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

0:00 – BC Strata Tech Visits Chelsea Gardens

0:00 Ryan Grant: Today we're following up with Subhan Vohra from WeTech 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?

0:13 Subhan Vohra: Good, good to meet you again.

0:15 Ryan Grant: Yeah, good to meet you.

0:15 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, thank you for stopping by here. Yeah, this is the building that we were, you know, I think we did a podcast a year ago, we were mentioning about all the cool features and stuff.

0:23 Ryan Grant: Yes.

0:26 Subhan Vohra: Now it's the time to see it in person.

0:28 Ryan Grant: Awesome. Yeah, this is really cool, because we've been waiting to see a whole bunch of implementations. I've been talking with other stratas and seeing what they've been kind of having problems with. So now, following up with Subhan, 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 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. So I mean, 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.

1:02 Ryan Grant: Wow.

1:02 Subhan Vohra: Right? So that itself is too much work, 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's one of the key reasons, because there are so many fobs that were lost, sold units did not return the fob and stuff like that. So that was one of the reasons. And then the main reason is, we are in Newton, so you can imagine there are so many things here.

1:25 Right, so for the security aspect of it, the traditional intercom that did not have the video.

1:30 – Traditional Intercom vs Video Intercom

1:34 Ryan Grant: Yes.

1:34 Subhan Vohra: 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.

1:51 Ryan Grant: They chose to upgrade.

1:51 Subhan Vohra: Exactly.

1:53 – Simplifying Strata Access Control Management

1:53 Ryan Grant: Yeah. And 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 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, or make it easier where they don't have to go around to multi-site areas if it's a massive complex, to change all those different access controls of those users.

2:25 And having all these security systems with all the different cameras integrated, it's nice to have one system where you could do access control and security all in one, so people get into buildings and also monitor the buildings too.

2:35 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, so that's one of the reasons to have this system.

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

2:41 Subhan Vohra: 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 camera, right? Now versus, in this one, everything is just in one web portal.

3:00 Ryan Grant: Yes.

3:00 Subhan Vohra: So the management becomes so much easier, right? And then you don't need to go into any electrical room next time when you want to edit the fob or anything like that. Everything can be done remotely, anywhere in the world. All you need is a computer and you just enter your credentials and then do it.

3:18 Ryan Grant: 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, and be able to access 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, to protect the system.

3:56 And I know those are still pretty common nowadays, but nonetheless, 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? But there's system boards that need to be replaced, that we've been learning about. And when there's downtime, 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.

4:27 And it's regularly failing. Every few months we're having to replace something. So that could be a big issue maybe as well, that people are going to start seeing as their properties age. We should go in and take a look at what the installation looks like here.

4:43 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, so this is our intercom panel, right?

4:46 – Video Intercom System Walkthrough

4:50 Subhan Vohra: So this is our most selling model. And the way that this works, and what is the traditional access control system, of course we mentioned a lot of times, it has a video functionality. So you can see who's at the front, 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.

5:15 I'm not going to show you, because we don't want to expose the residents' names on the camera, right? And then the other function here is the temporary key and pin, which is very important.

5:20 – Temporary PIN Access for Deliveries

5:22 Subhan Vohra: So let's say, what the temporary key and pin does is, if you're expecting an Amazon or UPS or something, and if you're not able to pick up the call, then what you can do is you can actually make a key right from your application, and then you can just add it onto your instruction on the Amazon.

5:41 Ryan Grant: Oh, that's really good.

5:41 Subhan Vohra: When they come here, 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, the resident gets a notification right away on their Smart Plus app that it's been delivered. So it's perfect. And then the other thing here is there's a guest access as well.

6:03 – QR Code Guest Access for Residents

6:04 Subhan Vohra: So let's say if you have a guest coming here for six, seven days.

6:04 Ryan Grant: 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.

6:14 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, right. So with this one the resident can actually generate the QR code.

6:19 Ryan Grant: Okay.

6:19 Subhan Vohra: Right. And all the readers that we install, we have about 40 readers, seven intercoms, 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 just using their QR code.

6:37 Ryan Grant: Yes. You don't need to download the app or anything.

6:38 Subhan Vohra: Yeah.

6:38 Ryan Grant: They don't need to come and get a card from you or anything like that. Makes it so much easier.

6:44 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. And with the traditional, let's say if you're giving out the fob to the contractor, to someone, if they lose it, if they forget to give it back when they leave in the day or something, right? Yeah. And versus the temporary code, you can always set the time.

6:56 Ryan Grant: 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.

7:04 Subhan Vohra: Exactly.

7:04 Ryan Grant: You know, when they say they're done, you can go and manually disable it right then, right?

7:08 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, yeah, make sure it's done.

7:10 Ryan Grant: Another cool thing I just saw here was, it has different languages.

7:11 – Multilingual Video Intercom Features

7:15 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, absolutely.

7:15 Ryan Grant: That's really... I've never seen that, where you know, an intercom with different languages, but that could be really helpful, right?

7:20 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. So this intercom supports around 17 languages, but we only have the option to display four, which is the most popular ones.

7:30 Ryan Grant: Yes.

7:30 Subhan Vohra: We have the English, Spanish, French and then the Mandarin.

7:33 Ryan Grant: Okay.

7:33 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. So the good thing is, there are so many small things we're not going to talk about, but I'm...

7:39 Ryan Grant: No, yeah, it's a good thing that you brought that up here for me, I thought, because I do have sometimes people that come, and you know, they're visiting, visitors that we've heard from other residents in my building, right, where 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?

7:55 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. I mean, what they can do is they can just select any language that they like.

8:00 Ryan Grant: Yes.

8:00 Subhan Vohra: And now all the prompts are going to be in that language when you change. So let's say if someone uses that, they just go on with their business. Now automatically after 30 seconds it will switch back to the English.

8:16 Ryan Grant: Okay, good.

8:16 Subhan Vohra: Right? So there's a default language always. One of the things, you know, when we tap on the different language, it still says it in English, right? The reason for that, I just remembered it, this strata had a special request. Their old intercom 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 them.

8:39 So that's one of the reasons that it says OK.

8:47 Ryan Grant: Good, right. But I think they get the basics of what they're calling, right? Yeah, perfect. Anything else to say?

8:57 Subhan Vohra: Absolutely. But we can also show people how big this complex is. It's huge. Yeah, there are about 400 units. Different language, yeah, and then apartment code, apartment code, saying the prompt to them.

9:03 Ryan Grant: 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 apart from there.

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

9:06 Ryan Grant: This is not like in the traditional access control system, where you see the intercom and access control differently. You don't see any reader here, right? So the reason for that is this has an inbuilt access control. So you don't need an actual reader beside it. So it just programmed everything in just one access control, and everything. So there are cool features about the access control: NFC, and then the Bluetooth, and then facial recognition.

9:36 So there are so many things with this, and those access control features come into the small reader as well. We're going to take you to the reader part and then we'll show you more there. Perfect, let's go see.

9:47 – Facial Recognition Access Control

9:47 Ryan Grant: So Subhan, I wanted to learn more about why this is saying access denied when I first walk up to the system.

9:50 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. So basically this system is equipped with the facial recognition, right? So right now the system is continuously trying to detect your face, because you're not added onto the system. But if you were to switch places, then of course it's going to say access granted, because my face is added. So let's try that, let's see. Right? So as soon as I come here it says access granted and the door should be unlocked.

10:12 Perfect, right? So that's your answer there, okay, why it was saying access denied in the first place.

10:18 Ryan Grant: Right.

10:21 – Future of Smart Building Access

10:21 Ryan Grant: So that was really great, what we saw. But I want to learn now, what are all the different options that are going to 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 pretty feature packed. And you know, what can people kind of envision for the future of access control systems?

10:45 And would a system like this be able to get new features without having to be completely upgraded?

10:53 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. So the good thing is, this is an Android based system, right? So the update comes frequently.

10:56 Ryan Grant: Perfect.

10:56 Subhan Vohra: So in the next few years, I know there are some features on the way. So one of them is, just imagine if we're going into a building. There's already a radar detection, so as soon as the human walks in front of it the screen turns on. Right? So just imagine if you're going into the building, and then the intercom greets you, the intercom asks you a question, who are you trying to call, and you just say unit number or buzzer code or name.

11:26 Ryan Grant: Yes.

11:26 Subhan Vohra: And then the intercom calls your unit number without you pressing any button.

11:31 Ryan Grant: Wow.

11:34 Subhan Vohra: Right? You can talk to them and they can unlock the door.

11:37 Ryan Grant: Like a virtual assistant, concierge type thing.

11:37 Subhan Vohra: Exactly, right. So I know a few companies that are working on it right now. But it's not... everything is in beta right now.

11:44 Ryan Grant: Yeah, so it's not out there yet, but I think that's coming.

11:50 Subhan Vohra: Exactly, in the next couple of years.

11:50 Ryan Grant: In the next couple of years. Yeah, I think we should see that option, because it's really great. Like, you can, without touching anything, you can still enter into the building, right?

12:02 Subhan Vohra: Access control part. So that comes with the intercom, right? Yes. And now if we talk about the access control, there's this one feature I think that's going to change everything. They already made it, it's not released in Canada yet, but this is the feature that I'm the most excited about.

12:22 – Palm Vein Access Technology

12:22 Subhan Vohra: It's a palm vein feature. So basically you can just show your hand to any of the readers and it will open the door.

12:30 Ryan Grant: Exactly.

12:30 Subhan Vohra: So the device is out there, it's not launched in Canada, but as soon as it launches I'm planning to make a video of it.

12:38 Ryan Grant: Yes, that sounds amazing. I mean, not everybody will always want all these features in technology, but the ones that do, at least there's so many options now available.

12:51 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, incoming, that you can't even imagine, right? I would never have thought. Yeah. I mean, you know, the first time when I saw it I'm like, oh my God, this is the way. Because just imagine, in BC stratas we are always going to have people that do not have a cellphone or stuff like that. So they can just actually... no fob, no cellphone. You can just be yourself and then just show your hand and then it will just unlock the doors for you.

13:12 Ryan Grant: Even less technology than the old systems, where you had to have, you know, the landlines or the cell phone set up. And for some people it was already too stressful and complicated enough to have to always have that around, right? So this makes it more convenient for some implementations. The communities might prefer that.

13:33 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, absolutely. And one of the things that I think is, I think the keys are going to be extinct.

13:40 – Apple Wallet & Digital Building Access

13:43 Subhan Vohra: Because you see the newer cars that are coming out, they're without keys. They have this Apple Wallet.

13:46 Ryan Grant: Yes, yes.

13:48 Subhan Vohra: Stuff like that, right? Which already exists in this system. You have like an Apple Wallet card and you just tap your phone and done.

13:56 Ryan Grant: Wow.

13:56 Subhan Vohra: So what they're working on right now is, you can imagine you have your phone to unlock the front doors and all the common doors, but the residents still have to carry keys for their unit doors, right?

14:09 Ryan Grant: Yes.

14:09 Subhan Vohra: So they are trying to release the product in future that they have the deadbolt, and then they can just tap their phone. So there's no key.

14:18 Ryan Grant: There's no key at all. So on your unit door you're going to have the deadbolt installed.

14:22 Subhan Vohra: Yep.

14:22 Ryan Grant: That is part of the system.

14:22 Subhan Vohra: Exactly.

14:22 Ryan Grant: And then you can have the access control system linked up so that it's seamless.

14:29 Subhan Vohra: Exactly, exactly, right. And then the newer cars that are coming out, so your car key is in your wallet, your fob is in your wallet.

14:38 Ryan Grant: So it's just completely digital, no keys anymore, right?

14:42 Subhan Vohra: It's easier to manage as well, because nobody can copy it. The cards are in your wallet. Of course you cannot lose it.

14:50 Ryan Grant: Awesome. Let's go see some other things.

14:50 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, absolutely. So now we are approaching the gate here.

14:54 – Strata Gate Access & Resident Options

14:58 Subhan Vohra: There is a gate control here and there is also a reader side. So we're going to take you to the gate first. As I said, there are always going to be people that do not want to do the application. We still have those simple fob and remote options.

15:15 Ryan Grant: Perfect.

15:15 Subhan Vohra: So we're not leaving anyone behind.

15:17 Ryan Grant: No, there's always something for you. And again, the stratas, they can work with their community to understand what people want, right? What everyone in the complex wants. If they're worried about some of the features, right, how they work, or you know, 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? {S} Yeah.

15:45 So from day one we give access to the council, so according to your building's needs you can always adjust it. For example, for this building, as you can see, 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.

16:04 Subhan Vohra: Exactly.

16:04 Ryan Grant: You don't see that pin code at first, it just pops open once you're near it.

16:07 Subhan Vohra: That's exactly...

16:07 Ryan Grant: Really cool.

16:07 Subhan Vohra: And then, coming back to the point, enabling and disabling features according to the community needs. This building has disabled their pin code option, because there's 400 units.

16:21 Ryan Grant: Yes.

16:21 Subhan Vohra: So if someone sets their pin code like really easy, one two three.

16:21 Ryan Grant: Yeah, someone's just going to guess. {S} Exactly, right. So you can disable and enable the feature based on your needs. Yes, that's one of the best parts 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 Ryan Grant: This has the same features as we covered in the intercom. 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, then this is where you will scan the code. And this is what we have on your standard reader all over the community.

17:02 Oh wow.

17:02 Subhan Vohra: Right, so I'm going to show you a few options here. So I'm going to show you my phone.

17:07 – Apple Wallet Door Access Demo

17:09 Subhan Vohra: We were talking about the Apple Wallet.

17:11 Ryan Grant: Yes.

17:11 Subhan Vohra: So it's the same thing, you just do this and then you select your wallet here, right? Mine, 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 say access granted, right? So you see how easy that was.

17:25 Ryan Grant: Yeah.

17:25 Subhan Vohra: Right, there's so many things you can do with this. There's an 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.

17:37 Ryan Grant: Wow.

17:37 Subhan Vohra: Right. Yeah. Apart from the Apple Wallet there are so many other things, like Bluetooth, and yeah, there's NFC. So there are so many features on that.

17:48 Ryan Grant: So many options and conveniences, so people don't have to go and learn about things that are going to be too complicated for them. They're able to choose the options that work around their, you know, lifestyle, what they want, right? So if they just want the card, and the strata allows, you know, that card system, then they can use the card, right?

18:10 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I mean, I don't see the fobs going anywhere, because we're always going to have some people that do not like the technology. So they don't carry a phone or they don't own a phone.

18:25 Ryan Grant: Right, you might not even have one. So it's good to have these options available.

18:28 Subhan Vohra: The backup options are always available. You see there's a fob here, there's a remote to open the gates. So these are the backup options. They're always going to be there, right? So nothing is forced on you or anything like that.

18:41 – Hands-Free Bluetooth Door Access

18:41 Subhan Vohra: I wanted to show you something really cool here while we're here. This has a hands-free Bluetooth.

18:48 Ryan Grant: Oh wow.

18:48 Subhan Vohra: So what it does is, you can imagine, when you just approach the door, it will automatically connect onto my phone's Bluetooth and it will unlock the door. So you don't even have to pull out your phone and anything like that. So I'm going to quickly show you. I'm just going to enable that feature here and then we're going to approach the door. I have the phone, my hands-free Bluetooth is enabled on my application, right?

19:19 So we're going to actually test the door.

19:21 Ryan Grant: And we'll see if it actually opens the door without me touching the reader itself. Yes, let's walk, put it to the test.

19:31 Subhan Vohra: And then you just go and just swipe your hand here.

19:31 Ryan Grant: Wow, access granted, and then you're in.

19:36 Subhan Vohra: Right. So the reason that I had to wave my hand here, as you can sort of imagine, if someone is inside, right, and if your Bluetooth is enabled, then they can trigger the false opening. So the reason we have this, you have to go near and you have to sort of wake up the reader by just waving your hand, and that would just trigger the unlock.

19:59 Ryan Grant: Yes, sync it.

19:59 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, exactly. So the reason we have it is because if someone's inside just walking by.

20:05 Ryan Grant: No, yeah, you don't want them to false open up the access.

20:07 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, exactly, right. And then yeah, that's pretty much about the intercom. We're going to talk more about the property manager portal, right, because that's really important. Everything into just one portal.

20:24 – Parkade Gate Access Control

20:24 Subhan Vohra: Now we're going to show you the gate here, right? So there's a gate on this side. We've installed the gate controller here. So, 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 you have your two button remote, you press the button, the gate opens up. But I wanted to show you something really, really cool, which is voice activated.

20:51 – Siri Voice-Controlled Gate Access

20:51 Subhan Vohra: So let's say if you're driving, right, and if you just say, hey Siri, open the gate, and that would actually open the gate. So we're going to actually try it. I'm just going to quickly enable it and then I'm going to show you how it works. So you know, all those features that we are just enabling right now, this is a user level access.

21:14 Ryan Grant: Oh wow.

21:14 Subhan Vohra: I'm not going into any property manager portal or anything like that.

21:17 Ryan Grant: No, it's you as a user. Pretend you're the resident, you know, your tenant or homeowner, whatever, right? Or even a guest, potentially. Would they be able to download the app?

21:26 Subhan Vohra: No, for the guest there's no app.

21:29 Ryan Grant: Okay, because they're going to have their QR code.

21:29 Subhan Vohra: Okay, so they scan.

21:33 Ryan Grant: 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.

21:39 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, this is the exact setting 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 find that actual... {R} Right, and we can show what the app looks like as well on the video. We'll show that to you guys, so you can see what the interface kind of looks like.

22:06 Right, so now I've just set it, my Siri here, and we're going to put it to the test, right? I'm going to say, hey Siri, open the gate.

22:18 Ryan Grant: 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, then you're able to open it up just like that.

22:25 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, absolutely. And you don't even need your phone. Like, you have your Apple Watch, you know, your AI glasses or something, right? Anything that has an interface with Siri or any voice command, whatever.

22:38 Ryan Grant: Yeah, right. Yeah, that's awesome.

22:40 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. One of the things is, you know, this is not on the access control part, but if you're adding the Apple Shortcuts, I'm sure lots of people have heard about it. So there's so many ways you can integrate this with the Apple Shortcuts.

22:51 – Geofencing & Automated Gate Entry

22:54 Subhan Vohra: So let's say for example, what I would like to do is, I can set an automation that when... because in the iPhone there's geofencing, and it's very accurate. So basically, geofencing is something where you can pinpoint the exact location 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, when I reach this location I want that gate to open.

23:19 And when I say this, when you approach the gate, you don't even need to call Siri. It recognizes that you're here and then it executes that command and it opens the gate.

23:33 Ryan Grant: Wow.

23:37 Subhan Vohra: Right? So you don't need to say it, you don't need to do anything. As soon as you reach here the gate opens.

23:41 Ryan Grant: Yeah.

23:41 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. And then again, as I said, there's so many features that people get sometimes overwhelmed by.

23:49 Ryan Grant: Yes.

23:49 Subhan Vohra: But don't worry, they still have their remotes. So we're not leaving anyone behind.

23:58 – UHF Vehicle Gate Access Explained

23:58 Ryan Grant: So Subhan, 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, because it goes through a lot of detail as well. But I want to learn more. Have people been implementing those systems?

24:16 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So unfortunately this site does not have it, but we've done quite a few sites where we install... we've made a video about that as well, we're going to post it soon and then you can see it, right.

24:25 Ryan Grant: And what is it exactly? Let's step back and fill everybody in. What does a UHF system do? {S} So what does the UHF system do is basically, you have your remote, right? Okay, so with the traditional gate control, you press the button on your remote and then the receiver receives that remote credential, and then it makes the decision whether to open the gate or not.

24:51 Versus, if you have the UHF tag, so you're buying a remote versus you put the sticker on your vehicle's windshield, and as 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 UHF. First of all it's hands-free. You don't need to find a remote or anything like that.

25:15 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 orient myself, right?

25:26 Subhan Vohra: Exactly.

25:28 Ryan Grant: 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?

25:33 Subhan Vohra: It'll get a little tension when you go up to there and, you know, people are waiting. And especially, you know, some stratas, they have like four doors, one of them opens that gate, other than...

25:41 Ryan Grant: Yeah, there's so many things to be figuring out, right, as you're trying to focus on driving.

25:48 Subhan Vohra: Exactly. And then if you have the UHF reader then it's just one sticker. It doesn't matter what gate you go to, it will just open automatically.

25:56 Ryan Grant: It's a sticker that goes inside your car that, 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.

26:10 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. And then the second thing is, they're very cheap as compared to the remote, right? And then the remotes.

26:16 Ryan Grant: You're paying a hundred bucks usually. The stratas are charging... even though I know that includes some administrative kind of fee into that, but nonetheless the remotes are still pricey.

26:25 Subhan Vohra: A little sticker, right? And then you can remove... you can still lose it, right? Yeah.

26:32 Ryan Grant: You have to change the batteries every now and then, right?

26:33 Subhan Vohra: Yes. Versus the sticker, the only way to lose the sticker is lose your car, right? So yeah, it's a way better option for the resident.

26:44 Ryan Grant: Yes, if you have the sticker you stick it and forget it, and it will just open the gates automatically 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 have all these other options that the strata could allow or disallow, right?

27:03 It's up to the strata, but nonetheless they have all these convenient options available, right?

27:09 – License Plate Recognition for Contractor Access

27:09 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, we've done one of the buildings in Coquitlam. I wanted to mention this. So basically, they have a huge parking, it's mixed of commercial and residential, right? And then what the property management company wanted us to do is, because they had this remote problem, they have to give out... so somebody has to be there. So there are so many contractors coming in. So what we've done for them is we've installed the LPR camera, so that's the license plate recognition camera.

27:35 Ryan Grant: Okay.

27:35 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. So if you have a contractor coming in, then what the property manager needs to do is they can just enter their plate number for a specific time and period, and as soon as the car or the truck pulls up, the camera sees that number plate and makes a decision.

27:49 Ryan Grant: Right, I'm hoping we're going to see so many of these, because it works amazingly well. Yeah, you as a contractor, you know first hand the difficulties of pulling up to a new site, and, or you know, having to fix current clients maybe, right? And you're going around and you have to wait for people to help get you in, right?

28:11 Subhan Vohra: Exactly.

28:13 Ryan Grant: It's much easier if you've got that automated access within a certain time frame or whatever, to show up on site.

28:19 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. And then there's always going to be the regular maintenance, with just like the elevator, the cleaner, they need access ongoing.

28:22 Ryan Grant: 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?

28:34 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, yeah. So it solves so many problems. We're planning to make a video about the LPR camera really, really soon. You're going to see it.

28:43 Ryan Grant: Awesome, yeah, we look forward to seeing that. We'll definitely follow up and touch base on that too.

28:46 Subhan Vohra: Absolutely.

28:46 Ryan Grant: All right.

28:49 – Landline & Cell Phone Intercom Options

28:49 Ryan Grant: So that was great, Subhan. We went over a lot of access control system options, but now I really want to understand, what about the intercom system? Can you really run through for people, especially who don't want to use the technology, right, they want to just use a regular landline or cell phone or something to interact with the intercom, how does that specifically work, that functionality?

29:14 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, thank you for asking. I mean, I forgot to mention that earlier. So basically what happens is, let's say if there is a resident that does not have a smartphone, we have options in the access control, like you can give them a fob, you can give them a remote, so they can go on their way, right? But now when it comes to the intercom, it's just one extra step that the property manager needs to do.

29:34 They can program their number in a way, that let's say 101 does not have the cell phone, then we can just program their landline and then they would just use their intercom just like the traditional intercom system.

29:47 Ryan Grant: Okay.

29:47 Subhan Vohra: They would get a call, they press 9 or 6, customizable again, and opens the door.

29:52 Ryan Grant: Opens the door. They don't need to deal with the application or anything like that. Perfect. So you know, you can basically solve everybody's needs, right? At these residences there's people that are wanting to use new technology, people that either can't use it, right, they might 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 working with multiple different vendors to accomplish this task, right, of allowing a convenience for the community.

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

30:29 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Everything is just one portal for everything. Your intercom, access control, CCTV, everything is just packed into one web portal.

30:35 Ryan Grant: Mm-hmm, right.

30:40 Subhan Vohra: I remember the traditional access control systems, they require minimum, like you have to have an i7 and 16 gig of RAM and stuff like that. This one, you can just do a Chromebook, the cheapest Chromebook, and just go to the Google Chrome, enter your credentials and just start programming.

31:00 – Cloud vs On-Premise Access Control

31:00 Ryan Grant: Perfect. So I guess that leads into another question.

31:00 Subhan Vohra: Yep.

31:06 Ryan Grant: We offer both cloud and on-site systems, right? The on-prem system can be installed and it would not be potentially connected to the internet. It could. There's different, you know, reasons why you would and wouldn't, and why you would have on-prem and why you would go cloud. So what are some of those reasons that people would want to choose one way or the other? And obviously we know most, or almost all, are leaning towards cloud.

31:29 So yeah, let's focus on what are those options and why they would choose them.

31:34 Subhan Vohra: So when choosing a system, the functionality doesn't change, doesn't matter what option you choose.

31:41 Ryan Grant: Okay.

31:41 Subhan Vohra: Right? So one option, which is the easiest and the cheapest option, this is what we recommend to everyone. Right, you have a portal, so all the information stays on the cloud. It's AWS, Amazon Web Services. So many governments use the same, right? You order from Amazon, you're good, it's the same cloud that we're using. Right, now there are some sensitive sites, like let's say if there is a government office or something really sensitive, they absolutely don't want anything on the cloud, then there is an option: we can build their own cloud into the server room.

32:20 Ryan Grant: Oh wow.

32:20 Subhan Vohra: Right. And then in that case what we will do is a box would work as a gateway. Right, so all the online features you'll still get, but it will come through your own server.

32:30 Ryan Grant: Okay.

32:34 Subhan Vohra: It would need a fast internet, needs regular maintenance, right? So of course it's going to cost you a lot extra, subscription fees with the internet providers and stuff like that. And then it needs regular maintenance, because you have to continuously back up your data every now and then, because if the storage fails then we lost it all, and that's it.

32:52 Ryan Grant: Then everyone's access controls are broken, right? They can't necessarily update the controls. I assume that if the system is down, right, the head controller, that maybe each gate would still remember the last permissions, is that correct? So anybody that's been pre-programmed into the system then would still be able to get access, but modifying the permissions and stuff would be broken while that on-prem server is offline being worked on.

33:25 Subhan Vohra: Yes, it's the same with the cloud as well, right? So this is one of the important things.

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

33:28 Subhan Vohra: So let's say the cloud also depends on the internet, right? If the site loses the internet then what happens?

33:35 Ryan Grant: Like, yeah, what happens?

33:35 Subhan Vohra: So I'll tell you, all the fob readers and everything, they have their internal memory, right? It can save up to 50,000 cards.

33:41 Ryan Grant: Wow.

33:45 Subhan Vohra: So if the internet goes out you can still do your basic functionalities.

33:47 Ryan Grant: Yeah, still opening the door. Regular people would not notice basically.

33:52 Subhan Vohra: Exactly. The only thing that would get affected is the calling feature, because that requires the internet. Other than that everything works okay, right?

34:00 Ryan Grant: Yeah, perfect. So that gives people more options, and especially the sites that might not have internet too. The on-prem solution could potentially be a good offer for them, right? {S} Yeah, absolutely. {R} And they can still access quite a bit of those features. I assume not all, but most features that they can basically enable to function, right, for allowing people in and out and intercoms and stuff.

34:31 – Replacing Traditional Telephone-Line Intercoms

34:31 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. And you know, today we see all those traditional intercoms. I mean, as you probably know, Telus is starting to phase out all the copper lines, right? So if you need a telephone line, because the traditional intercom needs a telephone line, if you need a telephone line you still need internet.

34:46 Ryan Grant: Yeah, because so now it's all phasing out, the old 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?

35:03 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, exactly.

35:03 Ryan Grant: So I think it just makes more sense, for as you said, the VoIP, right?

35:10 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, this is the exact same protocol that the intercom uses when we install it, because we still have to worry about those people that want to use the landline. So it needs a phone number, it needs to have a phone number, right?

35:20 Ryan Grant: So we don't need a telephone line for that.

35:23 Subhan Vohra: No, we can just assign them a phone number through the internet connection that the strata is paying for.

35:27 Ryan Grant: Exactly, so there's no extra cost to add.

35:28 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, no extra number line.

35:28 Ryan Grant: 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 else other than a subscription for the internet.

35:41 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, that's one of the best parts.

35:43 – Monthly Fees & Optional Features

35:43 Ryan Grant: I don't know how long it's going to last, yeah, but there is no monthly fees for the actual system itself.

35:48 Subhan Vohra: There's no monthly fee. There is no monthly fee. There are features that are coming out just like the Apple Wallet.

35:54 Ryan Grant: Okay.

35:54 Subhan Vohra: Right, so for the Apple Wallet there are some fees, but it's again, it depends, like you can get away without using the Apple Wallet.

36:02 Ryan Grant: Yeah. And 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.

36:14 Subhan Vohra: Exactly. And you know, there is a payment gateway right on the application. So if they want to enable a certain feature then they can do it themselves. They don't need to worry about contacting a property manager or service provider or anything like that, right? So everything is just an app. And then again, as I said, if you don't like your display name at the intercom, go on your app and fix it.

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

36:37 Ryan Grant: And yeah, you can, no problem, right?

36:37 Subhan Vohra: So there are so many self-serve options you can do. You don't need to bug your property manager or the council member every time you want to make a little tweak, right? So there's always an option on your application. And one of the best things about this app, there is an FAQ and there are how-to videos of everything, right? So when we actually install the intercom system we send out an email with their credentials for the application, right?

37:05 So people can brush up on the system.

37:07 Ryan Grant: 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 the system from you. So you did some good on-site training and then they've been managing most of the complex with the residents, dealing with them with the training. They don't want the residents to reach out to you. They've been helping facilitate, telling them where to go online, and or come in person, we'll do a session.

37:39 So the council's been very proactive in getting people on board to the system.

37:41 Subhan Vohra: Yeah. The property manager portal for this system is so easy that for this particular site I just sent them the credentials and that's it. They just figured it out on their own.

37:51 Ryan Grant: Yes.

37:51 Subhan Vohra: Because it's pretty straightforward. As soon as you have your credentials, there is a link to download the app, and then on the application the very first page there's how-to videos: how to enable the RF card, how to enable Siri, how to add facial recognition, how to add the Bluetooth. So it's so easy, you just tap on the video and just follow.

38:13 Ryan Grant: Exactly, and that's what we were talking about earlier, before the video we were discussing how many of both of our customers, even my business and yours, we both find that the 55+ communities have been embracing this more so than the non 55+.

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

38:33 Ryan Grant: This is 55+.

38:33 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, this is explicitly a 55+ community.

38:33 Ryan Grant: And they're really going after all this technology the most, right?

38:39 Subhan Vohra: Yes, yes.

38:43 Ryan Grant: Which is amazing and awesome, and they're not having big problems with these. They're excited, right?

38:46 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, they're excited. This is August 2026, and this will be our fourth building that is 55+.

38:54 Ryan Grant: 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 as we've seen with different implementations, the communities are doing just fine. And 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 get it sorted, right?

39:20 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, absolutely.

39:20 Ryan Grant: Perfect.

39:23 – Strata Security Upgrade & Installation Process

39:23 Ryan Grant: So Subhan, I wanted to also learn about the actual onboarding process for getting a client and helping walk them through choosing a system, right? So how does that process work? How long does it typically take for them to kind of come back and work with you to get something implemented?

39:42 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, so it varies from site to site. I'm going to give you the example of this site. So in this site what we did is, obviously the access control system was failing, so we were told to come out and check, and then we said it's failing, there's no part available for the existing access control, right? So we presented the options that we had, we explained to them this is how it's going to go, and they said okay, we're going to wait till the AGM and then we'll make a decision.

40:13 But what happened in between is, one of their apartment buildings just failed overnight. {R} Oh wow. The residents cannot go in and out of the building, the gates are locked and everything, right? So we received a call and then within three, four days we got that one apartment building working, right? But this is our...

40:32 Ryan Grant: It's fast, that's pretty fast.

40:32 Subhan Vohra: Yeah, right? You won't believe, this building, we finished it in seven days. We were just here for seven days, because most of the work that we do we do at the office, we program everything.

40:45 Ryan Grant: Yeah, so when we work to do that.

40:45 Subhan Vohra: Exactly, because this is a software based system, right? So once you've programmed it, 50% of your job is done. Now it's just mounting all the devices and stuff, right?

40:54 Ryan Grant: Okay.

40:54 Subhan Vohra: So we strive to spend less time on site, right?

41:01 Ryan Grant: And you do prep work at home where you can.

41:01 Subhan Vohra: Exactly. And then what we do, let's say if the system, such as this for example, this building had existing access control, right? So when we switch out the system it's very important that we keep the existing system running online, because, see, people, there are 400 units, people are going to come in and out.

41:20 Ryan Grant: Yeah, every 30 seconds.

41:23 Subhan Vohra: Exactly, coming and 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, this is our standard process with every site: if it has access control, then we program all the fobs right at the office, we deliver the fobs, we ask the client if the fobs are distributed.

41:43 Ryan Grant: Okay, so even before implementing a new system?

41:43 Subhan Vohra: Yes, every resident has a fob, so nobody's going to get locked out.

41:49 Ryan Grant: Yes.

41:49 Subhan Vohra: Right. And the council sends them instructions: if you see the new reader you use the new fob, if you see the new intercom then you use the new one, right? So that way there's no lockdown times.

41:59 Ryan Grant: Yeah, we make sure that all the doors are functioning all the time, and all the people understand how to transition over to the new system, while you still have both kind of online simultaneously.

42:10 Subhan Vohra: Exactly.

42:14 Ryan Grant: Yeah. Yes, perfect.

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

42:18 Ryan Grant: Well, that's a wrap for today. We came out to Chelsea Gardens and we've learned a lot about this new access control and security system. You can find out more as well on the WeTech Security Solutions website, and on the B.C. Strata Tech website where we host the podcast and show event videos covering various different governments and service companies, along with going through and doing actual big events.

42:45 Every year we typically have an annual event bringing people out. And if you'd like to learn more about how people are using technology in their stratas, go to bcstratatech.io. Thanks.