05/11/2021
Every multi-tenant building in America should be using this
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2021
We purchased these for two 8-unit apartment buildings we are updating. We wanted an entry system that's simple and intuitive for visitors, easy for residents, and that we can manage remotely from anywhere. Our old systems looked terrible and extremely dated: scratched up aluminum boxes with push buttons and little slips of paper for the tenant names and unit numbers, and grubby phones and call boxes next to the doors inside the units.
We wanted something that would communicate to residents and visitors that this was an up-to-date, well-maintained building, and also something that would future-proof us somewhat, and we wanted to get rid of those ugly and unsanitary phones and call boxes, along with the maintenance responsibility for them.
We figured that everybody has a cell phone or tablet, so let the residents handle that side of things. Plus, if they were at work or something they could still buzz Amazon or the dog walker in from there. We'd installed internet for our other IoT -- the new boilers that send us alerts before something's wrong, the keyless unit locks, the solar panel egauges, etc. It's pretty much the way everything is going.
First we went with an LTE system. Big mistake. It was confusing for visitors and not customizable, and kind of a pain to manage through send it text codes. When it got cold out, like below ten below - these buildings are in Minnesota - it called every number in the directory all night long over and over. We didn't want to make another mistake like that so we did a ton of research and settled on two options: this GBF Sentrylink system, and a similar system by Alphatouch.
Both Sentrylink and Alphatouch do what would seem obvious: take a tablet with a touch screen and use it for an entry system. It's really hard to believe how backwards the building management space is, but almost nobody is doing this yet, and there are tens of millions of buildings that need it. These two systems are on the cutting edge and really they should be in every new and remodeled multi-tenant building in the country.
We ultimately went with the Sentrylink system because it offered more flexibility, it had lower long-term subscription costs for the cloud plan (Alphatouch requires a minimum 20-unit monthly subscription; Sentrylink does not, and is currently free for buildings with less than 15 units because they have such minimal cloud use) so I didn't feel like the entry system was a loss-leader for the cloud fees, and finally, the GBF customer service team was exceptionally responsive even to questions we had before purchasing, and we figured that kind of responsiveness and support would be important in adopting a new technology.
Installation is about as idiot-proof as you can possibly get, and far, far simpler than our previous system. For a front entry system, that means you plug in 3 wires per their wiring diagram: a 12-volt power wire (or nearby 120v plug for the included adapter), a 12-volt doorbell wire run to the door's electric strike, and an ethernet cable run to the building's internet router (or to an ethernet wifi adapter, which you can buy for about $50). That's it. You run them through the hole in the back of the stainless steel housing, screw the housing to the wall, plug them into the three spots in the back and lock the thing in place. Done.
Then you email all your residents a link to download the app (available in iPhone and Android), log into the property management portal from your computer, and set them up. However you type in their names and unit numbers/letters is how they appear on the system's touch screen. Totally up to you. After they have created an account, you also have the option of entering a "display name" like "Resident" or "Penthouse" for them if they don't want their actual name listed for privacy reasons. This is uploaded to the cloud and pushed to the system in about 5-10 minutes.
When a visitor touches a resident's name to get buzzed in, the app pops up on their phone with a notification and they have the option of opening up a video call to see who it is or they can decline or slide a bar to buzz them in. They can also set up a temporary passcode if they have a visitor staying with them or to let in a delivery person or a dog walker or similar. The great thing is most people have their phones close at hand so they don't have to get up and walk across the unit if they're watching a movie or cooking dinner or something, and if someone bypasses the system and just calls them on their cell, they also have the option of opening the app and swiping to buzz them in.
From our perspective as building owners, it's easy to manage and update. If a resident moves out, we open the property management portal and delete their access and within ten minutes they and any roommates, visitors, or other associated authorizations are also deleted. When adding, we enter the name, email, and unit number and email them a link to the app, and we're done in less than a minute. So much easier and more professional than our old system.
Also, it's tough. It weighs about ten pounds. The housing and integrated rain hood are thicker than either of our past systems. It's held in place by a couple of Allen screws and also locked in place using tubular locks. I do have concern about how they will stand up to the weather and need to remember to spray some silicone in them.
It's also a more secure system, even as it give residents and managers more flexibility, because it logs every access, as well as photos or videos of visitors, and those records are available to the building management, so the mass button-pressing until someone lets you in becomes a thing of the past because the anonymity and unaccountability are taken out of the equation.
The GBF support people say they will soon provide a link for updating the screen-saver images so you can load custom images of your building, or advertisements even. That is an important feature for us. Also, the system has an external API that can be used to integrate it with other equipment in your LAN if that's important.
