Gate Security Systems: Keypads, Readers and Intercoms at the Entrance

A fence and a locked gate keep everyone out. An entry system lets the right people in without someone walking down to unlock it. The device you choose depends on who those people are: a family and a few guests, a list of tenants, or a workforce on shifts.

QC Fence Contractors installs gate entry devices across the Charlotte metro as part of automatic gate work for homes, multifamily communities and commercial and industrial sites.

• Remote transmitters: a button in each car. Convenient for residents, hard to manage for large groups.
• Keypads: a code opens the gate. Codes are easy to hand out and easy to change, and easy to share too widely.
• Card and fob readers: each credential is individual, so one can be cancelled without affecting the others.
• Intercoms and telephone entry: a visitor calls from the gate and is let in by the person they are visiting.
• Vehicle sensors: a loop in the pavement or a probe beside the drive opens the gate automatically for anyone leaving.
• Timers: hold the gate open during business hours and close it at night.
• Emergency access devices: allow fire and emergency crews through, as the local fire marshal requires.

For a single home, remotes plus a keypad cover nearly every need, and an intercom adds the ability to answer the gate from inside. For a neighborhood or apartment entrance, individual credentials matter because residents move in and out, and visitor entry has to work without an attendant. For a business or industrial yard, the questions are which gates employees use, how carriers and vendors get in, and whether the gate should stay open during working hours.

More devices are not always better. Each one is a way in, and each one needs power, wiring and occasional service. We would sooner install two that suit the site than five that confuse the people using it.

1. 1. Plan the entrance. We agree on which devices are needed, where a driver can reach them from the window, and where vehicles wait while the gate opens.
2. 2. Conduit and power. Low-voltage wiring runs in conduit from each device to the operator. Pavement cuts for loops and conduit are made before the final surface where possible.
3. 3. Mount devices. Keypads, readers and intercoms are mounted on pedestals set in concrete at the correct height and offset from the drive.
4. 4. Connect and program. Devices are wired to the operator, codes and credentials are set up, and timers are programmed.
5. 5. Test. Every way in and out is tested, including the safety devices and the manual release.

A gate entry system controls vehicles. Unless the pedestrian openings are secured too, a person can walk around it. It also depends on the gate, the operator and the fence being in good order. For the perimeter itself, see security fence styles and industrial fencing. Cameras, alarms and monitored security are a separate trade, and we coordinate with your security provider where their equipment mounts at the gate.