DoorKing gate control

Why?

Odd coincidence: the other day I ran across the online manual for a DoorKing system and gave it a quick once-over. I can only say that it looked very ‘industrial’ and had rather a lot of features. Or, to put it another way, it looked like it did lots of stuff but also it was complicated. If someone handed it off to me, I’d demand some hands-on time with an experienced user. I’m not saying it’s bad - but it looks like it’s got a learning curve to it. Others with actual DoorKing experience may or may not agree.

Bill

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Yes. I am a HOA in Florida. We use Door King. I am the “operator” but not knowledgeable on the workings of the software. I find the system user friendly. It is quite simple to add,change,delete names/numbers and transmit to gate. We do not use a password to access as our desktop is in a locked area and only two people have access. I hope this has been of some use for you.

Norma,

Thanks for the reply. That was helpful. By chance have you all looked into the cloud based programming option?

We have used DoorKing in our condominium for 17 years. I have been involved with it for the past 3 years, or so. I am a unit owner and I also am the building IT support for the moment. In the process of redesigning the office technical infrastructure, I have learned some about how DoorKing works technically, but have only a little practical experience in doing admin updates to add/delete/change entries.

It works well. Database updates are easy to do. We have a building manager and a building front desk admin who do most of the actual updates.

We are using the local application, not the cloud version (because I haven't gotten around to investigating the cloud version yet). Technically, the local version design is pretty old, making technical management harder than it should be. But DoorKing has provided several new versions and the administrative capabilities of those version has become better with time. (I suspect that, rather than fix the original design technical shortcomings, they re-wrote it from scratch and made it a cloud application.) With proper thought about backup, the local version data can be made safe. (You need to keep a copy of the backup files off-site, if you want to have it when your office burns down. What? You don't plan on catastrophes? Shame on you.)

Anyway, the program works. We have one local vendor who knows how to install and fix various electronic parts that the system uses. But the design of the original database does not seem to have been done well (not DoorKing's fault - it was whoever did the initial install mnay years ago). I am still looking at that with an eye for improved clarity and structure, so it makes more sense to the administrative staff. They can do what they have to do, but sometimes they have to do things "just because" that's the way it was set up.

Steve-in-FL

I haven't seen invoices or the like, so this is not a definitive answer, but I don't believe we pay anything to DoorKing. We (probably) purchased the PC version back when the building started and we maintain it. The administrative staff manages it. We pay an independent company for the occasional repair/replacement of broken components and we have done some upgrading to allow multiple computers to access the databases via our LAN, but none of that involved DoorKing as a company.

I do not know what the costs would be of the cloud version of the software. Presumably that would be a subscription. But I also seem to remember that if you pay for components (of some nature) by subscription, you get the cloud software for free. But I don't know what those components are. (Maybe some sort of remote access capability?)