Case Study: IMA Shopping Centers
Entegrity Smart improves security and convenience at shopping centers while reducing operating overhead.
The Customer
Investment Management Associates (IMA) in Miami Florida owns and manages several shopping centers throughout Florida.
The Challenge
Each IMA location has areas outside the tenant space such as meter rooms and roof tops that need to remain locked. Service technicians regularly need to access these areas which created some challenges. At some locations, technicians had to stop by the property manager office to pick up keys and return them when the work was done. Often the technicians would not return the keys on time, leaving areas unsecured, which represented a big liability. In some cases, the keys were never returned, and they had to change the locks on all the doors.
Because of the liability, they decided to have the property managers meet the technicians on site to grant them access but soon realized how inefficient this was. They considered installing a keycard system but recognized they would have the same problem as keys; keycards were easily copied or shared and had to be exchanged in person. They also considered keypads but constantly changing the pin numbers would be time consuming and inconvenient. Additionally, they wanted something they could manage remotely but those systems required an on-site network connection which added even more cost.
“Entegrity Smart has really improved our efficiency and reduced our operating costs and liability.”
Daniel Baumgard
The Solution
IMA began installing Entegrity Smart’s VIZpin powered access control systems on its utility closets and roof access doors and immediately saw the benefits. Entegrity Smart saved time and money by eliminating the need to change locks or have property managers on site when service technicians were there. It also let them grant or revoke access to service technicians anytime, from anywhere and see when they arrived.
“Before we installed the system” offered Daniel Baumgard, CEO of IMA, “our property manager had to travel to each location when a service technician needed to be on site. It was a logistical nightmare and in most cases the property manager had to remain on site while the work was completed which sometimes took hours. Now, if we need a service technician on site, we simply send them a VIZpin smartkey that will work for a few hours.” He adds, “Entegrity Smart has really improved our efficiency and reduced our operating costs and liability”.
IMA is now looking to deploy Entegrity Smart’s solution in tenant areas to eliminate the cost of changing locks whenever there is tenant turnover.