Replacing a door entry system on a residential block is rarely just a panel swap. There’s usually cabling running through the building, monitors in every flat, and a run of appointments with residents before you can get started.

IP Door Entry is built around that problem. It brings together smart visitor entry with IPGUARD, 4G access control with EASYCONNECT, remote management with BATICONNECT, and digital resident communication with IPNOTICEBOARD. Four systems that give installers and housing teams a different way to handle who gets into a building and how residents are kept informed.

Where IPGUARD does things differently

Residents answer visitors on their own mobile, tablet or landline. Through the IPGUARD app, they can see who’s calling, speak to the visitor, open the door, and use their phone for access.

IPGUARD 4G/IP/GSM door entry systems don’t need new door entry cabling or monitors installed in the flats. So there’s no full rewire through the building, and far less time spent inside residents’ homes.

What the panel does need is power and a 4G signal at the entrance. Where the signal at the door is marginal, there’s an integral aerial, a connector for an external one, and support for an external 4G router up to 80 metres away.

Pick the panel to suit the block

IPGUARD is a range rather than a single panel, so the entrance you’re working on decides which one you order.

The Pro, Mini and Mini Plus are for larger residential sites and carry capacity of up to 3,000 flats. The Mini Touch is designed for smaller sites of one to four flats, giving you a simpler option where a full block system would be more than you need.

There are options built around accessibility and security too, including braille keypads across the range, hearing aid induction loops on selected models, and smartphone access on Bluetooth-equipped models. Useful to know when accessibility forms part of the spec, because it often decides the panel.

The range has achieved Secured by Design accreditation and IASME IoT Cyber Assurance Level 2 certification, so the security credentials are documented rather than claimed.

For doors and gates that only need access control

Communal doors, gates, bin stores and plant rooms may only need secure access control, with no visitor calling involved at all.

That’s where EASYCONNECT fits in. It brings 4G into access control, with a 4G controller, proximity readers and a 4G RF receiver covering pedestrian doors and vehicle gates.

The numbers are the part worth knowing: Both the EC-C controller and the EC-HF RF receiver support up to 6,000 credentials and include ten years of unlimited data, with no annual portal or hosting charges. Physical fobs work alongside smartphone credentials and virtual keys, so you can hand a fob to one person and a virtual key to another.

Both systems, one platform

Installing the hardware is only part of the job. Once it’s in, users, fobs, and access rights still need to be managed.

That’s where BATICONNECT CLOUD comes in. IPGUARD and EASYCONNECT are both managed remotely through it, so credentials, users, access rights, and system settings get updated from wherever you are.

So the split is straightforward. Residents use the IPGUARD app to answer visitors and open the door with their phone. Whoever manages the building uses BATICONNECT CLOUD. Installers use BATICONNECT Mobile when setting up and checking EASYCONNECT on site.

What it costs to run

The two hardware families are priced differently once they’re installed, so it’s worth being clear about which you’re quoting.

Worth putting in front of a client early, because it’s usually the question that comes after the hardware price.

Beyond access: keeping residents informed

Door entry and access control answer who can get into the building. What they don’t touch is the printed noticeboard in the entrance — the one where notices go up, stay up, and show whatever somebody last had time to print.

IPNOTICEBOARD gives housing and property teams a digital alternative to it. The interactive screens update remotely in real time and can display notices, messages, videos, surveys, useful contacts, local weather, public transport information, and signage across up to 20 pages.

They come in 21-inch and 43-inch sizes, flush or surface mounted, with anti-vandal security glass and a high-definition capacitive touchscreen. Connectivity is 4G LTE or Ethernet, with an optional built-in router, and there’s an open API if it needs to talk to systems already in place.

With resident communication carrying more weight under the Building Safety Act and Tenant Satisfaction Measures, keeping entrance information current is worth more than it used to be. That’s where it earns its place: not paper on a screen, but a quicker way to keep what’s at the entrance up to date.

Start with what each entrance needs, and the product follows:

Most blocks end up using more than one, and because IPGUARD and EASYCONNECT share the same management platform, they don’t become two separate systems to look after.

What’s coming next

Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a closer look at each part of the range, starting with IPGUARD and the IPGUARD app, then EASYCONNECT, and finally IPNOTICEBOARD.