Intelligent Access Control for Multifamily and Short-Term Rentals

About project

The Challenge

SmartphoneKey set out to reinvent property access for apartments, condos, and short-term rentals by replacing physical keys with a cloud-connected, IoT-based solution. But building a secure, scalable, and user-friendly access system that could operate seamlessly across thousands of locks introduced a range of challenges:

• High Maintenance Costs of Physical Keys: Property managers spent significant time and money replacing lost or duplicated keys, managing logistics, and coordinating on-site handovers. A new system had to eliminate physical key dependency while ensuring equal or higher security standards.
• Guest Access Friction: Short-term rental hosts needed a fast and intuitive way to grant guest access. Requiring users to download and register within an app created entry friction, leading to poor guest experience and lost bookings.
• Temporary Code Security: Distributing temporary numeric codes to guests was unreliable and insecure. Codes could be shared, copied, or reused, exposing properties to unauthorized access. The client required digitally verifiable, time-bound keys with traceability and full control.
• Scalability for Multi-Property Management: For large residential operators managing thousands of units, legacy systems couldn’t scale efficiently. They needed a centralized IoT management layer that could handle key distribution, firmware updates, and user access across an entire portfolio of buildings.
• Device Connectivity & Authentication: Each intelligent lock needed to connect securely to the cloud for credential validation and updates. Maintaining encrypted, authenticated device communication at scale was critical for reliability and trust.
• Edge Resilience & Offline Operation: Properties often experience unstable connectivity. The system needed edge intelligence to allow local decision-making and offline access – ensuring residents could still enter even without an internet connection.
• Fleet Management & Over-the-Air Updates: Managing thousands of IoT locks required remote patching, monitoring, and OTA firmware updates to maintain consistency, performance, and security across the entire device fleet.
• Real-Time Data & Analytics: To improve operations and user experience, the client needed continuous visibility into access logs, device telemetry, and usage analytics, all synchronized in real time with cloud databases and dashboards.
• Security & Compliance: Since the platform directly manages physical entry, end-to-end data protection and identity integrity were paramount. The client required AWS-grade security mechanisms to safeguard every device and transaction.

Technology & Approach

Dedicatted architected and deployed a cloud-native, IoT-powered access management platform for SmartphoneKey — designed to securely connect thousands of smart locks, streamline guest access, and empower property managers with complete visibility and control. The solution leveraged AWS IoT Core and AWS IoT Greengrass as its foundation, combining scalability, automation, and real-time intelligence across distributed edge devices.

Key components of the solution:

Serverless Core & API Management

To eliminate backend overhead and ensure infinite scalability, the core application layer was built using:

• Amazon API Gateway + AWS Lambda: serverless APIs managing access credentials, user permissions, and integrations with third-party booking systems (Airbnb, property management tools).
• Amazon DynamoDB: served as a high-performance NoSQL database for storing access logs, property metadata, and device configurations, ensuring sub-millisecond response times even under heavy load.

This design enabled near-instant key provisioning and credential validation for both tenants and guests—critical for short-term rentals where access windows change frequently.

IoT Device Connectivity and Management

At the heart of the system lies AWS IoT Core, responsible for secure communication between intelligent locks, property gateways, and the cloud backend.

• Each device was provisioned with mutual authentication certificates, ensuring tamper-proof data exchange.
• AWS IoT rules engine was used to route telemetry and lock events (open, denied, tamper alerts) directly into DynamoDB and CloudWatch metrics for monitoring and analytics.

To extend reliability and reduce latency at the edge, AWS IoT Greengrass was deployed on local gateways within multi-unit buildings.

• Greengrass handled offline operations, allowing locks to function and synchronize even when the internet was temporarily unavailable.
• It also enabled over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates, Lambda execution at the edge, and local event filtering to minimize cloud traffic and ensure real-time door response.

This edge-cloud hybrid ensured that property access worked seamlessly—whether in urban apartments or remote short-term rentals.

Containerized Microservices

For administrative tools and analytics dashboards, Dedicatted implemented:

• Amazon ECS on AWS Fargate: hosting microservices responsible for property management, authentication, and access analytics.
• Application Load Balancer (ALB) : routing traffic securely between microservices and public endpoints.

This containerized setup allowed quick updates and auto-scaling based on user demand.

User Experience & Content Delivery

To provide frictionless entry without requiring users to download apps:

• Apple Wallet & Google Wallet Integration – digital keys are pushed directly into mobile wallets for instant, secure entry.
• Amazon S3 + CloudFront – ensured fast, global delivery of static assets, admin dashboards, and wallet pass distribution.
• NFC fallback – physical key cards acted as a backup when mobile devices were unavailable or uncharged.

Automation & Infrastructure Management

The entire environment was deployed and maintained through modern automation practices:

• GitLab CI/CD + Terraform – automated Lambda and API Gateway creation whenever new repositories were initialized. This templated pipeline allowed new services to be deployed with zero manual operations.
• AWS CloudWatch – centralized monitoring, alerting, and performance tracking across Lambda, IoT Core, and ECS components.
• VPC segmentation – private subnets hosted sensitive workloads (ECS, Lambdas), while public subnets exposed only essential endpoints (API Gateway, ALB) for enhanced security and compliance.

Security by Design

Each device was onboarded using unique X.509 certificates and authenticated via AWS IoT Core’s secure tunneling, ensuring end-to-end encryption and protection against unauthorized access. The entire environment was isolated through a carefully designed VPC structure, separating public interfaces (API Gateway, Load Balancer) from private workloads (ECS services, Lambda functions).

This layered, automation-first architecture created a robust foundation for a multi-tenant IoT platform that could adapt dynamically to client needs: from individual Airbnb hosts to enterprise-scale property operators.

Our Solution

Dedicatted approached the SmartphoneKey project as an opportunity to redefine property access – transforming traditional key management into a secure, app-free, and cloud-connected experience. The goal was to deliver a scalable, AWS-powered IoT platform that made access management effortless for property operators while ensuring end-users enjoyed seamless, reliable entry.

• Frictionless Access, No App Required: SmartphoneKey introduced true convenience by letting users open doors via Apple Wallet or Google Wallet passes, eliminating the friction of app downloads or logins. As a fallback, encrypted NFC key cards offered instant, secure entry even if a phone was offline or out of battery.
• Unified Management for Property Operators: Through an intuitive admin console, managers could assign, revoke, or monitor access across hundreds of units. The system consolidated building metadata, access logs, and guest permissions into a single, cloud-driven interface, reducing manual tracking and operational overhead.
• Edge Resilience & Continuous Connectivity: Smart locks operated intelligently at the edge using AWS IoT Greengrass, maintaining functionality even when cloud connectivity was lost. Once back online, all access data automatically synchronized with the central system via AWS IoT Core, ensuring no gaps in audit trails or analytics.
• Automated Guest Experience for Rentals: Short-term rental hosts could issue temporary, expiring keys directly from integrated booking platforms , ensuring that guests could access properties securely and effortlessly without any human coordination.
• Operational Efficiency & Scalability: From firmware patching to new feature rollouts, over-the-air updates were seamlessly pushed to all connected devices, eliminating on-site technician work. The solution scaled effortlessly, supporting thousands of devices and users without added complexity.
• Security & Compliance at Every Layer: End-to-end encryption, device authentication, and secure key lifecycle management ensured that every access event met enterprise-grade security standards: a core requirement for multi-family housing operators and hospitality providers alike.

By combining AWS IoT Core’s secure connectivity, Greengrass’s edge intelligence, and Dedicatted’s automation-driven approach, SmartphoneKey now operates as a intelligent , self-managing ecosystem – one that simplifies life for tenants, increases efficiency for operators, and sets a new benchmark for IoT-enabled property technology