What is cellular telephone entry?

For decades, telephone entry systems were physical landline-based systems.  A home or business owner that wished to have a telephone entry system installed outside of their property’s gate or other entry point(s) to help them screen and grant access to visitors, would first have to have their own telephone landline that the telephone entry system could connect to and call from.  From the 1980s to 2000s, this type of landline connection was usually possible in most urban areas, since landline telephones were still used by the masses;  but purchasing such a system for use in a more rural area was still challenging because the cost to have telephone landlines laid was often cost-prohibitive.

As the cost of cellular telephone service started to decline in the 2000s, and the use of high-speed internet also became an option for many telephone systems, many families and businesses chose to give up having a landline at all in their home or business.

In addition, as landline telephone installations became less frequently requested during that time, the older, existing landlines that had been installed decades before were also starting to degrade and needed to be replaced.  Unfortunately, the cost of replacing or installing a new landline had invariably gone up as well.  This suddenly made it cost prohibitive to install a landline telephone entry system in an urban area, and helped pave the way for development of newer, cellular-based telephone entry systems.

How are cellular telephone entry systems different than landline telephone entry systems? 

Obviously cellular telephone entry systems work on cellular telephone networks, so they do not require the use of landlines.  They still provide the same voice-based functionality, where a visitor can hit a “call” button on such a system, and it will ring a designated number where someone can speak to them and grant access.  But because most people today have “smart” cellular telephones that allow them to see cellular video feed and download apps, cellular telephone entry systems have many more capabilities than previous landline-based telephone entry systems ever could have.

For instance, CellGate’s Watchman cellular telephone entry systems can dial multiple telephone numbers at once when a visitor requests access, where most landline-based telephone entry systems can only call one telephone number.  If a visitor today is requesting access from a cellular telephone entry system and there are several people or numbers that are called that can grant them access, instead of just one number, this results in fewer stranded visitors.

CellGate’s cellular telephone systems have a smart phone app that allows the system owner to grant access from wherever they are.  This is something landline telephone entry systems could never do.  So if a property owner is running an errand, and the Fed Ex truck arrives and asks for access to their property to drop off a package, the property owner can grant them access from their smart phone app even if they are not there.  Many such apps for cellular telephone entry systems can also open or close gates or doors on demand, or check the gate status—something a landline-based system could never do.

What are cellular video intercoms?

CellGate is currently the only cellular access control product manufacturer that can provide cellular video intercom technology.  Cellular video intercoms allow owners to see live streaming video of who’s at the front door before letting them in.  Using CellGate’s smart phone app along with many of the Watchman cellular video intercom systems, owners can talk to and view streaming video of visitors at the gate, take photos on demand, and grant gate entry, all from the app.

Cellular telephone entry systems are often managed by web-based portals.  Such portals can allow system users to easily assign unique codes for regular visitors, create hold open or close schedules, and maintain logs of when people entered or left.  CellGate’s web-based portal is called TrueCloud.  Landline telephone entry systems never had this convenience.  Most codes for landline systems had to be programmed directly on the hardware itself, and there were no logs about who came and went.  Security was not nearly as good with an old landline system as it is with a new cellular telephone entry system, because of the vast differences in features and functionality.

If you are looking for a new telephone entry system for your property, and are trying to decide between a landline-based system and a newer cellular based telephone entry system, make sure you compare the functionality differences between the two types of systems.  While they both might be “telephone entry” systems, there are vast differences between a landline version and a cellular version.  Contact our security specialists to let us help you select the right cellular telephone entry solution for you.