There are plenty of systems that use an app-running smartphone instead of a key to unlock doors, such as UniKey and Lockitron. A new app not only wants to do that, but wants to give you a seamless journey through buildings. myPORT provides building access, calls elevators and sends intercom feeds to your phone.
myPORT is an extension of the Schindler Group's Personal Occupant Requirement Terminal (PORT) technology. The PORT system provides people with a pre-programmed access card that they swipe at a terminal to gain access to a building, such as an office or apartment block. Whereas other systems stop there, PORT then allows the user to select their destination within in the building on the terminal screen, calculates the quickest route and orders an elevator to transport the user there.
myPORT differs from the PORT system in that it uses the user's smartphone instead of a swipecard. Schindler says it aims to provide a high level of security, whilst at the same time improving the convenience with which a user can move around a building.
Users with the myPORT app are detected as they enter a building with the system installed. This triggers a code to be sent as a message to the user's phone. Once the smartphone has been unlocked, the code is shown to a sensor at the entrance barriers in the building's foyer, and those barriers open to give the user access to the rest of the building.
Once a user has been verified by this process and allowed through, myPORT is able to detect where the user is in the building via the location of their smartphone. As they move around the building, doors will be automatically unlocked for them and elevators will be called.
Visitors to a building can also be afforded access via the myPORT system, even if they do not use the app. An invitation including a unique link can be sent via SMS. On arriving at the building, the visitor opens the link to be shown a special video. When the video is shown to the sensor at the access gates, the visitor is allowed through. An elevator will be ordered for the visitor if needed, with screens at the gate displaying which elevator should be used, and directions can also be given.
Should a myPORT user receive a visitor at their intercom, the intercom audiovisual feed can be sent directly to the user's smartphone, even if the user is not in the building. The user can then choose whether or not to give the person access from their phone.
The video below provides an introduction to myPORT.
Source: Schindler Group