By Battle Born Access Systems | Las Vegas, Nevada

When it comes to gate access control systems, there is no shortage of options.

For gated communities, HOAs, apartment complexes, commercial properties, and private developments, the purpose of access control is fairly simple: keep the honest people honest, make unauthorized access more difficult, and give property management better control over who is entering the property.

No access control system can guarantee that a bad person will never get onto a property. A gate is not a force field. But the right combination of an automated gate, access control, cameras, vehicle identification, visitor management, and good system design can make a tremendous difference.

After years of installing, servicing, troubleshooting, programming, and working with these systems in the field, I have developed some pretty strong opinions about them.

This isn’t a laboratory comparison or a manufacturer-sponsored ranking.

This is an installer’s opinion based on what we actually deal with in the field.

So, here is my take.

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DoorKing: The BlackBerry of Gate Access Control

First and foremost, I have to give DoorKing its respect.

DoorKing has been in this industry for a long time, and for years it was one of the names in telephone entr

y and gated-community access control.

The best comparison I can make is this:

DoorKing is the BlackBerry of access control.

BlackBerry was innovative, dependable, and practically bulletproof. It did exactly what it was designed to 

do, and it did it for years.

That is how I look at many of the traditional DoorKing telephone entry systems.

Pull up to a community with one of the classic DoorKing directory systems and you are probably going to see the familiar A and Z scrolling buttons, electronic directory, and CALL button.

You scroll through the resident directory until you find the person you are looking for, call them, their phone rings, and they can press 9 to grant access.

Simple.

Reliable.

Proven.

And somewhat old-school.

For a long time, that was perfectly acceptable technology.

Today, however, residents are accustomed to smartphones, touchscreen interfaces, cameras, apps, temporary digital credentials, QR codes, license plate recognition, and cloud-based management.

DoorKing has introduced newer video and smartphone-based products, so the company isn’t standing completely still. But when most people in our industry think about the traditional DoorKing systems that have been installed throughout communities for decades, we’re talking about equipment that prioritizes simplicity and reliability over cutting-edge user experience.

 

My DoorKing Rating

Reliability: 9/10Technology: 6/10
Ease of Use: 6/10
Overall: 7/10

If your number-one concern is having something straightforward that keeps working, DoorKing deserves respect.

If you want the newest technology and a fully connected community-access ecosystem, there are better options today.

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LiftMaster myQ Community: A Major Step Forward

Then you have LiftMaster.

Most people in the gate industry already know LiftMaster because of its residential, commercial, slide, swing, and barrier gate operators.

But LiftMaster has also invested heavily in access control through the myQ Community platform and its smart video intercom and access control products.

This is where access control starts feeling like modern technology.

Instead of relying exclusively on an old-fashioned resident directory and telephone call, residents can use the myQ Community app to interact with authorized access points.

Residents can manage access from their smartphones, grant guest access, and use mobile credentials.

The smart video intercom products also bring cameras into the equation.

And cameras matter.

If somebody walks up to an access control system and requests entry, having a visual record associated with an access event can be extremely useful.

If an incident occurs inside a community around the same time — vandalism, theft, property damage, or some other security concern — access records and available video can give property management another piece of information to review.

That doesn’t mean the access control system solves the crime.

It means you have more information than simply knowing that a gate opened at 8:32 PM.

That is a huge improvement.

The myQ App Is a Big Advantage

One of my favorite parts of the LiftMaster ecosystem is the integration with the myQ Community app.

Residents don’t necessarily need to make every visitor search through a directory.

If your guest calls you directly and says:

“Hey, I’m at the front gate.”

You can use the app to grant access if the property has been configured appropriately.

That is how people expect technology to work today.

Our Experience With LiftMaster in the Las Vegas Heat

Being in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada, we also deal with something installers in cooler parts of the country don’t experience to the same degree:

Extreme heat.

We routinely see equipment sitting outside in direct desert conditions.

Based strictly on our own field experience, some older generations and installations of LiftMaster access-control equipment have given us more heat-related concerns than we would like during extreme Las Vegas summer temperatures.

LiftMaster has continued improving its equipment, and newer generations have addressed a number of issues.

That is why choosing an access control system should never be based solely on a brochure.

Climate, mounting location, shade, ventilation, cellular reception, power quality, network connectivity, and installation quality all matter.

My LiftMaster Rating

Reliability: 8/10
Technology: 8.5/10
Ease of Use: 8.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10

LiftMaster has built a very capable ecosystem, especially when you combine its access control equipment with LiftMaster gate operators.

And they’re continuing to move forward.

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Security Brands Ascent M8: Don’t Overlook This One

One company that does not always get as much attention as I think it deserves is Security Brands, Inc.

Specifically, I like the Ascent M8.

Technology-wise, I put Security Brands in roughly the same conversation as LiftMaster.

The M8 gives you a modern 8-inch touchscreen, but it also retains physical controls, which I actually like.

Sometimes physical buttons are a good thing.

It also offers features such as:

• Smartphone access
• Touchscreen resident directory
• Physical keypad controls
• Integrated proximity card/fob reader
• Video calling
• QR-code guest access
• Cloud-based management
• Multiple gate and door control
• Access activity reporting

That’s a lot of capability in one piece of equipment.

And again, being a contractor in the Southwest, I pay attention to reliability in extreme environmental conditions.

From our own installation and service experience, Security Brands equipment has performed very well for us in the Las Vegas climate.

That’s important.

A touchscreen can have every cool feature imaginable, but if the device struggles every July when it’s 115 degrees outside, those features don’t mean much.

My Security Brands Ascent M8 Rating

Reliability: 9/10
Technology: 8.5/10
Ease of Use: 8.5/10
Overall: 8.75/10

If you’re shopping for a modern gated-community telephone entry or access control system, I would absolutely put Security Brands on the list.

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ButterflyMX: The Gold Standard Right Now

Now we get to ButterflyMX.

As of today, if somebody asks me what I consider the gold standard in modern community access control, ButterflyMX is at the top of my list.

Why?

Because they didn’t simply redesign the telephone entry box.

They looked at the entire property.

That is the difference.

Today’s community doesn’t have one access point.

You might have:

• Vehicle entrance gates
• Vehicle exit gates
• Pedestrian gates
• Clubhouse doors
• Pool gates
• Fitness center doors
• Package areas
• Employee entrances
• Garage entrances
• Elevators
• Visitor entrances
• Delivery access
• Resident access
• Security cameras
• Vehicle identification

ButterflyMX has taken a much more property-wide approach to access control.

And that is where I think the industry is going.

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Visitor Passes and QR Codes

Let’s say you’re ordering pizza.

Instead of the delivery driver pulling up to the gate, searching through hundreds of names, calling you, waiting for you to answer, and creating a line of cars behind them, you can create a temporary Visitor Pass.

That visitor can receive a QR code or digital credential.

When they arrive, they use that credential to gain the access you authorized.

Done.

Now let’s say your family is staying with you for a week.

Instead of giving them your personal gate code or loaning them a remote, you can give them temporary access for the appropriate period.

When the visit is over, the access expires or can be revoked.

That is smarter access control.

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Access Control Should Create Accountability

Another major advantage of modern cloud-based access control is the audit trail.

Property management should be able to answer questions like:

Who entered?

When did they enter?

What credential was used?

What access point did they use?

Was it a PIN, QR code, resident credential, visitor credential, vehicle credential, or mobile access event?

That information is extremely valuable.

Again, it doesn’t magically make a property crime-proof.

But there is a major difference between:

“The gate opened sometime around midnight.”

and:

“The gate opened at 12:07 AM using this specific credential, at this entrance, associated with this access event.”

That’s accountability.

And that is where access control technology has evolved tremendously.

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Vehicle Access and License Plate Recognition

This is another area where ButterflyMX has impressed me.

Vehicle access control and license plate recognition technology are becoming increasingly important for gated communities.

Instead of treating the access control system, gate operators, vehicle access system, and surveillance cameras as four completely different projects, ButterflyMX has been building an ecosystem where these technologies can work together.

Their vehicle access platform can incorporate mobile credentials, vehicle credentials, and license plate recognition (LPR).

From an HOA or property management standpoint, that is powerful.

The fewer separate dashboards and systems the manager has to log into, the better.

Nobody wants:

Website #1 for the telephone entry.

Website #2 for the cameras.

Website #3 for resident credentials.

Website #4 for vehicle access.

Website #5 for pedestrian doors.

That becomes a nightmare.

The goal should be:

One property. One ecosystem. One management platform.

That is where ButterflyMX really stands out to me.

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Cameras Need to Be Part of Modern Access Control

I’ve heard companies in this industry talk for years about what they are going to integrate.

We’re going to integrate cameras.

We’re going to integrate LPR.

We’re going to integrate visitor management.

We’re going to integrate this.

We’re going to integrate that.

That’s great.

But eventually you have to actually build it.

One reason I have become such a supporter of ButterflyMX is because they are actually doing it.

We’ve used their security cameras.

We’ve worked with their vehicle access technology.

We’ve worked with their visitor management.

We’ve worked with their access control ecosystem.

And they continue adding capabilities.

LiftMaster is absolutely nipping at their heels and has been investing heavily in its myQ Community ecosystem.

Competition is good.

It pushes everybody forward.

But from where I sit today, ButterflyMX keeps grabbing the bull by the horns and moving the technology forward.

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Something Customers Rarely See: Technical Support

There is another part of access control that almost no end user thinks about until something goes wrong:

The people behind the equipment.

A system can look incredible on a brochure.

But what happens when the installer runs into an unusual configuration?

What happens when software doesn’t communicate correctly?

What happens when the property wants something that isn’t part of the everyday setup?

That’s when you find out who you’re really doing business with.

Our experience working with the technical and support teams behind ButterflyMX has been excellent.

When we’ve brought them legitimate concerns, they listen.

They don’t just say:

“We’ll put that on the list.”

We’ve had situations where we brought them a technical problem and ended up on a meeting with multiple members of their technical team working through the issue.

On one particular issue, they understood the problem and came back with a resolution extremely quickly.

That matters to me as an installer.

Because when we install a system, our name is on that installation too.

Our customer isn’t interested in hearing:

“Well, the manufacturer isn’t calling us back.”

They hired Battle Born Access Systems to make the system work.

So manufacturer support behind the scenes is a major factor in what equipment I recommend.

My ButterflyMX Rating

Reliability: 9/10
Technology: 10/10
Ease of Use: 9.5/10
Ecosystem: 10/10
Technical Support: 10/10
Overall: 9.7/10

Right now, it is the system to beat.

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So Which Gate Access Control System Is Best?

There isn’t one answer for every property.

DoorKing

If you’re looking for proven, straightforward, traditional access control, DoorKing has been doing it for decades.

LiftMaster myQ Community

If you want modern access control that integrates naturally with one of the largest gate-operator manufacturers in the industry, LiftMaster deserves serious consideration.

Security Brands Ascent M8

If you’re looking for an excellent combination of modern technology, physical controls, cellular connectivity, video, QR access, proximity credentials, and reliability, don’t overlook Security Brands.

ButterflyMX

If you’re trying to create a modern, property-wide access control and security ecosystem incorporating vehicle gates, pedestrian access, amenity doors, visitor management, mobile credentials, cameras, and vehicle access, ButterflyMX is currently my favorite platform.

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The Access Control System Is Only Half the Equation

There is one last thing property managers and HOA boards need to understand.

Buying expensive access control equipment does not automatically give you a good access control system.

The design and installation matter just as much.

You can buy the most sophisticated access control equipment in the world and still have a terrible system if:

• The gate operator is improperly sized
• Safety loops are installed incorrectly
• Ground loops are damaged
• Conduit is undersized
• Communication wiring is installed improperly
• Cellular reception is poor
• Internet connectivity is unreliable
• Camera locations are poorly selected
• LPR cameras are mounted at the wrong angle
• Pedestrian access isn’t considered
• Vehicle traffic flow isn’t considered
• Emergency access isn’t properly designed
• The equipment is installed where extreme heat will unnecessarily punish it
• The system is impossible for the property manager to administer

Access control is a system — not a box mounted on a pedestal.

The gate operator, safety devices, vehicle detection, telephone entry system, cameras, credentials, network, software, pedestrian access, and property management platform all need to work together.

That is how we approach access control at Battle Born Access Systems.

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Gate Access Control Installation in Las Vegas & Henderson, Nevada

Battle Born Access Systems specializes in gate automation, gated-community access control, HOA gate systems, vehicle access control, telephone entry systems, license plate recognition cameras, ground loops, pedestrian access control, and commercial gate operators throughout Las Vegas, Henderson, and Southern Nevada.

We work with new construction as well as existing communities that need to modernize outdated gate access systems.

If your HOA or commercial property is considering upgrading from an older telephone entry system to a modern cloud-based platform, the most important first step isn’t choosing a touchscreen.

It’s evaluating the entire property and how people actually use it.

That’s where good access-control design starts.

Battle Born Access Systems
Gate Automation • Access Control • LPR • Cameras • HOA & Commercial Gate Systems
Las Vegas & Henderson, Nevada