Allegion Launches New Access Tech for Multifamily

Allegion, a nine-year-old spinoff of Ingeroll Rand’s residential and commercial security businesses, announced a new brand called Zentra. Initially offered in the U.S., Zentra provides software, hardware, and services for multifamily property access solutions.

Zentra becomes the 30th in the Allegion collection. “The brand’s offerings are unified by a single software platform with integrated hardware and support services to enhance back-end efficiency for property managers and improve the overall resident experience,” the company said in a press release.”

Here is a list of benefits Zentra claims:

• One system to unify and manage complete property access
• Mobile authentication for authorized individuals
• Real-time perimeter access management supported in the cloud
• API integrations with property technologies beyond access
• Easy upgrades (mechanical to smart lock retrofit)
• Dedicated customer success team

“Residents’ lives are full of movement, constantly accepting deliveries, coordinating in-home or on-location services, welcoming visitors and so much more,” said John Goodwin, vice president and general manager of multifamily access of Zentra, in the release. “Zentra is focused on simplifying the whole experience of selecting, installing and using smart access solutions for multifamily buildings to drive higher adoption in the market and deliver increased return on investment for property managers and owners.”

An image from the still largely sparse Zentra website shows a hand holding a smartphone that displays an access app and, in the immediate background, a Schlage smart lock. Schlage is another of Allegion’s brands. The combination makes it seem like Zentra may have some specific software but also includes products from other parts of the Allegion pantheon. The site also doesn’t offer details of the product and services offerings.

“Allegion secures people and assets with a range of solutions for homes, businesses, schools and institutions,” is part of how the umbrella company describes itself.

Access control systems for multifamily properties is not new, meaning Allegion enters an existing market. Brivo, for example, recently had been touting a study it said showed that 61% of millennials are more likely to rent a property with electronic access and 63% of millennials would move out of a building due to a lack of security.

An access system allows a property owner to control all doors on a premises, rather than issuing keys, tracking them, and ultimately having to get them back. It also allows property managers to dispatch maintenance personnel to gain access for repair work and agents to show units to perspective tenants.