Switching locks for keycodes or key cards in an office building

[Calvin Thomas]

One of my office buildings needs a little love, and we've been taking care of it during the pandemic.  It's a six story office building and I was thinking of upgrading the locks to keycodes or key card access.  It's been vacant and I was thinking just converting it to a co-working space for professionals.  It's in a really desirable part of NJ.  The keycard companies I've spoken to are very pricey.  Anyone know of a company or service I can look into?  Seems the smart locks with keypads only have like 10 or 15 max keycodes.  I'll need more than that for the locks.

Open to all suggestions.

[Eric Weireter]

Hi @Calvin Thomas - I'd recommend looking into access control systems that use key cards/fobs. We have a vendor that installs Linear's eMerge System in all our properties that allows us to remotely manage access control. Our most recent install was 6 months ago... they removed the existing antiquated physical key/lock system that you are talking about, installed fob readers on 8 doors, 2 security cameras, ran all the wiring and labor. The final bill came out to $17k. 

While I know there are many access control systems available, what I like about Linear is that it does not have a monthly recurring fee. I've managed other properties that have had access control systems that charge a monthly fee per reader... often totaling $100-200/mo just to use the system. 

Once you install the hardware of an access control system you can overlay it with sexy/trendy technology software like Kisi or ButerflyMX which I would think would be of interest to coworking members.