VIZpin Yesterday and Tomorrow

I’m excited to be celebrating 10 years at VIZpin. Since 2016, we’ve been focused on expanding access to enterprise-level access control by simplifying it and making it affordable.

When I left my last company, I was convinced smartphones were going to play a major role in the future of just about everything. I also knew I wanted to stay in the security/property tech space, so I started looking for something that checked both boxes.

In 2013, I came across a company in New Zealand that could unlock doors using a phone’s Bluetooth – but more importantly, it used the phone to send data to and from the cloud.

I immediately saw the opportunity.

First, it eliminated the need for a local network connection, which IT managers loved because we weren’t touching their networks. Our dealers loved it because they didn’t need an IT tech to install or program the system. And our customers loved it because we delivered about 95% of the functionality of high-end enterprise systems at a fraction of the cost.

So we acquired ECKey and relaunched in April 2016 as VIZpin (I’ll share the story behind the name in another post).

I’ve always felt access control was unnecessarily complicated and expensive, so our goal at VIZpin has been simple: make it easy. Easy to buy (affordable), easy to install (no network or complicated wiring), easy to manage (a straightforward portal), and easy to use (a simple app).

In the early years, we had just one hardware product: a Bluetooth door/gate controller. Customers and dealers loved it, and we started showing up everywhere – from critical infrastructure sites to daycare centers to fitness clubs.

Then one of our multifamily customers asked if we could build a smart lever set for their residents.

They had tried other smart locks, but they were expensive, required network connectivity at every door, and had poor battery life. We partnered with a contract manufacturer that builds locks for the “big guys” and added our own electronics. Nine months later, we launched the Entegrity Lever Set.

Word spread quickly. Before long, we had thousands of Entegrity locks installed and millions of unlocks happening every day.

As the multifamily market grew, so did the need for a more unified solution. Properties were juggling multiple systems – one for garages, one for common areas, another for units, and yet another for visitors and deliveries.

So we expanded.

By 2025, the Entegrity line included door/gate controllers, battery-operated lever sets, deadbolts, crash bars, visitor keypads, and video intercoms – all designed to work together.

The most rewarding part of building VIZpin has been learning how our customers actually operate and continuously improving the product to make their lives easier.

At the end of the day, access control isn’t that complicated. What works in one market often works in others. Our no-network approach has helped multifamily properties scale more easily, and now it’s doing the same for critical infrastructure and multi-location retail – especially where managing hundreds of sites and unreliable connectivity can be a challenge.

So what’s next?

We’re continuing to double down on what’s gotten us here – keeping things simple, reliable, and affordable – but there’s still a lot of room to improve how access control fits into everyday operations.

You’ll see us keep expanding the platform so everything works together even more seamlessly – from resident access and visitor management to deliveries and remote site management. The goal is fewer systems, fewer headaches, and less time spent managing access.

We’re also focused on giving customers better visibility and control without adding complexity. More useful data, smarter automation, and tools that actually save time instead of creating more work.

And just like in the beginning, we’re paying close attention to how people are really using the system day to day. The best ideas still come from our customers, and that’s not changing anytime soon.

Ten years in, we’re just getting started.

Paul Bodell – President and CEO of VIZpin