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It’s an experience almost every condominium resident has had: you arrive at the entrance to your underground garage, press your fob so the garage door opens, when you suddenly notice a car on your tail entering immediately behind you. Later you may think, ‘Who was that? Did someone gain access to my building who doesn’t belong here or shouldn’t be here? Did I inadvertently let a bad guy in?’
The front entrance is easy to secure, but for developers and property managers, the underground parking garage can be a netherworld of security problems and challenges – where controlling access has been an issue for decades. It’s a serious problem, and it’s getting worse.
The solution to filling this security gap is with companies such as Locomobi World of Mississauga. Locomobi is an innovative smart city infrastructure technology company specializing in intelligent and secure automated vehicle management systems for vehicle verification, access and tracking utilizing smart cloud technology. The company’s technology eliminates the need for remotes, fobs or human intervention by providing a seamless, secure and frictionless solution to manage both vehicle access and parking at residential, commercial and mixed-use properties. The technology is also used for un-gated surface parking lots, street parking and entry/exit of entire neighbourhoods in contributing to the infrastructure of smart communities.
“The problem with older, legacy technology applied to manage vehicles and access is that it simply cannot provide the level of security and efficiencies our unique cloud and internet of things solutions provide,” says Brian Storrie, President of Locomobi World Inc. “As more mixed-use developments are built the demand is growing for effective management of all vehicles and transients as one-third of all crime originates from the garage. Vehicle theft and vandalism is on the rise, as is the growing trend to steal vehicle components for their rare minerals. Locomobi bridges the gap between parking and vehicle access control into a seamless and scalable solution easily managed by administrators, security enforcement, tenants, guests, transients and all drivers.”
Founded in 2019, Locomobi quickly made a name for itself by providing the vehicle management security technology at Tridel’s 10 York Street in Southcore. For Tridel, the safe and secure access capabilities of the Locomobi technology complimented the developers’ vision of treating its tenants and visitors like VIPs. Tridel has since applied the technology to other projects, most recently at Aquabella and soon to occupy Via Bloor projects.
Locomobi has rapidly expanded to where current clients include Aspen Ridge, Minto, ADI, Saroukian Group as well as Casino Niagara for parking management, and cities such as Prince Rupert, B.C. and Ventura, California for municipal parking and vouchering. Real Estate owners, REITS, developers, property managers, parking owners and smart building providers are turning to Locomobi within and outside of the GTA, where the comapny has more than 100 developments in the pipeline.
Locomobi vehicle management technology is a major advantage in mixed-use developments, where typically commercial parking outfits manage the public parking section of an underground garage, while building security manages the condominium portion. Locomobi takes care of both garage sections – all in one system.
That system starts with license plate recognition, where Locomobi is an industry leader with a read rate of 99.9% on compliant plates. Built-in comprehensive redundancies provide the convenience of a single touch to one’s phone for vehicles with unreadable plates, and its virtual intercom solution eliminates the need for a physical intercom providing greater convenience and security for the driver.
The vehicle management system also offers live real-time digital audits, reporting, alerts and auto dispatch and enforcement, bringing a live and real-time proactive approach to security enforcement. It also captures and enforces the tailgating issue with the ability to verify vehicles during a patrol from any smart device instantly. The pre-authorization/reservation of visitors also allows the building owner to monetize parking for an additional revenue stream with built-in credit management, and its latest launch of electronic ticketing capability adds to revenue streams for greater return on investment for REITS.
“Traditional access gadgets are simply not getting the job done regarding parking garage security,” says Storrie. “They are obsolete and do not provide true real time audit trails of activity throughout the parking garage, therefore properties never know who is actually in their parking garage. Locomobi’s system tracks every vehicle that enters a garage in real-time, and automatically alerts property personal when an unauthorized vehicle or trespassing pedestrian enters the garage. This is especially valuable in mixed-use properties since we can manage every type of transient, be it just parkers, shoppers, delivery trucks, tenants and guests. It provides more security and peace of mind for people in the garage.”
The advantages of Locomobi smart cloud technology in vehicle management systems are numerous, and address a main security issue for any development space – its underground garage – where the building is most vulnerable. Locomobi is one of those quiet companies about to make big noise. It owns the patent for the mobile parking payment, holds seven patent pendings, and is among Silicon Review’s 2021 Top 30 Fastest Growing Tech Companies.
Addressing underground parking garage security has some developers even using the Locomobi technology in their marketing to attract tenants because it’s a safe and secure solution. “We believe no smart community or building is truly ‘smart’ without an integrated automated vehicle access solution,” says Storrie. “Many of our developer clients have advertised our technology as a marketing asset and even have demonstrations of the systems at some of their presentation centres. And we make it turn-key for the developers as we manufacture our key products, develop the software and deploy and support the client pre and post occupancy. It’s seamless from beginning to installation.”
By providing validations, effective enforcement, added security and auditing, while bringing the ability to monetize parking with reduced overhead and cost reductions, the Locomobi vehicle management technology has made it a rising leader in its industry.
“Automation is no longer a want, but an absolute necessity,” says Storrie. “The old way of doing things is not efficient or effective and frankly, unwanted. People are more self-aware and demand easy sustainable solutions that can provide greater security and peace of mind.”
We all want to feel secure in our home, whether on a quiet residential street or 50 storeys in the sky. For those choosing vertical living, innovative technology for the development industry being brought to market by such companies as Locomobi World provides peace of mind high above, knowing everything is monitored and secure below.
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