Locations / Philadelphia, PA

Where Philadelphia’s smaller offices sit

Center City is the core. Market Street West and the blocks around City Hall, Logan Square and Rittenhouse Square hold the high-rise towers where law, accounting, insurance and consulting firms lease floors and suites, while Market East and Old City mix converted older buildings with newer offices. West of the Schuylkill, University City has grown around the universities and hospitals, and the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia offers a campus of newer and rehabilitated buildings. In the suburbs, King of Prussia, Conshohocken, Radnor and the Main Line, Blue Bell and Plymouth Meeting carry much of the region’s mid-size office space, with more across the river in South Jersey.

That gives two quite different setups. In a Center City tower, the building runs the lobby desk and elevators and each tenant runs access on its own suite. In a suburban office park or a converted loft, a mid-size company may control every door it uses, including the front entrance and a parking-lot side door. In both cases the system the tenant pays for is often a solid older install that only needs a better way to manage people.

• Eds and meds next door. Universities and health systems dominate Philadelphia employment, and many smaller offices serve them as vendors, practices or research partners. That means staff rotating between sites and frequent credential changes, which phones handle without printing anything.
• Regional Rail and the walk in. Many Center City staff arrive by SEPTA and walk a few blocks from Suburban Station or Jefferson Station with bags and coffee. Phone unlock opens the suite door as they arrive, with no card to find.
• City office, suburban office. A firm with a Center City address and a back office in King of Prussia or Conshohocken has two sets of doors and often two sets of badges. GateStride manages both from one place, with a who’s-inside list per site.

Where Philadelphia offices overpay for access control

Philadelphia firms tend to be careful with overhead, yet access control often escapes review because no single charge looks large. Added up across badges, per-user licences and staff time, it is a real recurring cost.

GateStride connects to the system you already own as a single integration user and manages your people itself, so staff who move to phone access stop adding per-person credential costs on the underlying system, and nobody needs a badge printed. Put your own numbers into the savings calculator to see what that is worth for your office, and check your vendor’s licence terms with your integrator.

Knowing who is still inside, in Philadelphia

A fire alarm in a Center City tower sends every tenant to the stairs and out to the street, where floor wardens try to confirm their people are out on crowded sidewalks. In older buildings with several stairwells and side exits, people leave by whichever door is closest, and a company can lose track of who went where.

Winter storms raise the same question in a different form. When snow is forecast and offices close early, managers need to know the building is empty before they lock up. Exit records give a direct answer for each site instead of a round of phone calls.

Most card systems log people coming in, not going out, because exits release freely. GateStride records who left from the phone they carry, without a swipe, and turns a fire drill into a one-tap roll call. How exit tracking works.

Exit tracking supports accountability. It is not a substitute for free egress, your evacuation plan or your certified fire and life-safety systems.

Rules that apply to Philadelphia offices

Before anyone touches a door, three things are worth knowing. This is general information, not legal or life-safety advice; confirm specifics with the agencies below and your own counsel.

GateStride’s default uses device credentials and non-biometric person detection, so no biometric data is collected. Facial recognition is optional, off by default, and offered only where it is legally compliant and you choose to enable it.

Works with the systems Philadelphia integrators install

You keep your vendor and your integrator. GateStride overlays Kantech EntraPass, Honeywell, LenelS2 OnGuard, Software House C•CURE, HID and Brivo by reading their events and calling their own unlock. See the integrations, the architecture, or how an upgrade compares with ripping everything out for a cloud platform. Philadelphia-area integrators commonly support platforms such as LenelS2, Software House, AMAG, Genetec, Brivo, Honeywell and Keri; if your office runs one of them, GateStride sits on top.

For Philadelphia security integrators

Across Center City, University City and the suburban office corridors, the Philadelphia market is full of access systems that work but are managed the hard way. If you service those sites, GateStride gives you a reason to go back with something new: phone unlock and exit tracking on the hardware already installed, no replacement project, resale margin per site, and a client who stays yours. Partners are listed by city and system.

Philadelphia’s security community meets through ASIS International Greater Philadelphia Chapter · Pennsylvania Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (PBFAA).

See the partner program

Questions from Philadelphia offices

Who licenses access-control installers in Philadelphia?

Pennsylvania has no statewide security installer licence that we could find. In the city, the Department of Licenses and Inspections requires an Electrical Contractor License for electrical work, including low-voltage wiring. Ask for the L&I licence number. Outside the city, check with the township or borough.

Do the new 2021 codes in Philadelphia affect GateStride?

GateStride does not change how doors lock or release, so it does not alter what the codes govern. If you are also changing locks, door hardware or egress as part of a fit-out, L&I’s applicable-codes page explains which edition applies to your permit.

We have staff at a hospital or university client most days. Can they still use the office door?

Yes. Their phone opens your office doors whenever their access allows, and you can give it time limits or remove it in one step. Access to the client’s buildings stays with the client’s own system.

Do I have to replace my access control to use GateStride in Philadelphia?

No. GateStride overlays the system you already run, reading its events and calling its own unlock. Your readers, controllers, locks, request-to-exit and fire release stay exactly as they are.

Does GateStride have an office in Philadelphia?

No. GateStride is software, managed remotely, so we serve the Philadelphia region without a local office. The small node at each door is installed by a licensed security integrator, often the one who already services your system.

Will it lower what we pay each month?

It can, if you pay per-user or per-mobile-credential fees, buy replacement badges, or spend staff time issuing and revoking them. Use the savings calculator with your own invoices to see the figure for your office; if you pay none of those, the case rests on the features instead.

Can we see who has left the building without anyone swiping out?

Yes. Exits are recorded from the enrolled phone, watch or tablet people carry, while the door keeps releasing freely as it does today. That gives a live who's-inside list and a one-tap roll call during an evacuation.

Sources

• https://www.phila.gov/services/permits-violations-licenses/get-a-license/trade-licenses/get-an-electrical-contractor-license/
• https://www.phila.gov/departments/department-of-licenses-and-inspections/resources/applicable-codes/
• https://www.bakerlaw.com/insights/pennsylvania-makes-significant-changes-to-its-data-breach-notification-law
• https://controller.phila.gov/eds-meds-continue-to-lead-philadelphias-workforce-along-with-steady-small-businesses-growth/
• https://centercityphila.org/pressroom/pr-state-of-center-city-2025
• https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/asis-international-honors-penn-police-personnel
• https://sdmmag.com/articles/84621-pbfaa-turns-25

Last reviewed October 2026. Trademarks belong to their respective owners; GateStride is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by any access-control manufacturer.