Installation · Columbus OH + Nashville TN

Access control &
door entry, on your terms — Columbus, OH.

Know who opens every door, and lock it from your phone. Keycard, fob, mobile, and PIN entry — UniFi Access and cloud-managed systems with a full audit trail and remote control.

Get a Free Quote →
📞 Talk to an Installer

Cloud-managed
Full audit trail
Licensed & insured
Engineer-owned · 500+ circuits installed

License Plate Reader for Gate Access — professional installation by ClearMax Labs

Access Control Installation · Columbus, OH

A license plate reader for your gate replaces the whole clicker economy. A vehicle pulls up, a camera reads the plate, the system checks it against your authorized list, and the gate opens — no remote to lose, no code that half the neighborhood knows, no call box nobody answers. For apartment communities, self-storage, fleet yards and gated commercial lots, it solves the problem that has never had a good answer: knowing exactly which vehicles came and went, and being able to revoke access the same day someone moves out. We design the capture geometry, interface with your existing gate operator, and verify plate reads at night before we call it finished.

How it works

A camera reads the plate. The gate opens. Nobody touches anything.

A vehicle approaches, a camera reads the plate in the approach zone, the system checks it against your authorized list, and the gate or garage door opens. No clicker to lose, no code to share, no call box to answer. Every entry and exit is logged with the plate, the time, and the vehicle — which is the part that matters when something goes missing at 3 a.m.

The plate is read on approach

An AI camera captures and reads the plate as the vehicle enters the detection zone, running the recognition locally on the camera rather than shipping video to a cloud service.

The list is checked instantly

Authorized plates live in a list you control — residents, staff, delivery vehicles, contractors. Add or remove a plate in seconds from a browser.

The gate operates

A match triggers the gate operator, garage door, or bollard. No match, no open — and the attempt is still logged.

Everything is recorded

Plate, timestamp, direction and footage, retained to a policy you set. This is the audit trail a clicker system has never been able to give you.

Who buys this

Where plate-based gate access pays for itself

Apartment & HOA communities

The clicker problem: residents lose them, former residents keep them, and nobody can say how many are in circulation. Plate access ends the fob economy — a resident moves out, their plate comes off the list that day.

Self-storage facilities

Gate access tied to tenant accounts, with a record of who entered and when. Delinquent accounts lose access automatically instead of requiring a staff confrontation.

Fleet yards & trucking

Company vehicles enter without a driver hunting for a badge, while unknown vehicles are stopped and logged. Contractor and driver plates can be time-boxed to a route window.

Gated commercial lots & parking

Employee vehicles pass automatically, visitors route to an intercom, and enforcement has a defensible record rather than a windshield-chalk argument.

The engineering that decides whether it works

Plate reading is a camera-placement problem before it is a software problem

This is where most plate systems disappoint, and it is entirely avoidable. Plate capture depends on the geometry: the camera has to see the plate at a workable angle, at a distance where characters resolve, in the lighting that exists at 2 a.m. rather than at noon.

Approach angle

A camera looking at a sharp angle across a lane sees a distorted plate. The mount position is designed around the actual vehicle path, not the convenient pole.

Distance and lens

Characters have to occupy enough pixels to be read. Optical zoom on a purpose-built plate camera handles distances a general-purpose camera cannot.

Night and headlights

Headlight glare and retroreflective plates defeat ordinary cameras after dark. Plate-specific cameras handle the exposure — and we verify every install at night, not from a datasheet.

Trigger zone and speed

The detection zone has to catch the vehicle with enough dwell time to read and act before the driver is at the gate. Approach speed changes the design.

Gate operator interface

The system has to actually talk to your existing gate operator or barrier. We confirm the interface before quoting, not on install day.

A fallback that always works

Cameras miss plates — mud, snow, missing front plates in states that do not require them. Every system we design has a secondary path: intercom, credential, or keypad. Anyone selling plate-only access has not run one in winter.

Platform

Built on UniFi Access and UniFi Protect

We deploy this on Ubiquiti’s UniFi platform — an AI plate-recognition camera paired with a gate hub, managed from one interface alongside your other doors and cameras. It runs recognition on the camera itself, so plate matching does not depend on an internet connection, and there is no per-plate cloud fee. If you already run UniFi for network, cameras or doors, this joins the same console. If you do not, it still stands alone. UniFi and Ubiquiti are trademarks of Ubiquiti Inc.; we are an independent installer, not an authorized reseller or certified partner.

Works with your existing gate

We interface with the operator you already have wherever possible rather than replacing working equipment.

One system for gates and doors

Vehicle gates and pedestrian doors on the same platform, the same credential list, and the same log.

No per-plate subscription

Recognition runs locally. Your ongoing cost is the platform, not a fee per vehicle.

Cameras do double duty

The plate camera is also a security camera — the same device covering the entrance for general surveillance.

Coverage

Where we install plate-based gate access

Columbus, OH and Central Ohio — our home market, based in Sunbury. Nashville and Middle Tennessee through our regional crews. Engineering and design in-house, installation by vetted local installers.

Door hardware by building type

Central Ohio building stock, door by door

The right reader is the easy part. The door it goes on is what decides whether the system works, passes inspection, and lasts.

Warehouse & distribution

Outerbelt and Rickenbacker corridor. Hollow metal personnel doors, dock offices and gates, with shift-based schedules for crews and contractors.

Suburban professional & medical

Dublin, Westerville, Worthington, Polaris. Aluminum storefront and hollow metal, with records and IT rooms on their own credential lists.

Downtown & Short North brick

Older masonry and converted buildings where the wiring path takes more thought than the reader. Concealed hardware where the facade matters.

Multi-tenant suburban office

Suite-level permissions coordinated with building management and the shared entry.

Code & inspection

Franklin County inspection and the local advantage

Egress governs the door here exactly as it does in Tennessee: request-to-exit devices, fail-safe release on fire alarm, and fire-official review for mag locks and delayed egress, with electrical work following normal permitting. The practical difference in Columbus is proximity. We are based in Sunbury, so a pre-quote site walk, a mid-install question, or a warranty visit is a short drive rather than a scheduling exercise. For buildings where the door schedule is genuinely uncertain until someone puts hands on the openings, that matters more than any spec sheet.

Common jobs here

What Columbus businesses ask us to solve

Office relocation or expansion

Door schedule designed alongside the cabling and network scope so one crew handles the whole buildout.

Warehouse crew and contractor access

Shift schedules, dock office restrictions, and credentials that expire with the contract.

Medical or dental practice

Operatory corridors, records and medication storage on separate credentials with a real audit trail.

Service area

Where we install in Central Ohio

Downtown · Short North · Easton · Polaris · Dublin · Westerville · Worthington · Hilliard · Grove City · Gahanna · Sunbury · Rickenbacker corridor

What’s included

Everything the access control & door entry installation covers

One crew, one quote, and none of the “that’s not in scope” surprises. Here’s what a ClearMax access control & door entry installation job includes.

Controller & reader install

Door controllers and readers mounted and wired at each entry point.

Credential setup

Keycards, fobs, mobile credentials, and PIN codes provisioned for your team.

Electric strikes & maglocks

Door hardware installed and wired, with request-to-exit and fail-safe/secure logic.

Schedules & rules

Time-based access, holidays, and per-door permissions configured to how you operate.

Audit logging

Every unlock logged, searchable, and exportable for compliance or investigations.

Remote management

Lock, unlock, and manage credentials from anywhere — no on-site keypad juggling.

How it works

Simple process. No surprises.

From first walkthrough to hand-off, you always know what’s next and what it costs.

Door survey

We assess each door, existing hardware, and power, then design the access layout.

Quote & schedule

Per-door pricing, itemized. Coordinated so your entrances stay usable during the work.

Install & wire

Controllers, readers, and door hardware installed, wired, and tied to your network.

Provision & train

Credentials issued, schedules set, and a quick walkthrough so your team owns it.

Built for your industry

Access Control & Door Entry Installation for your line of work

We install for specific industries and speak their software and compliance. Find your specialist page:

🦷Dental IT→
🏥Medical IT→
🐾Veterinary IT→
⚖️Law Firm IT→
🛡️Insurance Agency IT→
🧮Accounting IT→
🏨Hospitality IT→
📦Warehouse IT→
•Managed IT→

Pricing without surprises

Flat, itemized quotes. No subcontractor markups.

📋

Itemized Quote

Line-by-line, so you know what every dollar buys.

👷

Our Own Crew

No subcontractor roulette. One accountable team.

🤝

Direct-Partner Pricing

Hardware at our cost. We don’t mark it up.

🔧

Managed After

Want us to keep it running? Roll it into managed IT.

Questions, answered

Access Control & Door Entry Installation FAQ

Does a license plate reader work at night?

Yes, with the right camera — and this is exactly where cheap systems fail. Headlight glare and retroreflective plates defeat ordinary security cameras after dark, so plate capture needs a camera built for it with the correct exposure handling and enough optical zoom for the distance. We verify every plate view on site after dark before signing off, because a system that only reads plates in daylight is not a gate access system.

What if the camera cannot read a plate?

It will happen — mud, snow, a missing front plate in a state that does not require one, or a vehicle at a bad angle. Every system we design has a secondary path: an intercom, a credential, or a keypad. Anyone selling you plate-only access has not operated one through a winter. The plate reader handles the routine 95%; the fallback handles the rest without stranding anyone.

Can it work with the gate we already have?

Usually yes. Most gate operators and barrier arms accept a dry-contact or relay input, which is what the access system provides. We confirm the interface on your specific operator before quoting rather than discovering an incompatibility on install day. Replacing a working gate operator is rarely necessary.

Real installs, not stock photos

Work from a recent commercial access control install

Every photo below is our own work — the hub wiring, the egress hardware, and the finished reader. This is what a properly documented, code-compliant install looks like when it is finished.

UniFi Access door hub wired to an Altronix power supply with labeled conduit and Cat6 during a commercial access control installation — Door hub wired to its own power supply — labeled conductors, dressed cable, and a locked enclosure. The part nobody photographs and every technician judges you on.

ASSA ABLOY magnetic lock with request-to-exit motion sensor and armored cable installed above a glass office door — Magnetic lock with the request-to-exit sensor above it and armored cable into the header. Free egress is not optional — NFPA 101 requires it, and this is what compliance looks like installed.

Glass office door with magnetic lock, request-to-exit sensor, push-to-exit button and illuminated exit sign — code-compliant egress — The full opening: maglock, request-to-exit motion sensor, push-to-exit button and exit signage on a glass storefront door. Narrow-stile glass cannot take a standard strike — this is the correct hardware for it.

UniFi Access intercom showing a live door-unlock event on the touchscreen after a successful credential read — The reader live and unlocked after a valid credential. Flush-mounted with a clean trim plate — the finish detail that separates a professional install from a bracket screwed to drywall.

Get a Free Access Control & Door Entry Installation Quote

Tell us about your space in Columbus or Nashville. We’ll follow up with a flat, itemized quote — usually same day.

Access control &door entry, on your terms — Columbus, OH.