Nimbio Gate Entry System – White Paper

Nimbio Gate Entry System – The future of access control

Nimbio is a new gate entry system that empowers communities to transform any electronic gate into a smart gate. With Nimbio installed, residents of a community and their guests can use their smartphones as personalized access keys. Nimbio can significantly enhance security by tracking access history and eliminating dependence on universal access keys and pin codes that are easy to circumvent. Best of all, Nimbio is less expensive than legacy gate access solutions, and it is managed through an intuitive self-serve platform that makes it easy for residents and community managers to control and monitor access with just a few clicks.

Automated Visitor Management

With conventional call boxes and four-digit pin pads, a single code is usually used for an entire community. Residents often give their access code to many people over the years, including friends, relatives, delivery drivers, property maintenance crews, and other people. If even one of the people who knows the code is a criminal, they could steal cars, burglarize residences, or commit other crimes with no accountability.

With Nimbio, the problems with access codes or universal keys are completely eliminated. Instead, everyone who enters a property simply uses the Nimbio app on their smartphone. Residents and property managers can give access to any guest with a few taps. These guests can then open access gates on their own using an automated system. This access can be easily revoked when it is no longer needed, and reliable access logs can be created. As a result, community members can manage access on their own in a way that provides a high level of security and accountability.

Do Away With Gate Code Maintenance

Maintenance is another important pain point associated with conventional gate access solutions. As mentioned earlier, using a call box usually entails subscribing to multiple services that can drive up costs for communities. Call boxes frequently need routine maintenance and have to be programmed by community managers. Additionally, upgrades are frequently required, and installing these updates can be complex. Nimbio completely eliminates the need to update and maintain a call box.

Another major issue with conventional call boxes is programming. Surprisingly, call boxes almost never offer an easy way of changing or adding codes. In many cases, the only way to program a call box is to shut off the power and remove it from the wall. Since call boxes are designed to act as security devices, they are usually very difficult to remove. The call box then has to be carried into an office where it can be taken apart. Once it is taken apart, the call box can be programmed by pressing fragile buttons on the circuit board.

Community managers rarely have skills in electrical engineering, so they usually find programming a call box to be incredibly difficult. In many cases, community managers have to hire electricians or gate technicians to work on their call box every time they need to reprogram it. Therefore, basic security measures, like giving a unique access code to every resident, are very expensive to implement. If a unique code is given to each resident, community managers have to cover their electrician’s fees by charging residents to change the code.

With Nimbio, the usual challenges associated with programming a call box are completely eliminated. Community managers can easily add or remove the access of individual residents or guests with a few simple clicks on a web page or inside the app. Therefore, communities can keep more of their money while enjoying an enhanced level of security.

Streamlines Property Management Responsibilities

In ordinary communities, property managers have to spend a significant portion of their day managing their community’s security. When new residents move in, managers usually have to meet with residents to hand out keys and access codes. Before that meeting, managers often have to drive to a hardware store on their own to copy keys. Inventory and management of physical keys is time consuming and expensive.

Worst of all, managing security is usually not effective when using conventional access solutions. Since community managers are powerless to prevent residents from handing out their keys and access codes, most of the vehicles entering a community are unknown to a community’s management. Therefore, community managers often resort to dedicating significant time and resources toward makeshift attempts at monitoring and investigating who comes in and out. For instance, some managers put up camera systems near gates that feature license plate readers. These systems are expensive, and they only provide information after the fact. Worst of all, some community managers actually waste several hours every week scrolling through security footage to get a sense of who is coming in and out of their community.

With Nimbio, on the other hand, community managers can reliably log everyone who passes through a gate while completely streamlining access management. Nimbio is so easy to use that community managers have no need to sit down with residents to provide access. Instead, community managers can send out a link through email or text messages. Alternately, QR codes can be added in welcome packets or mailed letters to completely streamline signups in a secure manner.

Since Nimbio provides access logs, it can also reduce the work HOA managers have to do. HOA managers can view advanced analytics that shows traffic volume through gates over time, and they can browse lists of who is using their access. In this way, HOA managers can keep communities more secure while having the data to understand changes over time.

No More Vehicle Access Issues

Fundamentally, gate security should seek to control and monitor the access of individual people. Unfortunately, conventional gate access solutions instead focus on controlling and monitoring vehicles. This focus on vehicles creates significant opportunities for criminals while inconveniencing residents.

If communities open their gates using license plate readers, anyone who can use an authorized vehicle can enter that community. Vehicles can have multiple passengers, and they can be driven by anyone, including unauthorized guests and criminals. Worst of all, sophisticated criminals who are most capable of causing significant problems can trick license plate readers into giving them access by using forged plates. Some license plate readers will even open gates when they encounter fraudulent paper license plates made with an inkjet printer.

Another problem with license plate readers is that they will not open when authorized residents use unknown vehicles. This issue can present significant challenges since some residents may come home with different vehicles every day. Other residents may frequently borrow cars or use ride-sharing services. Registering new vehicles takes time, and HOA staff cannot be available to register new vehicles 24/7. Therefore, vehicle access issues can be a serious challenge for communities.

The bottom line is that gate access solutions should provide access to people, not vehicles. The Nimbio app associates access with an individual’s smartphone. Authorized individuals can then open gates regardless of what vehicle they are using. Residents can even open gates as pedestrians. Therefore, Nimbio provides a solution that works for everyone, including people who use unconventional modes of transportation.

Virtual Keychain Phases Out Miscellaneous Keys

When conventional access solutions are used, residents often need several keys for gyms, pools, clubhouses, and other community centers. Physical keys are usually necessary because residents can easily share pin codes with each other. With conventional access solutions, physical keys are the only way to control access.

Unfortunately, there are several problems with physical keys. Firstly, residents have to take these keys with them. Most residents will put their key on their keychain, and this adds extra weight in their pockets on a daily basis. Secondly, some residents will put their keys in a drawer, so they have to drive home every time they want to access a community center.

Additionally, some residents can end up losing their keys, so extra copies have to be passed out. Community managers have no way of knowing whether an individual is pretending to have lost their key to obtain an extra copy for an unauthorized guest. Of course, community members can also copy their key at a local hardware store, so physical keys ultimately do little to restrict access. In some cases, separate households within a community may even share keys among themselves for the express purpose of avoiding dues.

Finally, managing physical keys is logistically impossible. Communities have no practical way of compelling residents and guests to return their keys when they are done. As a result, keys can be passed around a community, and some of these keys may end up in the hands of criminals. Guests can also freely “lend” their keys to friends, relatives, and other people who have not paid their dues or been authorized to enter a facility.

Nimbio’s virtual keychain resolves all of the problems associated with managing access within a community. Each person obtains access only through legitimate channels by using the Nimbio app. Community managers can, therefore, determine exactly who is allowed to enter a facility, and the times that entry is permitted. If dues cover an entire household, all members of that household can be given access through Nimbio. The bottom line is that Nimbio’s solution makes it easy to restrict access to facilities in a way that is more convenient to residents.

Add and Remove Residents and Visitors With One Easy Click

One of the best aspects of Nimbio’s solution is how residents can be added or removed with one simple click. Property managers can remove an individual’s access at any time. Access can also be revoked from anywhere, so Nimbio is ideal for people with short-term rentals or Airbnbs.

Nimbio also simplifies community management for apartments and managed condominiums. Instead of dealing with gate codes or physical keys, community managers can revoke an individual’s access by simply opening the Nimbio app. Therefore, Nimbio provides greater safety for community managers and enables access to be revoked in a manner that is smarter and more responsive to community needs.

Coming Soon: Nimbio Features in Development

Secure One-Time Entry for Delivery Drivers

The ability to control access is especially important for secure deliveries in a world where people are increasingly ordering nearly everything they need online. Communities simply cannot ensure adequate security if each resident is handing their pin code out to hundreds of delivery drivers every year. Instead of addressing today’s challenges by hiring expensive human guards on a 24/7 basis, communities can use the Nimbio app to automate access control in a way that is more convenient and secure.

Nimbio is easy for delivery drivers to use since it will be installed on many gates across America in the years ahead. Most delivery drivers will have the app installed on their phones to facilitate easy access. Most importantly, Nimbio is developing partnerships with major delivery services. Consequently, when communities stay up-to-date by adopting technologies like Nimbio, they will start to be able to provide their residents with communication-free deliveries. Instead of holding their phones close in anticipation of a message from a delivery driver, residents will instead get to enjoy receiving deliveries without having to manually give out their access code. Best of all, this automated access is highly secure since delivery drivers automatically have their access revoked when they leave.

In addition to making deliveries easy, Nimbio also helps communities with enhanced tracking capabilities. Both residents and community managers can see logs showing the time and date when identifiable individuals passed through a gate. Nimbio provides advanced auditing features that help residents and community managers to make sense of access logs. As a result, if an incident occurs, communities have the evidence they need to discover the likely culprit. Crime is invariably reduced when people can be held accountable for their actions. In this way, Nimbio helps to make entire communities safer while making deliveries easier.

Eliminating Expensive Call Boxes and Landlines

Another major problem with conventional access solutions is the cost of purchasing, installing, and maintaining them. Good-quality call boxes cost over $1,200 each. Communities then have to run wires to these boxes. This wiring requirement can necessitate digging costly trenches, ripping up walls, and other labor-intensive installation tasks.

However, buying and installing a call box system is only the beginning. Communities then have to pay monthly service charges for the line leading to the call box, and there are often service charges associated with a call box system. In many use cases, communities have to install Wi-Fi networks that have to be maintained. Ethernet cabling can result in lower maintenance costs, but it is logistically challenging and expensive to install. Additionally, the internet service used to support these connections is usually not otherwise needed, so communities end up spending money on a monthly basis for an expensive internet connection.

In the future, communities can do away with their call box altogether with the Nimbio platform. Expensive lines leading to and from the call box can be replaced with a cellular solution. Nimbio can use modern cellular networks to connect to the internet, so there is no need for communities to build a technology infrastructure leading to their call box. Instead, communities can connect to reliable and inexpensive mobile internet connections that are widely available.

Improved Accountability With Cloud Camera Video

It is important to keep in mind that Nimbio is a holistic gate security solution. Therefore, Nimbio offers security features that go beyond its call box and app. One feature that Nimbio is currently developing is Cloud Camera Video functionality. This feature helps with incident recognition while improving accountability.

Cloud Camera Video enables community managers or HOA board members to easily search for and view video footage of every entry to a gated property.  All video is stored in the cloud, and searchable by date, time, name of entrant, license plate number, and make and model of vehicle. Nimbio uses artificial intelligence and image processing algorithms to automatically label and categorize each gate entry, saving the time and effort required to manually review hours of video footage.

Nimbio’s Cloud Camera Video functionality is also useful for improving accountability. If a gate is damaged by an entrant, it will be captured on video. Therefore, when residents or community managers are investigating an incident, they can start by quickly accessing and reviewing high-quality video footage.