Allegion Case Study: Artisan Apartment Homes

Allegion Opens the Door to Seamless Access for Luxury Apartment Property in Florida; Improving Safety & Enhancing Operational Efficiency

Residents of the Artisan Apartment Homes, a luxury apartment property in Dunedin, Florida, enjoy being in the center of everything: restaurants, shopping, beaches, parks and more, all in a glamorous neighborhood conveniently located a few hundred yards from the Gulf of Mexico. Having access to local amenities is essential to enjoying a high standard of living, but the apartment property management team was increasingly focused on a different type of access.

The upscale 65-unit apartment property opened in June 2018 and with more than 400 people on the wait list, demand was high. With a steady flow of traffic entering and exiting the complex 24 hours a day – from residents to deliveries to visitors - the Artisan was experiencing significant challenges with its perimeter access control system.

The property manager was spending too much time dealing with a legacy patchwork infrastructure of disconnected systems. The team needed an easier and more efficient way to manage perimeter access and resident safety through one centralized platform that would also grow with them as their needs expanded. “By running disparate systems, it became a complicated and time-consuming process for me to create new fobs for residents when they moved in and then deactivate them when they moved out,” says Sally Caron, Residential Property Manager at the Artisan Apartment Homes. “Plus, it was costly to replace lost fobs and mechanical keys."

All residents had been issued fobs for perimeter access and all apartment doors had mechanical locks that required a key for entry. This meant residents had to carry a fob and a key whenever they went out, which was inconvenient. Many of the residents had experienced mobile credentials at work or during their travels, and they asked if it could be implemented at The Artisan.

As a mixed-use property, managing access had additional challenges. In total, there were 92 doors/openings, including garage vehicle gates and a bicycle cage.

Comfort Technologies Makes the Connection to Allegion’s Seamless Access Solution

The property manager discussed the property’s access control challenges with its long-time integration partner, Florida-based Comfort Technologies, which specializes in deploying multifamily access control, IoT devices and software management solutions.

“We live, eat, and breathe in the multifamily space and operate with an end user-centric philosophy,” says Paul Comfort, President at Comfort Technologies. “We truly understand how hardware and software work together and everything we do is built around creating the best end user experience possible.”

Those initial discussions between The Artisan and Comfort led to the introduction of Allegion, a global pioneer in perimeter and property access control. Comfort Technologies has been an Allegion Security Integrator Member since 2017 and knew they would be the right technology partner.

“I really like Allegion’s open architecture philosophy and how their access control devices integrate seamlessly with so many different security software platforms,” says Comfort. “Any hardware or software solution is going to have issues at some point, but with Allegion any issue is resolved quickly as their customer support is second to none.”

After a careful review process, the Artisan’s management team decided to move forward with an ecosystem of solutions from Allegion.

Comfort and Allegion started the upgrade in 2022 and completed the project smoothly. The initial stage involved replacing the mechanical locks on all 65 apartment unit doors with electronic locks. Unit locks were upgraded to Schlage Control® smart locks with ENGAGE™ access control from Allegion to give residents keyless entry.

All residents were issued new Schlage fobs and offered the option of using Schlage Mobile Bluetooth® credentials. This allowed them to use their phone to access their residence and other areas of the property. Over the next few months, the staff-only mechanical and electrical rooms were converted to Schlage NDE wireless electronic locks to reduce the number of keys that employees had to carry with them. The garage retail storage area was also converted to an NDE wireless lock, which made it more convenient for retail leaseholders as they now only needed to carry one key fob.

The entire hardware installation consisted of deploying 65 Schlage Control BE467 locks on apartment units, with two Schlage RCK15 reader controllers - one on the main front door and one on the lobby garage door, 12 Schlage XE360 wireless locks installed on multiple residential storage closets and the rooftop door, 6 Schlage MTB15 readers on IP bridges on the bike cage, stairwell doors and the retail gate, and 6 Schlage NDE locks on the mechanical, electrical closets and the maintenance shop sprinkler room. All devices are mobile-enabled, meaning they are ready to read Bluetooth or NFC-based access credentials, and residents are able to use their mobile devices to access spaces. This was important to The Artisan as they wanted to be ready for future mobile credential technology options.

In 2023, The Artisan upgraded to the Zentra cloud-based software platform from Allegion, the next generation of multifamily access management that was launched in 2023. The Zentra software solution manages perimeter, amenity and unit access all in one centralized system. To improve efficiency, property managers can now assign access, create fobs, and assign schedules all from their desk. Comfort Technologies was the first Zentra Authorized Integrator and handled the upgrade seamlessly with no interruptions to operations. In addition, residents were transitioned to Bluetooth mobile credentials through the Zentra mobile app for iOS and Android as a more convenient alternative to using their fobs.

“Zentra clearly stands out from the other access control solutions due to its simple, smart, and secure access experience that not only improves security, but operational efficiency,” says Daniel Kus, Allegion’s Project Implementation Manager. “Zentra is a real game changer in the multifamily space as it’s one of the first in the industry to allow property managers to manage perimeter and apartment units together on one native OEM platform.” The previously installed Schlage control locks used on the apartment doors and the NDE electronics locks on the mechanical and electrical doors were also migrated to the Zentra platform.

The next step involved converting the perimeter from a third-party entry-level commercial access control system to Zentra. “This is where Zentra really shined as both networked and offline openings throughout the building could now be managed on the Zentra platform,” says Kus.

“I absolutely love having everything on one platform as it has made my job easier in so many ways,” says Caron. “Anything state-of-the-art is always more convenient and easier to manage. I’m now able to give temporary access to people for grocery or online deliveries, UPS, Fed-Ex, or housekeeping. Residents now have an overall better experience not only during the enrollment and move-out process, but every day.” In June of 2024, the mobile resident key in the Apple Wallet was introduced as a way for residents to access the building and their individual apartment units by using their iPhone or Apple Watch. “We were extremely excited that Zentra was the first to market with resident key in the Apple Wallet for both perimeter and interior access,” says Kus. “With resident key in Apple Wallet, tenants can seamlessly access spaces with their iPhone or Apple Watch by simply holding it near a Schlage device — there’s no need to open an app. With Express Mode, there’s no need to authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode to wake up the device. Just tap to unlock.”

Artisan Finds the Key to Improving Security & Operational Efficiency

Zentra’s support team along with Comfort Technologies conducted multiple on-site training sessions to ensure the staff was up to speed on how to use the new system. “The Zentra customer support team is top-notch,” says Caron. “Their response time is immediate, and I never have to worry about being left in the dark if an issue arises.”

With the implementation of mobile credentials, residents can now access the building and apartment units by simply using either their resident key in Apple Wallet or Zentra Bluetooth mobile credentials. With a majority of Artisan residents using mobile credentials, they no longer need to carry keys or worry about losing or misplacing them. And for those using resident key in Apple Wallet, with Power Reserve, tenants can still continue to use their device to access spaces even when the devices need to be charged.

“Our residents love the security and convenience of resident key in Apple Wallet and are adapting to the change quickly,” says Caron. “Residents have expressed that they feel safer, and that the adoption of mobile credentials has given them the freedom to go for a jog or a walk without worrying about carrying anything with them but their iPhone or Apple Watch for re-entry.”

The cost savings are tremendous as the property manager can order fewer fobs for residents, reducing overhead costs. Plus, not having to hire additional personnel to manage the property due to the ease of the Zentra platform helped minimize operating costs.

After seeing the ease of deployment with Schlage and Zentra, The Artisan is looking to expand the access control system moving forward. Future plans at The Artisan include adding Schlage devices to other areas of the property, including the new XE360 wireless locks and MTB Series wall readers that feature a new, sleek design. The Artisan is also on track to be the first multifamily property to deploy resident key in Google Wallet in mid-2025.

The benefits are endless as the Artisan continues to see the value of upgrading its access control system. With the recent upgrade to the Allegion access control solution, the management team at the Artisan have peace of mind knowing that their property and residents are fully secured day and night.

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Allegion Opens the Door to Seamless Access for Luxury Apartment Property in Florida; Improving Safety & Enhancing Operational Efficiency

Comfort Technologies Makes the Connection to Allegion’s Seamless Access Solution

Artisan Finds the Key to Improving Security & Operational Efficiency

Discover How One Multifamily Property Transformed Access Control for Better Security and Efficiency

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