Brivo ACS WebService deployed at residential complex in California to improve security

Brivo's ACS WebService system manages all main entry doors, elevators, and road entrances

The situation

When the owner of The Met at Warner Center, the largest condominium community in the San Fernando Valley (CA), was experiencing slow unit sales during a tough real estate market, they brought in some established experts to help turn the situation around: The RADCO Companies, an Atlanta-based, coast-to-coast developer specialising in complicated real estate transactions and workouts. The Met comprises 17 buildings, 16 of which are residential, ranging from 65 to 125 units per building. The complex boasts a community room, six tennis courts, four pools, a fitness center, spa, and a 24-hour guard presence.

The challenge

The RADCO team was hired to manage the operations and sales and marketing of the nearly 1,300-unit community. The company proposed a number of system and amenity upgrades to enhance the appeal of the property while providing greater satisfaction for existing residents. Some of the biggest concerns owners expressed were the outdated security and the lack of an effective access control system.

Gemini Security’s Bruce Gehrke provided RADCO with a demonstration of Brivo ACS WebService, and James Elliott, West Coast Director of Condominium Operations, was impressed with the system’s ease of use and data access. With such a large complex and RADCO already handling multiple aspects of management, Elliott needed strong support from Gemini and Brivo: “I wanted one number to call when I need help. The data is not on site, it’s safer with Brivo, and I’ve got the flexibility and ease of use I need to manage the system or delegate it to someone else.”

The solution

The Brivo ACS WebService system manages all main entry doors, elevators, and the road entrances to the property. Residents have access to the complex and the common areas and amenities, but only to their own residential building. Using the Brivo system, administrators have also created separate access control groups for RADCO staff, the multiple service providers, the security guards, and to control access to the different amenities—each group has different members, area access privileges, and times of access. The access control and visitor management systems oversee approximately 2,300 user records with plans to eventually grow beyond 5,000 users. All systems and data are managed through a single Brivo interface.

Using the Brivo system, administrators have created separate access control groups

Elliott accesses the Brivo system every day: “I have experience with three or four different access control systems; Brivo is the easiest interface I’ve seen. It’s a onestop shop for creating badges and for immediate control and reporting over all access events. Plus, we don’t have to have one ‘expert’ on a dedicated computer for the system—we can get other staff up and running on it fairly quickly. The residents have really seen the value, they feel safer, and they know they’re not paying for non-residents to use their amenities.”

The Highlights

• The Met represents the best of what Brivo offers for such large installations—management of more than 100 doors, 16 telephone entry systems, a visitor management system at the gatehouse, and multiple cameras at entry/exit points. Eventually, the Brivo system will manage over 5,000 resident and staff user records.

• Residents have access to the property, common areas, and amenities, but only to their own residential building; they cannot enter other residential buildings with their access cards. Additionally, separate access control groups were created for RADCO staff, service providers, the security guards, and to control access to amenities—each group with different members and access privileges.

• In addition to Elliott, Facilities Manager Annotti, and select members of the RADCO staff, The Met’s Homeowners’ Association also has access to the Brivo system. “The remote access is such a key feature,” said Elliott, “and in the future we want to provide LAPD with access to the Brivo system as well.”

• California law allows property managers to deny access to property amenities to those delinquent on monthly assessment payments. With Brivo, RADCO can easily turn off access to amenities for such residents, while maintaining their access to the property and their home. After implementing this policy, RADCO collected over $20,000 in overdue assessments in just the first few days.

• RADCO also uses the system’s alert features to inform them and the Association in the event of lockdown or power failures, upon unauthorised entry attempts, or, for example, if a security guard tries to gain entry outside a work shift.

• In addition to improved security and enhanced resident satisfaction, Annotti also noted the simple convenience and tangible cost savings for both RADCO and the HOA: “Imagine this size of property and the number of buildings—that’s a lot of keys. Each building was keyed individually. We had hundreds upon hundreds of keys. Now, it is so much easier to manage access for who and where, and we never have to re-key.”