You drive up to a gated community to visit a friend after a long day. You pull up to the call box and wait. And wait some more. A third-party virtual guard somewhere in a remote location answers, verifies your information, and maybe calls the resident you’re visiting. Finally, the barrier gates open.
The virtual gate guard model became popular for good reason; it costs less than hiring someone to work 24 hours at your gate. Companies like Envera brought this technology to residential communities across Florida and beyond, promising security without the price tag of on-site staff.
But there’s a problem: it’s painfully slow.
What if residents and their guests could skip the middleman entirely? What if access to your gated entry didn’t require waiting for a remote guard to verify, call, and approve every single visitor?
Let’s look at why speed and cost both matter when choosing an access control system for your community.
How Virtual Gate Guard Systems Like Envera Actually Work
Here’s the typical setup with an Envera system:
- A driver pulls up to the gate and uses the call box
- A third-party operations center answers the call through video surveillance
- The virtual guard checks the guest list or visitor list
- If the guest is on the list, the guard opens the gate
- If not, the guard calls the resident’s phone number for approval
- Once approved, the virtual guard presses a button to open the barrier arm
The technology involved includes video surveillance, license plate recognition, and tools like the myenvera app. The myenvera web portal gives residents control over who’s allowed in.
The appeal is clear: the Envera system costs less than paying a physical guard to work around the clock. For many condo associations and gated communities, this seemed like the perfect middle ground between security and budget.
The reality? Multiple steps mean slower access for everyone at your gated entry. And typical costs run around $11 per house per month for Envera system services.
The Hidden Cost of “Cheap” Virtual Guards: Time
Every visitor goes through the same bottleneck: call box to virtual guard to resident for access.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- Delivery drivers get stuck in the visitor lane while the virtual guard verifies their information
- Family members wait outside despite being on the approved guest list
- Guests on the guest list still need to wait behind people who aren’t on the list
- Property managers field complaints about wait times
- The virtual guard has to process each vehicle one by one
A gated community without an efficient access control system may take three to five minutes to verify each vehicle or visitor before allowing them access.
The cost savings of virtual guards come with a trade-off: everyone’s time.
Your family member waits. Your delivery driver waits. Your friends wait. Even your vendor who comes every week waits, because the system treats every entry the same way.
Real-time access shouldn’t mean real-time delays. Security solutions should protect your community without creating frustration at every barrier gate.
How Tap2Open Eliminates the Middleman
The key difference: residents and authorized guests let themselves in. No third-party operations center needed. No waiting for a virtual guard to call anyone.
For residents:
- One tap on your smartphone opens the barrier arm
- GPS validation confirms you’re at the gate
- You drive right through the resident line without stopping
For guests:
- They receive a secure link from their host
- They drive up and let themselves in using their mobile phone
- They do not have to wait in line behind unexpected visitors!
- No call box, no remote guard, no delays
The cutting-edge technology works with your existing gate system and access control infrastructure. Property managers still have full control through a web portal for visitor management and tracking in real time.
What Tap2Open supports:
- Smartphone access via browser link (no app required)
- RFID scanners for alternative entry methods
- License plate readers for automatic recognition
- Remotes for residents who prefer them
- Integration with existing barrier gates
Residents enter through the resident line without stopping. Guests use their cell phone instead of the visitor phone at the call box.
Residents control who gets access and when; there’s no security lapse when you’re the one granting entry. Multi-language support means your diverse residential communities can use the system in their preferred language.
Weather doesn’t matter either. No waiting at a call box with your window down in the rain while a virtual guard figures out if you’re allowed in.
The Real Numbers: Tap2Open vs. Envera Costs
Envera pricing runs approximately $11+ per house per month. Tap2Open pricing? $2-3 per house per month. That’s about 1/4 of the cost.
For a gated community with 100 homes:
- Envera: $1,100+/month = $13,200+/year
- Tap2Open: $200-300/month = $2,400-3,600/year
- Savings: Over $10,000 annually
What you get for less:
- Faster access for residents
- Resident control over who enters
- Better visitor experience
- Stronger community security
With HOA budgets under increasing pressure (91% of community associations reported unexpected cost increases according to research from the Community Associations Institute), condo associations and HOA boards need their budgets to go further.
There’s no compromise on security when residents decide who enters their community.
What Property Managers and Residents Actually Want
Property managers need:
- Easy visitor management without constant calls
- Reliable access control that actually works
- Good customer service when issues arise
- Manageable costs that fit the budget
Residents want:
- Quick access to their own homes
- Easy guest access for their family and friends
- Peace of mind about security
- No complaints from guests about wait times
Vendors and service providers need:
- Straightforward entry without delays
- No phone tag with residents every week
Cutting-edge technology should make life easier, not more complicated. Letting residents add guests to their guest list via an app like myenvera gives property managers control, but guests still need to wait at the callbox while an Envera guard verifies everything. Tap2Open’s web portal does the same without the bottleneck.
Communities across the country are rethinking what convenient access really means. According to the Foundation for Community Association Research, there are over 370,000 community associations nationwide managing access and security for millions of residents. Virtual guards made sense when the alternative was expensive on-site staff. But smartphone-based access makes even more sense.
Making the Switch: What to Know
Tap2Open integrates with existing infrastructure in residential communities, apartments, offices, and more. It works with your current barrier gates and access control system.
Key benefits:
- No need to replace everything, just upgrade the technology
- Simple implementation for gated communities of all sizes
- Better experience for everyone: residents, guests, delivery drivers, vendors
- No waiting at call boxes in any weather
- QR code options for guests without smartphones
- Full audit trail of who entered and when
The future of access isn’t about remote guards watching through video surveillance and pressing buttons from hours away. It’s about empowering residents to control their own gate.
Guests can get through your gate in seconds rather than minutes. This means no lines at your gate!
Your Community Deserves Better
Virtual gate guards like Envera solved one problem, high guard costs, but created another: slow access. Every visitor queuing up at the call box, waiting for the operations center to respond, waiting for verification, waiting for a phone call.
Tap2Open solves both: lower costs AND faster access.
Your community deserves security solutions that respect everyone’s time. You deserve an access control system that gives you peace of mind without making your guests feel like they’re entering a high-security facility.
Ready to cut your access control costs by 75% while giving residents faster, easier gate access? Tap2Open provides smartphone-based entry for gated communities without requiring app downloads or third-party virtual guards. Residents and their authorized guests let themselves in; no waiting, no call boxes, no delays. Contact us at 561-740-6736 or visit about.tap2open.com to see how easy it is to upgrade from Envera or any virtual gate guard system. Give your community the access control it deserves.