Anyone used Brivo or have thoughts on them?

[Razer_SE 0]

As the title states, just looking for insight on Brivo as an access control solution. We have 80 locations that we need to manage and are doing so now, but the system is not really designed to work as we want it to. We are only controlling one gate at 90% of the locations, sometimes two. The access would all be via pin code not via card or anything like that at this time. All locations are centrally managed at one loctaion, all have internet.

 

Brivo seems to be a good solution - but thought I'd ask peoples opinions. I'd buy them tomorrow if we were not still rolling out our busted solution..... Spent so much on current system I can't see us spending the 2k a property to get the new hardware seeing as we've just spent that on many of the properties on the old stuff! Need a great price and a trade in program lol!

[ssmith10pn 0]

What are you currently using?

 

Never heard of Brivo.

We use Lenel, GE Facility Commander, GE Picture Perfect, Sielox, and Honeywell.

[Razer_SE 0]

We are currently using PTI and looking at options for the future, long ways out yet but still looking now so as to be ready. Brivo seems pretty new, but I really like what I've seen online about them so far anyway so I thought I'd ask to see if anyone has personal experience with them.

[ssmith10pn 0]

I looked at their website and just saw a bunch of fluff. No hardware.

 

You could use Facility Commander housed at one location on a server,

Use their Direct Door Boxes at each location.

525 keypads which do HID or Cassy Rusco Badges or enter by Pin.

 

http://utcfssecurityproducts.com/ProductsAndServices/Pages/DirecDoor.aspx

 

http://utcfssecurityproducts.com/ProductsAndServices/Site%20Assets/460618001_T-500-RDR.pdf

[thewireguys 3]

Smith..... Brivo is a hosted system that uses IP readers and controllers

[Razer_SE 0]

Yes, they are a hosted solution, or if you want you can keep it all in house also as they have an option for that too. The hosted price is very low though, roughly $15 per month per reader/keypad what I was quoted, but for me I only have a single keypad at each location so $15 a month per property is not all that bad really.

 

Not checked or asked how much the server they sell is so we could keep it all in house, but really the hosted price was not that bad and the security of already having it backed up and off site redundant is pretty nice.

 

The site has fluff, but also has the data sheets on the hardware and such there. Look here and scroll down and you'll see the information on the actual hardware they have, and they said they work with most keypads and readers. http://www.brivo.com/products/datasheets I think the main reason there is little real info is they they do not sell direct, and they don't even sell through distributors, it has to be through a security company. That hurts us as we do all our own work so I would greatly prefer to just buy the equipment at a discount and skip the middleman, but they need money too I suppose. At least whoever would sell to us will have it easy, sell take the cut and move on lol! I think the security company gets a cut of the monthly revenue also from what I've read, but not sure. The MSRP on the boxes that I was looking at is $2020, and on ebay I've seen them for $600 so there must be some large markup somewhere.

[ssmith10pn 0]

Thats an interesting concept. I guess you could say Cloud Access Control. I will look at it harder when I get the chance.

 

Wouldn't really work in our market target. We consider 500 readers and 18,000 card holders one of our medium systems.

[Razer_SE 0]

Yesh.. That would add up quickly! Would want to keep that in house for sure I'd assume! No idea how they charge for that use as of yet. Waiting on a call from my Koorsen rep to get pricing from him and some more details.

 

We are only controlling a main gate, but we have over 13,000 people/accounts to keep track of currently, and growing all the time. That is why we are using pin numbers and not access cards - for us, in our business, it makes more sense at this time anyway.

[ssmith10pn 0]

Ill just be honest with you.

Pin only is a bad idea. You have no identify of who entered the code. They get passed around.

Your better off passing out keys.

Just you a basic HID 26bit card. You can even have blank cards at each location and when you have one issued just have that person stand at the reader and call you and you enroll him. 2 min process.

 

If you wanted to bump it up you could enforce Card/Pin entrance to ensure the card doesn't get passed around.

[NexusSolutions 0]

done several panel installations with brivo systems over multiple facilities... we are not a dealer we were a subcontractor... with that being said from a physical installation it is just like any other (outdated) access control panel and what i mean by that is large clunky panels that accomodate two doors per board with multiple inputs and relays... each panel takes up some significant real estate in the IT closet... and that is still before mounting your power supply for your lock hardware... so the wiring is like traditional access control... programming and end user usability is where i think brivo shines... programming and operating is extremely easy and end users agree on its ease of use...

[jeromephone 6]

I agree with smith readers are cheap and if you are going to have access control everyone should have a unique ID number whatever if you are going to issue just pin numbers you might as well give everyone the same number.

[ssmith10pn 0]

each panel takes up some significant real estate in the IT closet.

 

GE had it right with the Micro 3000

16 readers, Di and DO board in a 18 x 18 can.

Sadly it's being phased out by Lenel which I freakin hate their hardware.

[buellwinkle 0]

We had Brivo and yanked them. Their interface is geared towards office buildings with things like employee ID and we wanted to use it at two communities and we don't have employees, we have residents and they didn't want to accommodate us and allow for searching by address or name, only employee ID. So they agreed to take back their system and we replaced it with a more open (they call OPIN) product from HID Global using their Edge and VertX controllers. Then you are free to pick from dozens of solutions from software based to cloud based. We went with a cloud based provider in Arizona, ControlMyDoors.com which I would recommend, both in price and service. We had them now since 2009. We use key fobs we had custom made in China, with our logo silk screen on back then for 90 cents each, probably cheaper now with rarely a report of a failed tag.

 

BTW, HID Global, as large as they are was very accommodating to us and wrote special firmware to trigger a buzzer if someone holds the door open for over 30 seconds, a problem we had at the pool where kids would prop the gate open.

 

Also, for thewireguys, the Brivo readers are not IP based, the controllers are, the readers are then wired to the controllers.

[thewireguys 3]

 

Also, for thewireguys, the Brivo readers are not IP based, the controllers are, the readers are then wired to the controllers.

 

Bully.... Guess you never seen these before... https://www.hidglobal.com/products/controllers/edge

[buellwinkle 0]

Bollocks. You said that about Brivo and they have their own equipment, but they recommend using readers from HID Global in their installs. Yes, familiar with the Edge 400 model with the built in reader but not sure it's available from Brivo as it's HID, not Brivo and they have the their own controllers.

 

Never used it because it clunky and you get a cleaner install with the Edge 400 mounted elsewhere and the reader at the door and if I remember correctly, this combined unit is indoor only. Either way, technically, even though the physically packaged the two products into one box, the Edge controller is what's IP based and the reader is just a reader.

[thewireguys 3]

Bollocks. You said that about Brivo and they have their own equipment, but they recommend using readers from HID Global in their installs. Yes, familiar with the Edge 400 model with the built in reader but not sure it's available from Brivo as it's HID, not Brivo and they have the their own controllers.

 

Never used it because it clunky and you get a cleaner install with the Edge 400 mounted elsewhere and the reader at the door and if I remember correctly, this combined unit is indoor only. Either way, technically, even though the physically packaged the two products into one box, the Edge controller is what's IP based and the reader is just a reader.

 

Brivo uses HID Edgeplus devices with the Brivo ACS plug-in

[Razer_SE 0]

At least some others have used them, I have them sending me a test system now so we can see if this will fit our needs at all. All I know is what we are using sucks, bad, so I'm looking for options.

 

We'll likely never use cards no matter how much I want to. We would be adding and removing well over 1,000 users a month, and that is as we are now. If families and some businesses were not sharing codes we would more than double easily our users and be at 30,000 users I'm sure right off the bat. Not as secure as we'd like, but still good enough for our uses. One day maybe, but the number of cards we'd go through and the hassle is simply not worth it for now for us. We'd have to get cards for even the trash pickup guys and such. We're going to cards in our main office, but for remote locations where the customers are I think it will be years.

 

I'll look at some of the other other options mentioned in the thread also, I do appreciate everyone's feedback!

[buellwinkle 0]

Hardware is just that, all looks and works pretty much the same, but software is the differentiator and that's why we switched from Brivo to HID Global Edge/VertX products. HID has a huge list of software and cloud partners it works with.

 

We use ControlMyDoors.com, a cloud based offering that's an HID partner but what I like is a) the ability to search on anything, b) the ability to trigger a network camera to take a snapshot and the image is linked with the access record. The key for us was to be able to search by name or address so that when a house switches hands, we can quickly deactivate the entire household.

 

We have about 1,600 outstanding "cards". I use the word "cards" as the generic term for an RFID tag. We mostly use small key fobs and we provide an alternative of a card for people that prefer to stick it in their wallets and tiny thin metal disc people stick to an object they carry for example, slip or stick inside a cell phone battery door or inside a phone cover. We pay about 90 cents for custom printed color coded key fob.

 

Also, while we use Weigand 125Khz readers, you can get MiFare readers, the tags are less expensive and you can print tags and if you ever ridden BART in San Francisco, when you buy a printed subway ticket, it's using MiFare to read the ticket, subtract the fare and write the balance back in a fraction of a second. We thought about it for visitors, you print them an temporary access pass and enter it in the system with an expiration date. This way you are not managing adding/removing so many tags manually for temporary visitors.

[ssmith10pn 0]

We thought about it for visitors, you print them an temporary access pass and enter it in the system with an expiration date. This way you are not managing adding/removing so many tags manually for temporary visitors.

 

Take a look at HID's EasyLobby.

 

We are Integrating a EasyLobby system with Lenel right now.

 

It's a very granular software package.

Makes checking in visitors very fast and easy. It has a data conduit between EasyLobby and Lenel or other Access Packages.

As you check in the visitor it adds the credential to the access data base with the access rights you determine, and when they check out or time expires it pulls that credential back out.

 

https://www.hidglobal.com/visitor-management

[Susan12 0]

We thought about it for visitors, you print them an temporary access pass and enter it in the system with an expiration date. This way you are not managing adding/removing so many tags manually for temporary visitors.

 

Take a look at HID's EasyLobby.

 

We are Integrating a EasyLobby system with Lenel right now.

 

It's a very granular software package.

Makes checking in visitors very fast and easy. It has a data conduit between EasyLobby and Lenel or other Access Packages.

As you check in the visitor it adds the credential to the access data base with the access rights you determine, and when they check out or time expires it pulls that credential back out.

 

https://www.hidglobal.com/visitor-management

 

Wanna interested to buy the soft. package. What about the price?

[ssmith10pn 0]

Wanna interested to buy the soft. package. What about the price?

 

I have no idea.

The only number I saw was the customer price with all the labor, Server, PC Prox, Scanner, Printer, Drivers license scanner, ect.

[whosendsit 0]

Brivo panels are a joke. We've heard stories about how the door was suppose to stay locked in the morning until somebody shows up, but the employees would show up to find that the door already unlocked with nobody at the office. This happened several times. It took a while to find out that there was a bug in their code. Who knows what other bugs do they have.

 

They act like a startup, and have startup kind of bugs. You're better off with a more established company that has more rigorous testing process. Last time I checked, they don't even employ any hardware engineer. Kind of scary considering they manufacture the control panels. Oh well. Just MHO.

[mitchc 0]

Are you still looking for Brivo information?

Have you looked into I-ACS?

A single door solution would cost under $900 for all equipment needed, using a UL listed controller and HID readers. Even comes with prox cards.

It also integrates with video out of the box, no additional licensing. EVen though the monthly fees are higher than Brivo, it would cost less to use I-ACS than anything else over the course of a few years. And if you want video integration, it's less right away.

Web based, doesn't need an app, or Java and works with every device.

 

Just thought I'd mention it