The first week after installation: what to watch so the switch succeeds

Days 1 and 2: the old system still works

The most important rule of the first week is not to switch off what was there. Cards, remotes and the doorman's release keep working while the new system is tested in real use. That takes the pressure off: anyone who isn't recognized gets in the old way, says so, and the enrollment is fixed calmly.

During those two days, someone from the administration should spend time at the front desk at peak hours, in the morning and late afternoon, watching people go through. That's where you find out the terminal is a little too high or the afternoon sun hits the camera.

What to measure

A few simple questions, answered with the access history, show whether the installation is good:

• How many refused attempts happened per day, and by whom? The same person refused several times has a bad photo.
• How many residents still haven't enrolled their face, and which units concentrate the pending ones?
• At which door and at what time do refusals cluster? That points to light, angle or height.
• How long does the lock stay released? If people push the door before it opens, the time is too short.

Days 3 to 5: fixing enrollments and photos

With the numbers from the first phase, the fix is objective. Photos of those who were refused are retaken, preferably at the condominium itself, with the phone's camera and good light. Residents without an enrollment get a reminder per unit, not a general notice in the elevator that nobody reads. Staff are checked one by one, including the night shift, who usually get left out.

It's also the time to adjust what belongs to the installer: the terminal's tilt, the release time, sensitivity. A small adjustment at this stage prevents months of complaints. Agree with the installer, before the installation, on an adjustment visit in the middle of the first week, included in the service.

Communicating with residents

A good share of first-week complaints comes from expectations, not failures. The resident who approaches from the side, cap on, phone in hand, won't be recognized, and will say the system doesn't work. A short notice, with the right way to stand, solves most of that.

It also helps to have a single channel for complaints, such as the administration's WhatsApp number, so they reach whoever can fix them and not the condominium's group chat. Each complaint answered with a visible fix, like a photo retaken the same day, is worth ten notices on the board.

Days 6 and 7: deciding when to switch off the old one

By the end of the week, the administration has what it needs to decide: the recognition rate is good, the pending enrollments are listed and the installer's adjustments are done. The old system can be switched off when nearly every resident gets in through the new one without help. If there are still many pending, keep both for another week, with a cutoff date announced.

Switching off the old one is also the moment to collect cards and remotes that will no longer be used, so they stop circulating. A short notice closes the week: what was adjusted, how many residents are already enrolled and how to ask for help from now on.

How Abriu handles it

At Abriu, the access history shows refused accesses with who, when, which door and which method, filtered by person, terminal and period, and the list can be exported as a PDF. The Complete enrollments screen shows one pending person at a time on the phone, and the photo is taken on the spot, adjusted by the dashboard and sent to the terminals, with confirmation that it reached each one.

Hikvision terminals that were already there keep accepting the imported cards, so the overlap period doesn't require two systems. Our team follows each condominium's first week and receives the hub's health reports, but watching the front desk at peak hours remains the condominium's job.