Residential Complex Intercom/Security Upgrade

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CuriousSoul

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We have a seemingly outdated intercom system at our residential complex. I think its branded "Comb" together with a Centurion swing gate motor system.
Residents access is using remotes to enter and exit.
Recently one of those remotes was apparently cloned and used to gain access to the complex and the perpetrators broke into one of the units. Thankfully nobody was harmed but valuables were lost.

As its December and with increased likelihood of theft and other crime, we want to upgrade the system to something more secure and reliable.
The first suggestion is for a biometric solution which uses residents fingerprints for access.

I'm not too familiar with much of this but would like guidance and advise on how to go about sourcing, installing and maintaining such a system based on what works best/tried & tested in Joburg.
I would also appreciate some guidance on typical budget for this exercise if you are able to share.

The complex is small, around 20 units. There is electric fencing along the boundary walls. We have cameras monitoring both entrance and exit gates. We also have a small guard house but it is apparently not suitable for a guard as there is no toilet and water, just a room.
I'm not sure what other information is needed but please do ask.
 
hi why not extend and build a toilet slash bathroom and invest in security guard rotational should be more secure then if funds allow
 
I would guess it was probably not cloned but one of the temporary workers or garden services. I don't like the idea of having to use biometrics to enter our complex. Your weakest link are the domestic and garden services and the owners who give remotes or access to outsiders to the complex. Also consider installing cameras maybe.
 
A rolling code remote cannot be cloned

I manage electronic security for an apartment building. To guard against what occurred to you, get all the remotes together, erase the receiver and re-assign the remotes

No stolen remotes will then operate.

We repeat this exercise every 2 years as sooner or later, remote's get mislaid.

If you use a "Condo" receiver, this records each remote with a unique number, and you can void any stolen or mislaid remote. You can also keep a register of the remotes
 
storms1 said:
hi why not extend and build a toilet slash bathroom and invest in security guard rotational should be more secure then if funds allow
Click to expand...
I think the effort, timeline and cost for this will outweigh the current needs. Definitely something for future. Thank you.
 
RedViking said:
I would guess it was probably not cloned but one of the temporary workers or garden services. I don't like the idea of having to use biometrics to enter our complex. Your weakest link are the domestic and garden services and the owners who give remotes or access to outsiders to the complex. Also consider installing cameras maybe.
Click to expand...

The guys managing the gate and cameras said they found out it was a cloned remote which has now been removed/revoked from the system.
Why do you not like the biometrics option? Unfortunately we cannot control remotes or careless owners. We have cameras but perhaps need to add more.
 
chrisc said:
A rolling code remote cannot be cloned

I manage electronic security for an apartment building. To guard against what occurred to you, get all the remotes together, erase the receiver and re-assign the remotes

No stolen remotes will then operate.

We repeat this exercise every 2 years as sooner or later, remote's get mislaid.

If you use a "Condo" receiver, this records each remote with a unique number, and you can void any stolen or mislaid remote. You can also keep a register of the remotes
Click to expand...

I think that erasing and reprogramming is what they are currently busy with. But its a headache to have to micromanage the process with each unit, particularly when something like this happens. The idea is to outlive the issue of misplaced, stolen or "rogue" remotes.
Not sure about the Condo receiver but will look into it, thank you.
 
CuriousSoul said:
The guys managing the gate and cameras said they found out it was a cloned remote which has now been removed/revoked from the system.
Why do you not like the biometrics option? Unfortunately we cannot control remotes or careless owners. We have cameras but perhaps need to add more.
Click to expand...
Because we live in the land of criminals. If they can't clone a remote and they want to get in, they will cut off someone's fingers or pull out their eyes. They will wait for you to get home and then get in.

It's not an Africa solution.
 
You can use Accentronix and sync the intercom with ET systems remote. You can add / remove remotes and manage everything online.
 
RedViking said:
Because we live in the land of criminals. If they can't clone a remote and they want to get in, they will cut off someone's fingers or pull out their eyes. They will wait for you to get home and then get in.

It's not an Africa solution.
Click to expand...
Yea that's the unfortunate part. We have a crowd that provides local security in the area but I think they are limited.
 
greg_SA said:
You can use Accentronix and sync the intercom with ET systems remote. You can add / remove remotes and manage everything online.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I'll dig a little deeper here. I think they currently do that but the problem is, we are a small complex and hence nobody is really manning things 24/7.
 
I have a similar setup and here are my learnings

  • Comb intercom systems use a mobile data links and have a web management portal where you manage the remotes and download reports etc. You need to get access to this via the installer or via comb. Regularly remove all inactive remotes
  • Comb is basically the standard in SA
  • Many intercoms are 3G and need to be upgraded to 4G - contact comb
  • Remotes can be programmed in to the gate motor box, bypassing the intercom (best to erase all these)
 
Doesn't look they are particularly economical, though. Just their little BT-Loader is going for R4k+!
 
storms1 said:
hi why not extend and build a toilet slash bathroom and invest in security guard rotational should be more secure then if funds allow
Click to expand...
Honestly having gone through this process in my complex. Upgrading the security would be a lot cheaper in the long run.
 
CuriousSoul said:
Thank you, I'll dig a little deeper here. I think they currently do that but the problem is, we are a small complex and hence nobody is really manning things 24/7.
Click to expand...
Trustee's should be managing it tbh lol. Accentrix is a decent system and the suggestion above is the best one. Get an installer to wipe all the remotes that would work with the gate in the interim thought and get new remotes made.
 
Tim_vb said:
I have a similar setup and here are my learnings

  • Comb intercom systems use a mobile data links and have a web management portal where you manage the remotes and download reports etc. You need to get access to this via the installer or via comb. Regularly remove all inactive remotes
  • Comb is basically the standard in SA
  • Many intercoms are 3G and need to be upgraded to 4G - contact comb
  • Remotes can be programmed in to the gate motor box, bypassing the intercom (best to erase all these)
Click to expand...

Thanks. Did you set it up yourself?
I think they recently upgraded the comms to 4g with a Vodacom sim which is way faster and better than the previous one (think it was MTN).
The idea is to avoid reprogramming remotes every so often but it seems this is unavoidable.
 
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