfect so we're not like leaving anyone behind no there's always something for you and and again the the strata's they can work with their community to understand what people want right what everyone in the complex wants if they're um worried about some of the features right how they work or you know

15:34 all all that type of stuff then they don't have to implement all those features right it doesn't cost them anything extra typically to enable or disable these features right yeah so from day one we uh give access to the council so according to your building needs you can always adjust it for example for this building

15:54 as you can see the there was a keypad option there this is one of the access control it has a pin code option here as well wow right so yeah so it actually shows you a pin code when you walk up to it exactly you don't see that pin code at first it just

16:07 pop so open once you're near it that's exactly really cool and then um coming back to the point enabling and disabling feature according to the community needs is this building has disabled their pin code options cause there's 400 units yes so if someone sets their pin code like really easy 1 2 3 yeah

16:24 someone's just gonna guess exactly right so you can disable and enable the feature based on your needs yes that's one of the best part about the system nothing is forced on you you can always pick and choose what works for you what works for the resident right

16:39 – Access Control Reader Features

16:39 this this has the same feature as we um you know covered into the intercom yes the only feature it does not have is the calling because it's not an intercom it's an access control right but you can see there is a camera here that's a QR code camera so when the temporary code is generated yes then this is where you will

16:58 scan the code and then this is what we have on your standard reader all over the community oh wow right so I'm gonna show you a few options here so

17:07 – Apple Wallet Door Access Demo

17:07 um I'm gonna show you my phone we were talking about the the Apple Wallet yes so it's the same thing you just do this and then you select your wallet here right my this one's not added but you just do this and access denied it says access denied but if this is added then it would just

17:25 say access granted right so you see how easy that was yeah right there's so many things you can do with this there's a express mode as well right so even without opening your wallet app you can just tap like this and that will just unlock the door for you wow right yeah um

17:42 apart from the Apple Wallet there are so many other things like Bluetooth and yeah there's an NFC so there are so many features on that so many options and conveniences so uh people don't have to uh go and learn about things that are gonna be too complicated for them they're able to choose the options that uh

18:01 work around their you know lifestyle what they they want right so if they just want the card and the strata allows you know that that card system then uh the the they can use the card right yeah absolutely absolutely I mean uh this uh I don't see the fobs are going anywhere yeah cause we're always going to have some people that does not like

18:22 the technology so we got they don't carry a phone or they don't own a phone right you might not even have one so it's good to to have these options available the backup options are always available you see there's a FOB here yes there's a remote to open the gates so these are the backup options they're always going to be there

18:39 right so nothing is forced on you or anything like that

18:41 – Hands-Free Bluetooth Door Access

18:41 I wanted to show you something really cool here while we're here um this has a hand hands free Bluetooth oh wow so what it does is like you can imagine uh in here when you walk like you just approach the door yes and it will automatically connect onto my phone's Bluetooth yes and it will unlock the door so

19:02 you don't even have to go and yeah pull out your phone and anything like that so I'm gonna quickly show you I'm just going to enable that feature here and then we're gonna approach the door I have the phone my hands free Bluetooth is enabled on my application right so we're gonna actually test the door

19:21 and we'll see if it actually opens the door without me touching the the reader itself yes let's let's walk put it to the test and then you just go and just swipe your hand here wow access granted and then you're in right so the reason that I had to wave my hand here as you can sort of imagine if someone

19:43 uh if someone's inside yes right and if your Bluetooth is unable then they can trigger the false opening oh right so the reason we have this you have to go near and you have to like sort of wake up the reader by just yes waving your hand and that would just trigger the book

19:59 yes sink it yeah exactly so the reason we have it is because if someone's inside just walking by no yeah you don't want them to false uh open up uh the access yeah exactly right and then um yeah that's pretty much uh that's pretty much about the the intercom uh we're gonna talk more um

20:16 about the the property manager portal right cause that's really important um everything into just one portal

20:24 – Parkade Gate Access Control

20:24 now we're gonna show you the gate here right so there's a gate on this side we've installed the gate controller here so as I okay so now we're at the gate and then as you can see on the gate side right we're always going to have options like a remote unlock right like

20:45 you have your two button remote you press the button the gate opens up but I wanted to show you something really really cool

20:51 – Siri Voice-Controlled Gate Access

20:51 which is voice activated so let's say if you're driving yes right and if you just say hey Siri open the gate and that would actually oh wow open the gate so we're we're going to actually try it I'm just going to quickly enable it and then I'm gonna show you how it works

21:08 so um you know all those features that we are just enabling right now yeah this is a user level access oh wow I'm not going into any property manager portal or anything like that no it's you as a user pretend you're the resident you know your tenant or homeowner whatever right or even a

21:25 a guest potentially would they be able to download the app no for the guest there's no app okay cause they're gonna have their uh QR code okay so they scan for the tenants or the residents right the owners then they would have the app and they're able to configure the settings that they want yeah this is the exact setting

21:42 that the resident would have and you can see how easy like I'm just doing it you can just select any doors you like right I'm just going to select the door it says 40 doors I have to like find that actual right and we can show a what the app looks like as well on the video we'll show that to you guys so you can see

22:04 what the interface kind of looks like right so now I've just set it my Siri here and we're gonna put it to the test right I'm gonna say hey Siri open the gate wow so yeah if you're driving up or you know you're going for a walk or whatever you know if the gate has that access

22:25 then you're able to open it up just like that yeah absolutely and you don't even need your phone like you have your Apple Watch absolutely you know your glasses AI glasses or something right anything that has a interface with the Siri or any voice come on whatever yeah right yeah that's awesome yeah one of the thing is um you know this is not

22:44 on the access control part but yeah if you adding the apple shortcut I'm sure lots of people have heard about it so there's

22:51 – Geofencing & Automated Gate Entry

22:51 so many ways you can integrate this with the apple shortcut so like let's say for example what I would like to do is I can set a automation that when cause in the app in the iPhone there's a geofencing um geofencing and it's very accurate so basically you can know geofencing is something you can pinpoint the exact location

23:11 and you can set the automation based on that so for example in this case I can pinpoint this exact location and I can just say um when I reach at this location I want that gate to open and when I say this when you approach the gate mm hmm you don't even need to call Siri

23:31 it recognizes that you're here yes and then it executes that command and it opens the gate wow right so there's you don't need to say it you don't need to do anything soon as you reach here the gate opens yeah yeah and then again as I said there's so many um you know so many features

23:49 that people get sometimes overwhelmed by yes but don't worry they still have their remotes yes so we're not leaving anyone behind

23:58 – UHF Vehicle Gate Access Explained

23:58 so sub I wanted to learn more about the UHF system implementations I've heard about we covered it a bit on the podcast that we had and people if you haven't seen that podcast episode please check it out cause it goes through a lot of detail as well uh but I want to learn more have people been implementing those systems

24:16 yeah yeah absolutely so unfortunately this site does not have it but we've done uh quite a few sites where we install we've made a video about that as well we're gonna post it soon and then you can see it right and what is it exactly let's let's step back and fill everybody in what does a U h f system

24:32 uh do so U h f uh what does the U h f system do is basically you have your remote right okay so with the traditional gate control is you press the button on your remote and then the receiver receives that remote credential yes and then it makes the decision whether to open the gate or not

24:51 versus if you have the UHF uh tag so you buying a remote versus you put the sticker on your vehicle's windshield and soon as you approach it then that sticker is going to send a signal to that UHF reader and that will make the decision whether to open the door or not I'll tell you the benefit of having the USF

25:11 yes first of all it's hands free you don't need to find a remote or anything like that yeah when you're in your car right now I have it on my keychain but sometimes my chain gets a little jangled up and I have to figure out which you know there's four buttons on my keychain for different doors I have to

25:26 orient myself right exactly but I'm trying to do things and maybe there's people behind me you know I'm getting under pressure a little bit so it's a little annoying right it'll get a little tension when you go up to there and you know people are waiting and especially the you know some startups they have like four doors

25:41 yeah one of them opens that gate other than yeah there's so many things to be figuring out right as you're trying to focus on driving exactly and then if you have the USF reader then it's just one sticker it doesn't matter what gate you go to it will just open automatically it's a sticker that goes inside your car that uh

26:00 as you drive up to the gate it automatically senses your credentials from the sticker and gives you authorization and opens up the gate automatically as you drive up to it which is really cool yeah and then the second thing is they're very cheap as compared to the remote yeah right and then the remotes

26:16 you're paying a hundred bucks usually the Strata's are charging uh even though I I know that includes some administrative uh kind of money like fee into that but uh nonetheless the remotes are still yeah uh pricey a little sticker right and then you can remove you can still lose it yeah right yeah

26:32 you have to change the batteries every now and then right yes versus the sticker the only way to lose the sticker is lose your car yeah right so yeah it's it's a way better option uh for the for the resident yes if you have the sticker you stick it and forget and it will just open the gates automatically

26:48 every time you approach the gate that's awesome right and again they can still have other you know clicker FOB if a guest comes and they need to be able to give their guest access they can they can have all these other options at the strata could allow or disallow right yeah um it's up to the strata but nonetheless they have all these

27:06 convenient options available right

27:09 – License Plate Recognition for Contractor Access

27:09 yeah we've done one of the building in Coquitlam I I wanted to mention this yeah um so basically um they have a huge parking it's mixed of commercial and the residential right and then um what the property management company wanted us to do is cause they had this remote problem they have to give out so somebody has to be there

27:28 so there are so many contractor coming in so what we've done for them is we've installed the LPR camera so that's the license plate recognition camera okay yeah so if you have a contractor coming in then what the property manager need to do is they can just enter like their plate number okay for a specific time and period

27:45 and as soon as the the car or the truck pulls up the camera sees that number plate wow makes a decision right I'm I'm hoping we're gonna see so many of this cause it works amazing well yeah you as a contractor you know first hand the difficulties of pulling up to a new site

28:03 and or you know having to to to fix current clients maybe right and you're going around and you have to wait for people to help get you in right exactly it's much easier if you've got that automated access within a certain time frame or whatever to yeah show up on site yeah and then there's always going to be

28:20 uh you know the regular maintenance with just like the elevator the cleaner they need access ongoing yes or the garbage I know the city sometimes comes into our building right and if the gate wasn't open for whatever reason they don't pick up then they're not getting the garbage right yeah yeah so it solves

28:37 so many problems we're gonna we're planning to make a video about the LPR camera really really soon you're gonna see it awesome yeah we look forward to seeing that we'll definitely uh follow up and touch base on that too absolutely alright

28:49 – Landline & Cell Phone Intercom Options

28:49 so that was great sue we went over a lot of access control system um options but now I want I really want to understand what about the intercom system can you really run through for uh people especially who don't want to use uh the technology right they want to just use a regular landline or or cell phone or something

29:10 uh to interact with the intercom how does that specifically work that functionality yeah thank you for asking I mean I I forgot to mention that earlier so basically what happens is like let's say if there is a resident that does not have a smartphone yeah we have options in the access control like you can give them a FOB you can give them a remote

29:27 so they can go on their way right but now when it comes to the intercom it's just a one extra step that the property manager needs to do they can program their number in a way okay that let's say 1 0 1 does not have the cell phone yes then we can just program their landline and then they would just

29:44 use their intercom as like just like the traditional intercom system okay they would get a call they press 9 or 6 uh huh customizable again and opens the door opens the door they don't need to deal with the application or anything like that perfect so you know you can basically solve uh everybody's needs right at at these uh residences there's

30:05 people that are wanting to use new technology people that either can't use it right um they might uh have some disability or something and the strata can work around all these things right all with one integrated system they don't need to be uh working with multiple different vendors to accomplish this task right of of allowing a

30:27 convenience for the community

30:29 – One Portal for Intercom, Access Control & CCTV

30:29 yeah yeah absolutely everything is just one portal for everything wow your intercom access control CCTV everything is just packed into one web portal mm hmm right I remember the traditional access control systems they require minimum like you have to have I 7 yes and a 16 gig of RAM and stuff like that

30:50 this one you can just do a Chromebook the cheapest Chromebook and just go to the Google Chrome yes enter your credential and just start programming

31:00 – Cloud vs On-Premise Access Control

31:00 perfect so that I guess that leads into another uh question is yep we offer both cloud and on site um systems right the on prem system can be installed and it would not be uh potentially connected to the internet it could there's different you know what reasons why you would and wouldn't and why you would have on prem and why you would go cloud

31:23 so what are some of those reasons that people would want to choose one way or the other and obviously we know most are or all almost are leaning towards cloud so yeah let's focus on what are those options and why they would choose them so when choosing a system the functionality don't change

31:41 doesn't matter what option you choose okay right so one option which is the easiest and the cheapest option yes this is what we recommend to everyone yes right you have like let's say a portal yes so all the information stay on the cloud it's AWS OK Amazon Web Service yes so many government uses the same yes right

32:02 you order from Amazon you're you're good it's the same cloud that we're using yeah right now um there are some sensitive sites like let's say if there is a government office or something really sensitive they don't they absolutely don't want anything on the cloud then there is a option we can build their own cloud

32:20 into the server room oh wow right and then in that case what we will do is eqbox would work as a gateway yes right so all the online feature you'll still get it but it will come through your own server okay it would need a fast internet yes needs a regular maintenance yes right

32:38 so of course it's gonna cost you a lot extra subscription fees with the internet providers and stuff like that yeah and then it needs a regular maintenance okay cause you have to continuously back up your data every now and then because if The Star Wars fails yeah then we lost all the money and that's it then everyone's uh

32:55 access controls are are broken right they can't necessarily update uh the controls yep I assume that if the system is down right the head controller that maybe the uh each gate would still remember the last permissions is that correct so anybody that's being pre programmed into the system then would still be able to get access but uh

33:18 modifying the permissions and stuff is would be broken while that on prem server is offline being worked on yes it's the same with the cloud as well yes right so

33:28 – What Happens When the Internet Goes Down?

33:28 this is one of the important things so like let's say the cloud also depends on the internet yeah right if the site loses the internet then what happens like yeah what happens so I'll tell you all the fab readers and everything they have their internal memory okay right it can save up to 50,000 cards wow

33:45 so if the internet goes out you can still do your basic functionalities yeah still opening the door regular people would not notice basically exactly the only thing that would get affected is the calling feature because that requires the internet yes other than that everything works okay right yeah yeah perfect so that that gives people more options and especially the sites

34:07 that might not have internet too um the on prem solution could potentially be a good uh offer for them right yeah absolutely and they can still access quite a bit of those features um I assume not all but most features that they can basically enable um to function right for for allowing people in and out and

34:30 intercoms and stuff

34:31 – Replacing Traditional Telephone-Line Intercoms

34:31 yeah and and uh you know today we see all those traditional intercom I mean yes as you probably know the Talos is starting to phase out all the the copper lines yes right so if you need a telephone line cause the traditional intercom needs a telephone line yes if you need a telephone line

34:46 you still need internet yeah cause so now it's all phasing out the old uh infrastructure for the phone systems has been phasing out in BC and they've been converting all the old phone lines into a voice over IP based internet system phone right yeah exactly so I think it's it's just makes more sense for

35:08 cause as you said the V O I P right yeah this is the exact same protocol that the Entercom uses yes when we install it because we still have to worry about those people that want to use the landline yeah so it needs a phone number it needs to have a phone number yeah right so we don't need a telephone line for that

35:23 no we can just assign them a phone number through the internet connection that the Strat is paying for exactly so there's no extra cost to add yeah no extra number line so if they have the one internet line that's good for the system all together right they don't need to be paying for anything

35:39 else other than absolutely a subscription for the internet yeah that's one of the best part

35:43 – Monthly Fees & Optional Features

35:43 I don't know how long it's gonna last yeah but there is no monthly fees for any with the actual system itself there's no monthly fee there is no monthly fee there is future that are coming out just like the Apple Wallet okay right so for the Apple Wallet there is some fees but it's

35:58 again it depends like you can get away without using the Apple Wallet yeah and as the strata can decide at the time if there's more features that do require certain subscriptions they can choose to enable or disable while a bulk of those probably will not have some form of subscription exactly and you know there is a payment gateway

36:19 right onto the application so if they want to enable certain feature then they can do it themselves they don't need to like worry about contacting a property manager or service provider or anything like that right so everything is just an app right and then again as I said

36:34 – Resident App, Self-Service & Training

36:34 if you don't like your display name at the intercom go on your app and fix it and yeah you can no problem right so there are so many self serve option you can do you don't need to bug your property manager or the council member every time you wanna make a little tweak

36:48 yes right so there's always option on your application and one of the best thing about this app there is a FAQ and there is a how to videos of everything yes right so when we actually install the intercom system we send out an email with their credential for the application right so people can

37:07 brush up on the system exactly themselves if they want yeah or I think like you said as well for this particular complex the council was pretty involved in wanting to learn yes uh the system from you so you did some good uh on site training and then they've been managing uh most of the complex with the residents uh uh

37:27 dealing with them with the training they haven't they don't want the residents to reach out to you they've been helping facilitate of telling them where to go online and or come in person we'll do a session so the council's been very proactive in in getting people on board to the system yeah property manager portal

37:45 for this system is so easy mm hmm that for this particular site I just send them the credential and that's it yes they just figured out on their own yes cause they it's pretty straightforward cause soon as you like have your credential yeah there is a link to download the app and then on the application the very first page

38:02 there's a how to videos of how to enable the RF card how to enable Siri how to add facial recognition how to add the Bluetooth that is how to video so it's it's so easy like you just tap on the video and just exactly follow haha and that right that's what we were talking about earlier before the video we were

38:20 discussing how

38:22 – How a 55+ Strata Community Adopted New Technology

38:22 many of the both of our customers even my business and yours we both find that the 55+ communities have been embracing this yeah more so than the non 55+ this is 55+ yeah this is explicitly 55+ community and they're really going after all this technology the most right yes yes which is amazing and awesome and they're not having

38:46 big problems with these they're excited right yeah they're excited this is August 2026 and this this will be our fourth building that is 55+ so it shows you how easy it is to onboard these clients in general right it's not a big pain point for the clients some people might think that it might be for the community but

39:07 as we've seen with different implementations the communities are doing just fine and uh you know hand holding some of the residents that need a little extra help the councils or you know they reach out to you guys and and yeah get it sorted right yeah absolutely yeah perfect

39:23 – Strata Security Upgrade & Installation Process

39:23 so sub I wanted to also learn about the actual on boarding process for getting a client and helping walk them through uh choosing a system right so how how does that process work how long does it typically take um for them to kind of come back and and work with you to get something implemented yeah so it varies

39:45 from site to site I'm gonna give you the example of this site so in this site what we did is there were obviously there were the access control system was failing so yes we were told to like come out and check and then we said it's it's failing there there's no part available for the existing access control right

40:04 so we present them the we presented the options that we had we explained them this is how it's gonna go and they said okay we're gonna wait till the AGM and then we'll make a decision but what happened in between is um one of their apartment building just failed overnight so oh wow

40:19 the resident cannot go in and out of the building yes the gates are locked and everything right so we received a call and then within 3 4 days we got that one part building working right but this is our it's fast that's pretty fast yeah right you won't believe this building we finished it in yes seven days

40:39 we just we was just here for seven days cause most of the work that we do we do it at the office we program everything yeah so when we work to do that exactly cause this is a software based system right so once you programmed it 50% your job is done now it's just mounting all the devices and stuff right okay so we uh

40:58 we strive to like spend less time on site yeah right and you do prep work at home where you can exactly and then what we do um like let's say if the system like such as this for example this building had access control existing access control right so when we switch out the system it's very

41:14 important that we keep the existing system running online because taste people there are 400 units people are gonna come in and out yeah every 30 seconds exactly coming right going so it's not like we can just plug out everything and just install a new one no it doesn't work that way so what we do is

41:31 this is our standard process with every site yes if it has access control then we program all the fobs right at the office we deliver the FOB we ask the client if the fobs are distributed okay so even before implementing a new system yes every resident has a FOB so nobody's gonna get locked out

41:49 yes right and the council sends them instruction if you see the new reader you use the new FOB if you see the new entry com then you use the new one yes right so that way there's no uh lockdown times yeah we we make sure that it's all the doors are functioning all the time and all the people understand

42:07 how to transition over to the new system yes while you still have both kind of online simultaneously exactly yeah yes perfect

42:18 – Final Thoughts - BC Strata Tech x WeTech

42:18 well that's a wrap for today we come out to Chelsea Gardens and we've Learned a lot about this new access control and security systems uh you can find out more as well on the We Tech Solutions website and on the BC Strat Tech website where we host the podcast and show event videos

42:36 um covering various different governments and service companies along with uh going through and doing actual big events um every year we typically have an annual event bringing people out and uh want to learn more about how people are using technology uh in their strata's if you'd like to learn more go to BC Strata tech dot Io thanks