Laundry room woes

[Stephanie Wilson]

Long story short, we are in search of a lock system with key fobs that we can assign to each tenant allowing us to track who is using the laundry room, when and how long.

A local company estimated $3,400 to install such a lock system. We are going to have to install cameras also on top of that cost.

For context, we are not using coin operated.  We purchased commercial washer and dryers and are charging a monthly fee to have access to the laundry room. The laundry equipment has already cost us $6k.

My team and I feel in our bones that there is a less expensive option out there but our research efforts thus far have not brought us an acceptable solution.

Any thoughts? 

[Richard F.]

Aloha,

What is your reasoning for charging access to the laundry area, rather than coin or card operated machines, which will collect for each operating cycle...in other words actual use, vs. a flat monthly fee? How many units on the property?

Access control systems and video systems are great as long as you obtain quality equipment, especially the cameras, and you will need an internet access for remote monitoring. They are not nearly as useful if you do not have remote access capability. Be sure, either way, that the software is user friendly. Some are not. You want to be able to quickly and easily review recorded video, and perform a screen capture to use as evidence for crimes or violation notices. You also need to maintain time of day synchronization between the two systems, which may require periodic manual time updates, depending on the systems. I also recommend your NVR be set to record continuously for most, if not all, cameras. You miss too much before many systems start recording on motion only. This means you need to have adequate storage capacity, typically for at least two full weeks recording before automatically over writing the oldest recordings.