Security Systems
Access control and door entry systems in Kent
Controlling who gets through a door, a gate or a communal entrance, without handing out keys you can never get back. Fobs, keypads, video intercom and full apartment block entry systems, installed and maintained across Kent and the South East.
- Free estimates
- Insurance work undertaken
- Domestic & commercial
The problem access control actually solves
A key is a permanent grant. Once it is out there you cannot withdraw it, you cannot see who used it, and if it goes missing the honest answer is that you no longer know who can get in. On a house that is an inconvenience. On a block of flats, an office or a yard with staff turnover, it is a recurring cost, because the only way to take a key back is to change the lock and reissue every other key with it.
Access control replaces that with something you can revoke. A lost fob is deleted in seconds and the door is secure again. If somebody leaves, their access goes with them. On systems with logging you can also see which credential opened which door and when, which settles most disputes without anyone having to take a view on who is telling the truth.
What we install
The right system depends on how many people need access, how often that list changes, and whether anyone needs to see who is at the door before letting them in.
- Fob and card readers, the usual choice where a fixed group of people need regular access
- Keypads, where you want no credential to carry and are willing to manage a code
- Audio intercom, for a single entrance where you only need to speak to a caller
- Video door entry, where seeing the caller matters, which on a residential block it usually does
- Apartment block systems, with panels at the entrance and handsets or app answering in each flat
- Door release on existing doors, including maglocks, strikes and push-to-exit
- Integration with gate automation, so one credential covers the vehicle gate and the pedestrian door
Door entry on flats and apartment blocks
Communal entrances are the most common access control job in Kent and the one most often done badly. The panel takes weather and casual abuse, the cabling has to reach every flat, and the system has to keep working when a resident moves out and a new one moves in.
The parts that decide whether a block system is any good are rarely the panel itself. They are whether the cabling was installed to a standard that lets a single flat be re-terminated without disturbing the rest, whether the power supply is sized for the number of doors and handsets, and whether the entrance panel is sited where a caller can actually be seen against the light. Those are survey decisions, and they are very expensive to revisit once the cabling is buried.
Taking over a system somebody else installed
We work on systems we did not install, which on access control is more common than new work. Blocks change management companies, the original installer stops answering the phone, and nobody has the programming details for a panel that was commissioned years ago.
Most of the time the hardware is fine and the problem is administrative, meaning nobody can add or remove a fob because the engineer code was never handed over. That is usually recoverable. Where it is not, we will tell you plainly whether the sensible move is to reprogram or replace, rather than defaulting to replace because it is the bigger job.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Can you add access control to doors we already have?
Usually yes. Most standard commercial and communal doors will take a maglock or an electric strike without being replaced, and the reader goes on the wall beside it. What decides it is the door and frame rather than the lock, so a timber door in a poor frame may need attention first. We look at the actual door before quoting, because the honest answer changes depending on what is holding it up.
What happens if somebody loses a fob?
You tell us, or if you manage the system yourself you delete it. The lost fob stops working immediately and everybody else's carries on as normal. That is the practical difference from keys, where one lost key means changing the lock and reissuing to everyone. On systems we maintain, we can usually handle a deletion remotely on the same day.
Do door entry systems work when the power goes off?
The system itself stops, so the design decides what happens to the doors. Fire regulations require escape routes to remain openable from the inside regardless, and that is not negotiable. On entry side, most installations we fit include a battery backup sized to hold the system up through a normal outage. Getting that right at the survey matters more than the panel you choose.
Can residents answer the door on their phone?
On the current generation of systems, yes. App answering is standard on most video door entry we fit now, so a resident can see and speak to a caller whether they are in the flat or not. It is worth saying that it works best as an addition to a handset rather than a replacement, because a system that depends entirely on everyone's phone and broadband has more ways to fail.
Which areas do you cover?
We are based in Aylesford, so Maidstone and the surrounding area is our closest work, and we cover Medway, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Dartford and Bromley regularly. We work more widely across Kent, the South East and into London. Access control in particular is worth checking on distance, because these are systems that need occasional attention rather than fit-and-forget.
Free estimates
Want a free estimate in Kent?
No up-selling, just simple honest advice. Domestic and commercial work across Aylesford, Maidstone, Medway, Sittingbourne, Gravesend, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Dartford, Bromley.