Located in the bustling metropolis of Charlotte, N.C., Advent Coworking offers a creative, collaborative work environment for remote employees, allowing individuals to enjoy the same benefits of a traditional office space without the cost and upkeep. With an increasing number of people seeking to achieve a greater work-life balance, the concept of co-working is attractive and growing in popularity. It enables remote employees to avoid the isolation and distractions of working at home by providing a location to be around other creative individuals.
 
Advent Coworking is the brainchild of co-founders Kevin Giriunas and Ryan Mitchell, who took the idea from conception to reality in just 10 months. The 5,000-square-foot facility features the amenities of a traditional office environment combined with an art gallery and full-fledged event space that can be rented out by the general public. After two months, 40 people have already become part of the community.
 

Security for a non-traditional organization

 
According to Giriunas, when he and Mitchell first decided to bring the co-working concept to the Queen City, two of the most important considerations were having reliable Wi-Fi and secure access control parameters.
 
“From the get-go, we had to make sure people could get in and out of the space easily while keeping those without access out of the facility,” he said. “We also needed a solution that was scalable and available 24/7 because it is not staffed continually. Therefore, access control was critical and we took the selection process very seriously. The security of the business and our customers relies on the right technology.”
 
Both Giriunas and Mitchell spent a considerable amount of time talking to various technology providers to evaluate different access control options, ranging from traditional key systems to fobs and card readers. In addition to being reliable and flexible, any solution also needed to be cost-efficient, and easy to use and deploy. Considering Advent is a non-traditional and innovative organization, a run-of-the-mill solution simply wouldn’t do. With all these factors in mind, the company opted to deploy VIZpin, the hosted access control and visitor management system from ECKey.
 

Flexible, cost-efficient solution

 
VIZpin is a cloud-based, security-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that leverages an individual’s smartphone as the key and the network. Users can remotely send, revoke and monitor VIZpin electronic keys without the need for expensive onsite hardware or costly credentials, allowing organizations to realize immediate and long-term return-on-investment. Users can also control access to multiple sites and send electronic keys to anyone with a Bluetooth-enabled device - ideal for growing organizations faced with managing site access to employees, contractors and vendors. Virtual keys are easily configured to allow for one-day access or long-term access privileges, and can be revoked from any network-enabled device.
 
“VIZpin was the clear choice for Advent because it is intuitive and significantly more economic to deploy,” explained Giriunas. “Also, it is a modern system that can grow as our business grows over time.”
 
By implementing VIZpin, Giriunas estimates Advent saved at least half of what it would have cost to install a typical access control system. “The cost of using a key fob solution is far higher than the cost of using your phone as your key,” he said. “When you consider that the average cost of a fob is $5, you can quickly see that there is considerable cost savings by choosing VIZpin. Plus, the readers themselves are far more cost effective than a typical reader. Installation time and complexity was reduced as well.”
 
Because Giriunas and Mitchell manage the access, they were also impressed by VIZpin’s flexibility and scalability. No matter where they might physically be at any given time, they can add new people to the system through a net-worked-enabled device. This is a critical benefit, especially when there is an immediate need to grant access privileges to individuals quickly.
 
The ability of Advent members to use their smartphone as keys also enhances their level of security. Using VIZpin reduces the likelihood that individuals won’t be able to enter the facility - mainly because people are less likely to leave home without their phone as opposed to a fob or access card.
 
“Typically, everyone has their phone on them. Also, from a security standpoint, most folks are not going to lend their phone to somebody else, so the scenario of someone stealing a member’s phone and using it to get into the facility does not come into play,” said Giriunas.
 
With an eye on expansion in the future, Giriunas said that Advent plans to leverage the VIZpin solution in other locations as well.
 
“VIZpin is a trusted partner and its modern approach to access control made the company an ideal technology partner for us,” said Giriunas. “We look forward to continuing to advance our capabilities to ensure our co-working community is secure.”