[som9729]

Originally Posted by GTO

We're thinking of getting one of these solutions for visitor management in our building. Am sure many BHPians living in apartment complexes would have detailed insights on these solutions.

Please share pros, cons, pricing, tips & recommendations. Thank you!

Mygate all the way!!!

In my society, we switched from Mygate (MYG) to No broker Hood(NBH)

Observations ->

-> NBH's app is clunkier compared to MYG
-> NBH lacks options for pre-approving milk man or bigbasket guy entry on a monthly/weekly basis.
-> In my society, we have pre-paid electricity meters. NBH was unable to perform the integration required with Elmeasure (vendor for prepaid meters)
-> The tone of NBH visitor alert resembles a tornado siren. You'll seriously wonder if there's an emergency going on everytime you have a visitor!
-> My association considered NBH as they'd offered free boom barriers alongwith ads, which ultimately didn't work out. We now have Park+ boom barriers.
-> NBH, as the underdog, is slightly cheaper, although I don't know the exact numbers.
-> NBH's UI is also not as intuitive as MYG's UI.
-> Privacy bye bye. Both apps will have lots of ads. No two-ways about it. MYG does offer a premium paid option, but that is over & above whatever your building might pay MYG. Meaning after a society switches to MYG, individual users need to choose the premium paid option to stop ads.

After 5-6 months of NBH, we finally switched back to MYG & are very happy with MYG again!

That's what I'd recommend anyday!

[kadanaJ]

I stay in a small 6-story building with 11 flats/families in total.

For the size of my society, there is no value in any of these apps.

Communication between members is done via Whatsapp groups. The building has an intercom system, plus the security guards have cell phones and their numbers are shared.

The main thing that makes life easier is that our security guards are pretty great. Sharp and attentive guys, not the kind who sit on a chair looking half-dead all day long.

Due to the small size of my society, they know who to allow, whereas new/unknown visitors are stopped and verified (by way of calling on the intercom).

Close friends can walk-in without any hassle, as the security guards recognise frequent visitors.

If yours is a small society, I'd say it does not make sense to invest in an app. It's one of these situations where the old-fashioned way of doing things is better than adding technology and complicating things.

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

The building has an intercom system, plus the security guards have cell phones and their numbers are shared.

These apps are basically an upgrade on the intercom system. Instead of the security calling you each time you get a delivery or a guest either you can set an automatic approval based on the mobile number or approve whenever the delivery guy has entered the building.

It also helps with security, as we now have a record of each visitor as is required by the Police.

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by anandhsub

These apps are basically an upgrade on the intercom system. Instead of the security calling you each time you get a delivery or a guest either you can set an automatic approval based on the mobile number or approve whenever the delivery guy has entered the building.

It also helps with security, as we now have a record of each visitor as is required by the Police.

Again, my system works very well due to the small size of my society. But I can inform the watchmen in advance (via cell phone or intercom), that a delivery person or guest is coming, and they will be allowed in without any hassle.

No hassle whatsoever. One phone call:
Me: Flat no. XXX se bol raha hu. Mera Amazon parcel aa raha hai. OTP XXX dedo.
Watchman: Haa sir, okay

Granted that is not as stringent as having mobile number verification. There is some compromise on security in exchange for convenience.

My main argument against apps has come, as a close friend has recently moved into a Lodha tower building, which runs on the Lodha app. The system has become a nightmare for his 80+ year old grandparents, who need to trouble my friend anytime they need to generate a guest or delivery person OTP. They much preferred the older system where they could simply call security.

My friend himself finds the app process more irritating versus his old building. He feels the UI/UX of the Lodha app is poor. His old building was also a large society, with 3 towers and 22 stories each.

Just saying that certain factors should be considered before deciding to implement an app.

• Will the app truly add value? Technology is supposed to make life more convenient, not add extra steps and hassles
• Will it be comfortable for elders to use? They are also residents, and their needs must also be considered
• Is the security well educated? One will need watchmen who are comfortable with reading English, and are comfortable with using technology (which may increase costs)
• Are there issues with the current system that can be improved without adding a 3rd party application, which according to posts be other members, have data privacy concerns, and spam notifications

[vellatechie]

The main business model of these platform is advertising. In my society we have MyGate and I know of another one that uses NoBroker.

The features are somewhat similar in both and the cost is ZERO. Yes, if you negotiate hard enough, there won't be any cost involved upfront or monthly. This ofcourse will depend on the size of your complex.

Regarding quality of service it's best to talk to someone in your area who is using one of the two platform as just the ISPs, quality of service is area dependent.

[NewUser123]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

I like Adda the most. It not only solves the basics around gate entry management but was also successful in creating a feeling of community across the residents through it’s social media like features. The dependency on ad-hoc whatsapp and telegram groups at a society level has greatly come down.

I second the opinion that ADDA is really good, and has a good feature list, social media-like presence, has UPI payment options and generally helps building a community-like vibe among the residents.

Please consider adding it to your short list.

[phamilyman]

Both are useless because they are not smart enough in Gurgaon (forget privacy)

MyGate is better because the app is smoother and intuitive (was, 15 months back - no idea as of today). It is supposed to have auto approval for zomato or uber but that has never worked.

You need one that minimizes user intrusion and calls, not micromanagement.

Some of my ex neighbors loved to approve the visitor at the gate then answer the intercom and allow the guard to send up the visitor.

Ideally:
a. I just need to know my mom is at the gate and she should have unhindered passage, just like I do. Or that my Zomato guy lands up as planned.

b. I am only asked to approve a random Faber service guy who turns up 5 days after complaint

Now that level of thoughtful minimal approval - that is magical.

MyGate promises close enough to that. NBH? nah

[jono213]

Originally Posted by GTO

We're thinking of getting one of these solutions for visitor management in our building. Am sure many BHPians living in apartment complexes would have detailed insights on these solutions.

Please share pros, cons, pricing, tips & recommendations. Thank you!

Our apartment is pretty big and so far mygate seems to work perfectly for us, all deliveries, be it food or parcels need express permission from the owner to enter and guests too.

Moreover it depends on the proactiveness of the security to better implement these types of systems.

[Jaguar]

We have been using MyGate since its inception and it has been pretty seamless. But I am finding it buggy in the past couple of months. The pop-up notification for approval doesn't come on time and people end up calling. And when it does, it doesn't disappear after you have approved or rejected it. The app stays on displaying some random ad.

All these apps have loopholes. Say the delivery person is delivering to multiple flats, even if you reject his entry gets into the apartment complex for going to the other flats and sometimes does end up at your doorstep. Same way, any vendor can get approval from one house and visit multiple houses.

And then it comes to the security guards who are not empowered at all. There is no way they recognize all the residents by face. So if someone confidently walks in, they don't get stopped. My friends from nearby apartment complexes have entered my building many times this way and so have I.

People using ADDA for payment, how has been the experience? We used it for maintenance payment but found a considerable delay in the payment getting credited to the association. Even payments made 5+ days before the due date wouldn't get to the association, resulting in files and chaos thereafter.

[sameerg]

Originally Posted by null

Offtopic, but how & how much do these apps charge (pricing details) to the society for these features? None of the comments talk abou the pricing & hence asking. I have a friend who is developing such a service (in Gujarat) and hence interested in knowing this side of the story from anyone here who is aware of it.

I am sure your friend would know all I am going to say, given that he is in this business, but here is what I know:
While they have paid plans, almost no one buys these. The business model is advertising and lead generation. They generate leads for various home service providers and take money from these providers apart from advertisers. Urban company recently took a stake in MG for the same reason.

Customer acquisition costs are quite high. Not just cost of sales for maintaining offline sales team, there are freebies too. I have heard of instances where large complexes have been offered free signages, devices for security staff and other incentives.

Hope it helps.