14 Nov How to use Siri to open your gate
Siri and Google Assistant are the gold standard in convenience. They have the power to set reminders, answer pressing questions, and in the case of Google Assistant, make appointments at real places. These assistants can be used for so much and they can now do more. Did you know that you can use them to open your gate or door?
How does this work?
If you own a business or a gate then you know that having a reliable access control system is paramount to making lives easy while staying secure. There is a new device called the PAL that lets you use virtual credentials instead of physical ones. We have talked about PAL in this blog before but we thought this feature was too cool not to share. PAL allows you to turn any stand-alone or wiegand access control device into a full-blown, cloud-based system that uses virtual AND physical credentials.
The PAL offers virtual telephone entry without the box. Now residents can use their cellphone as a credential to access the building without having to have a physical fob (they can still have one if they would like).
This is done by using PAL’s mobile application to tie the residents IMEI number to a designated phone number that they can dial to open the gate or door. Setting up Siri or Google Assistant to open the gate is as simple as setting the phone number that is dialed to open the gate as a contact in the residents phone. They can say “Siri, call main gate” and Siri will dial the number and the gate will open. There is no special software or configuration needed. It just works.
Benefits of Virtual Credentials
Utilizing this feature offers residents flexibility if they forget their physical fob or something were to happen (which it’s bound to). Managers at large will no longer have to issue new physical credentials when their time can be used for better things. A user can call the manager and have their lost fob shut off and use their phone in the meantime till it’s convenient for all parties to get the issue sorted.
Not only is it convenient for the resident but it’s also extremely efficient. Using virtual credentials prevents backups at the gate as people can have Siri open the gate as they pull-up without having to stop and look at their phones.
Last but not least is peace-of-mind of everyone. Having a single point of failure on anything is bad so why do we still have it for our entry systems? Things happen and credentials get lost. Residents and managers won’t have to worry about access being denied because they lost their phone or a fob. With both working and tied to a single user, residents can be sure they have access to their space if something does happen to one of their credentials. On the flip side, the managers don’t have to drop everything they’re doing to help someone who is locked out. It’s a win-win all around.