All Forum Posts by: Krishna Chava

Thanks everyone for the inputs so far

@Mark Allen "The manager knows who the drug dealer is, but they can't just evict them for saying they're a drug dealer if said drug dealer is paying on time". I would extend this scenario to where property manager/security guard is either colluding with drug dealer or looking the other way. Either case, I am dependent on a part time employee with questionable loyalty. This is why 20-70 units apartments are not as popular as large apartment complexes with full time staff.  to me, having a computer vision system is like a trusted pair of eyes.

Our quest is broader than a security system. Imagine a camera that is viewing parking lot; using our system, you can program several trigger events and change this programming based on usefulness of data. For example, you can look for people speeding in parking lot, people not picking up after their dogs, people throwing trash and also any loitering as I mentioned.  Similar can be said about camera facing a swimming pool.

@Omar Khan Thanks for your response. We can address privacy concerns better than a traditional security system that uploads data to the cloud. All our processing is done locally at the processing hub located in the property and only stats any analytics are uploaded to cloud. We don't therefore need a broadband connection. In the cases where snippets of videos is stored by the system (recording a break-in), this video will accessible to all tenants through a tenant portal. We plan to market this as adding security to tenants while not collecting videos data as any traditional security system.

As for marketing pitch, we want to start with complexes that have 50-100 units where it's expensive to have reliable onsite staff. We don't want to market to war zone properties, that's not a good sell.  We want to learn from property managers and expand use cases look at stats like how many people are using on site pool, report any safety hazards at the pool, people using various amenities like outdoor grills, dog park, walking trails etc.,

Having revenue as a percentage of rent might not be a good starter. However, we can make a value proposition of $10 per unit which is $500 per month, which is cheaper and more reliable than hiring a security guard. For offsite property managers, this enables them to reduce the number of trips needed to monitor the property.

Thanks for the reply @Account Closed. Founder of the company has already deployed the the technology in retail sector and most of the challenges you have mentioned can be overcome. He will create a BP account to reply directly. I am helping him identify a property for MVP, deploy it and collect data. Will keep updating the progress on BP. 

You might be right that 1% is too high of number and actual price point depends on functionality achieved once we have a refined product.

I am working with a partner in Silicon Valley to develop a computer vision based security and monitoring system for multi family properties. Please note, some of the items I propose below might look like invasion of tenant privacy which is a valid concern. I would like inputs from BP community to develop and refine the system such that multi-family property owners and property managers can get useful analytics. Please read on if interested and thanks for your time.

In brief, we will have cameras across the property (entrances, parking lot, corridors and common areas) that can recognize faces, and licence plates and use that information to develop analytics that can be used by property managers.

I own 70 doors and, based on my experience, I can think of following use cases. Please comment on them and and any other functions that would be useful.

Use cases:

1) Log car license plates going in and out of a complex with cameras at entrances. For each license plate in database, we will have complete history of times they entered and left every day. If any of the license plates are not registered with  the property, it can be investigated.

2) Log any people entering or leaving the apartment complex on foot. Since we can detect faces accurately , we will have similar database for people entering on foot.

3) Have cameras in parking lot and inform if someone or groups of people are loitering around the parking lot for more than 30 mins. We can analyze people movement and report incidents like this in real time.

4) Alert immediately if a police car shows up, hear police sirens in the property or hear gunshots.

5) (Controversial but likely legal): Monitor how many unique people are entering/leaving each door daily (from cameras in parking lots or corridors) and log that information. If there are 3 people on lease and system shows 5 people living in a unit, property manager will know.

Idea is to give property managers and remote owners analytics for keeping property safe and secure. It also helps tenants in case of break-in into their car in the parking lot and also could detect some illegal activities. The system itself will look like any other security camera system, therefore shouldn't raise any concern from tenants.

While the technology is developed and ready, business case makes sense at 1% of gross rents for monitoring and reporting. We plan to partner with local security companies for installation and maintenance of the system. 

Thanks again if you have read so far and I appreciate your inputs.

Thanks for the advice @Matt Schelberg. Hot water heater closet isn't a living a space or connected to living spaces in anyway. This is a separate room above ground and only door from the room opens to backyard. This room shares an exterior wall with one of the units of 4plex. This room is always locked and I have the key.

@Art S. Thanks for your advice. I agree, best approach is not get into a fight when we don't have all the city codes and other facts on hand. I was driving to the property when this was all happening and I have asked the plumber to wait 10 mins for me and explain me why he wants to shut off the gas. I have told him I will make decision then because this is my property. This second statement is what ticked him off. 

Once, I went to the property my tenant told me that plumber was irate right from the time he arrived and was telling him how everything was not done correct. My tenant said he didn't want to deal with this guy at the end of 11 hour work shift and went inside.

I will keep the forum updated with feedback from next plumber who looks into this and how much it cost to get fixed. 

We also have good relationship with city code enforcement officer from the area as we take care of any infractions immediately. We will ask him to inspect the units once more such the we are right side of law.

Thanks everyone for great feedback. 

@John Whittle thanks for your feedback about CO accumulation. This heater is not in a basement room. It is a small room by itself and the door opens into backyard. If there is CO, I don't see how it can get into residence quarters. Another plumber (from same company) took a look at this 2 weeks ago when he was on a different job and advised us to get vent pipe replaced to avoid heater room from over heating. 

Any case, I have reached out to plumbers to replace this and expect to get this done soon after Christmas. If there was immediate safety concerns, I would have liked the plumber to explain me what that was. 

Hi @Rod Hanks Thanks for the advice. Just sent a PM.

Thanks for the support. @Michael Mullins he didn't threaten to shut off gas to whole unit but just the heater. Since heater is shared by 4 units, no one will have hot water. 

I am looking for a good plumber in DFW area to look at the issue and fix it in a reasonable manner. Please give me any recommendations you have. BTW, the plumber who created all this mess is from a large plumbing company (Berkeys) and I have used this company in the past and I was very happy with their work. This shows downfalls of working with large service companies.