Kindoo Access Control System

[swigginton]

There does not seem to be much in the way of documentation on who “officially” gets access so we are kind of playing it by ear.

That's unfortunate. Our FM group provides 1 hour training and documentation to a stake presidency counselor, PFR and STS (who is typically the Kindoo manager). We include a list of recommended ward/stake leaders to receive licenses. That effort has made the process incredibly smooth and reduces the number of follow-up questions/issues. I've done that for more than a dozen stakes so far and it's gone extremely well.

[ELHawkes]

If there is anyone viewing this discussion for Kindoo Access Control System, who has had to migrate from the Sicunet system (Open Cesamee app) that also supports FOBs, I would really like to get some insight of the transition process and how loosing the FOB functionality was dealt with.
I/we really don't want to be forced to transition to Kindoo since I just spent the past two years and hundreds of hrs. getting the Sicunet system running smoothly.
The Kindoo costs $20 per licence for each user is quite steep in comparison to unlimited users in the Sicunet system for free and .25 Cents per FOB.
400+ Kindoo licences at $20 is $8000+, plus installation costs, plus all of the time it will take to setup an entire Stake of 9 wards and 2 branches in a new system.

[swigginton]

If there is anyone viewing this discussion for Kindoo Access Control System, who has had to migrate from the Sicunet system (Open Cesamee app) that also supports FOBs, I would really like to get some insight of the transition process and how loosing the FOB functionality was dealt with.

I not familiar with that specific system, but have installed Kindoo to replace other FOB systems. Depending on the available cabling, it may be possible to run both systems in parallel for a while during the transition. I've been able to do that with a few sites, but not all. It's up to your FM manager, since it requires at least 2 trips for the installer.
Configuring users is fairly easy. You can import A csv file of users. If you can export from your existing FOB system, it will give you a jump start.
I agree it's a hassle to convert when you've worked so hard on an existing system, but it will be nice to have consistency. I've replaced a half dozen different brands of entry systems with Kindoo. With the LCR integration, user management will become much easier.
Let me know if you have specific questions about the process, I can try to answer those.

[ELHawkes]

I not familiar with that specific system, but have installed Kindoo to replace other FOB systems.

Just to clarify, the Sicunet eLock system is not just a FOB system. It is both a smartphone app based system along with the functionality of using FOBs. 85% + of our members use the smartphone app Open Cesamee. It is a new system only several years old and it works very well.
There are several situations that FOBs work better:
We have a number of leaders and a bishop who are technically challenged and do not use smartphones, or still use a flip phone. We have around 50-60 FOBs assigned to these members.
Agent Bishops use FOBs for the rotating schedule of wards and brothers who perform building lockup each night.
For family activities, Building Schedulers have a FOB that they lend to the family for their activity.
The Full time missionaries assigned to our Stake have a FOB for Bldg access.
A FOB is used for pickleball practice since the coordinator can't always be there.
Having to constantly configure temp access instead of using FOBs will increase the amount of admin time.

but it will be nice to have consistency.

Yes, it's easy to say that, but losing the functionality to additionally use FOBs is extremely frustrating.

Configuring users is fairly easy

So is the Sicunet system, but having to start all over and build a new system will be a huge investment in time. So many users need one on one help to get things to work.
Someone did some kind of seriously amazing sales job with the church to get them to make a blanket decision to force everyone to change to Kindoo.

Are there any types/brands of cellphones that don't work well with the Kindoo app?
Is there any youtube videos for training?
Is there any other training documentation available?
Does a user like a Stake Pres have to be configured in seperate controllers for each building, or does one controller do all the buildings in a stake?
Thanks,
Brother Hawkes

[swigginton]

I can only give you my experience in transitioning these systems. Many had exactly the same concerns you expressed and are now doing fine with Kindoo. Yeah, it's a change and sometimes change is difficult. I'll give you my perspective from an installer and as a stake presidency counselor. Kindoo is elegantly simple to install and use. I've installed it in over a dozen stakes and it's working well. We love it in our stake. Yes, you need a mobile phone with either ios or android to install the app. Even older users who had doubts are using it regularly. Our building scheduler finds it much easier to not deliver physical keys to temporary users. We have fewer problems of kids borrowing parent's keys/fobs to get in the building without approval. Overall, it's solved a lot of problems for us, but that's just my experience.
Yes there is documentation and videos provided by the Church Kindoo rep, but we also created our own user guides, specific to our FM group.

[ELHawkes]

Our building scheduler finds it much easier to not deliver physical keys to temporary users

So who all do you give admin rights to, so they can add/remove users for Bldg access?
Is it just one Stake Bldg Scheduler, or does each agent bishop call a building Scheduler that gets admin rights to add/remove users for an individual Bldg?

If a user has two phones, can the user put the app on both phones with their one account?

What is the process when a user gets a new phone?

[swigginton]

The stake determines who has manager rights to add users. Typically, it's the STS for general users and building schedulers for temp users.
If you log in to your account from a different phone, it disables the app on the previous phone, so no, you can't have the account active on 2 phones at once. If you get a new phone, you just log in to the app on the new phone and it transfers the license to the new phone (after giving you a warning that it will disable the app on the old phone).

[ELHawkes]

The stake determines who has manager rights to add users. Typically, it's the STS for general users and building schedulers for temp users.
If you log in to your account from a different phone, it disables the app on the previous phone, so no, you can't have the account active on 2 phones at once. If you get a new phone, you just log in to the app on the new phone and it transfers the license to the new phone (after giving you a warning that it will disable the app on the old phone).

Thanks, I apprecate your insight and help.

[ELHawkes]

Does the smartphone have to have internet connectivity each time the Kindoo app unlocks a door?

[mmacconnell]

Does the smartphone have to have internet connectivity each time the Kindoo app unlocks a door?

It uses Bluetooth. I think they said 20 feet, but have tested how far away you can get myself.