Making a unique access control application to support our client’s expansion
Our client’s backstory
The client is an access solution provider for residential buildings and private households, making smart software devices like video intercoms and keyless access control systems for personal and business use.
Gaining traction with their quality devices, the client wanted to make the products available to the bigger market and decided to partner with enterprise solution providers in access control, mostly focused on commercial real estate. They decided to build a robust software solution that offers refined access control and can be adjusted to individual business needs.
Klika was brought on the team as an expert tech partner to design and develop the accompanying mobile application. Envisioned as part of a bigger access control system that communicates with IoT devices and third parties, the app was to act as a virtual doorman and security hub from which users can control access, send invites, create schedules and communicate with smart intercoms.
The challenges
Getting the mobile application design ready required the Klika team to do extensive product discovery, making sure to pinpoint realistic market needs and map out marketable features that would enhance the user journey. While the client had an existing system that served well in the residential market, repurposing the system for commercial and enterprise clients required a more stable overall platform and a complete redesign of the mobile application that needed to be specifically aligned with the needs of commercial buildings that have a far bigger circulation throughout the day.
The app also needed to be easily configurable to integrate with different IoT parking systems found at commercial buildings and allow visitors to handle the entire process from one single app.
Klika solution
First, we assembled the right team of developers and QAs to work hand in hand on the application redesign, development and implementation.
We developed a precise timeline based on the client’s requirements and defined the best tech stack for the project that is easily configurable and can support numerous third-party integrations and features, including smooth communication with established databases and parking IoT devices.
We decided to build the mobile application in Flutter to make the app cross-platform friendly and serve iOS and Android users alike. Using Flutter also meant a significant cost reduction and faster time to market for the client due to its hybrid and efficient nature.
Since the client wanted to partner with other companies operating in the people and vehicle access market, they decided to go with a white label application, allowing each of their partners to rebrand the app under their own name and customize it to fit their own needs. As the development team, we had to make sure the application is flexible enough to cover a wide range of customizable features and it easily adjusts to different systems and data bases.
One of the most notable configurations we enabled was integration with IoT parking systems and devices, enabling access to the belonging parking facilities from the app. To make it possible, we worked closely with the client’s IoT team throughout the project.
Klika’s QA team was involved from the beginning, making sure testing was carried out at each stage of development and the product was market-ready and tested before the official release.
Results
Our client gained market recognition very fast with the white label solution that allowed them to partner with multiple businesses, especially market leaders in access management of people and vehicles. The client successfully expanded from serving private households and small companies to serving large enterprises, entering the field of commercial access control and management.
Technology stack
Flutter
