[trb]

Is there anything that prevents this from being a phone app and sell it in one of the app stores?

You could abstract away all the web and phone (press '9') stuff and just have a button "Open the door? Yes/No" if someone activates the buzzer.

Maybe add some easy management for pins that:

- always open (roommates/family/friends)

- open only one time (deliveries, not-so-close-friends)

- open only under certain conditions (time of day, day of month, etc)

Make it possible to easily share those pin numbers via SMS, Facebook, email, etc.

I think you have a product that's great for access management. You should highlight the additional benefits in your marketing, e.g.:

- easy to invite friends over for dinner

- easy to share apartment without the need for new keys

- easy to revoke access

- easy to let cleaning staff in during certain times of day

Another thought: Market it as a helpful add-on for AirBnB customers. You don't have to give someone a key to your apartment, just a PIN that only works for the time they rent the apartment (this is also useful for sub-leases). You can revoke access at any time, no matter where you are (big problem with keys).

Short version: I think you'd have a better chance packaging your product as a mobile app, abstracting away all the web/phone stuff and sell it as "entry management" instead of "automated buzzer".

[civilian]

+1 for Airbnb! The great thing about a pin is that the owner can change it whenever they want, so they can change it for each airbnb customer.

[ricardobeat]

This system can only open the street-facing gate, not the front door.

[hac]

+1 for mobile app. It could be done very well as an iPhone app combined with the Rails backend.

[davemel37]

There was an app on SharkTank that basically offered all these features.