About the business
I run a 20-person firm. We wanted access control on six doors.
The problem
The quote had one big number and three lines of description.
High cost is the problem integrators themselves rank first: in a 2016 IPVM survey, it took over 40% of the votes. I didn't want to find out what was hiding in that total after I'd signed.
What we did
I sent the installer a list and asked for every item priced separately: readers, controllers, locks and door work, power, cabling and labor, software licenses, integrations, credentials, training, support, and yearly fees.
Then I asked ten questions in writing, including these:
- What isn't included?
- What could change the price?
- What are all the yearly fees?
- Who owns the admin keys?
- What does one more door cost?
The result
The new quote showed a yearly fee the first one had buried, and a separate cost for linking to our HR system that the first one left out entirely.
I could compare it with a second quote line by line, and I signed knowing the five-year cost.
Download the quote checklist (CSV): every line item and all ten questions, with columns for two quotes side by side.
Before you even ask for quotes, it helps to survey every door first.
Holding a quote with one big number? Send it over. We'll tell you what's missing and which questions to ask before you sign.
Free door-by-door access review
Send us your door list, or just tell us what's behind each door. We'll reply with the weak spots and what to fix first, cheapest first.
- Free
- Reply within 24 hours
- No obligation