How to cut gatehouse operating costs
The gatehouse and reception are cost centres that grow with every staffed shift. Here is a breakdown of where the cost comes from, what automation removes — and when the investment does not pay off.
It is the shifts that cost, not the technology
One staffed post on a single Mon–Fri shift does not mean one FTE but 1.15 — holidays and sick leave have to be covered. Two shifts are 2.3 FTE and 24/7 operation 4.8 FTE for a single post. On top of each gross salary come 33.8% employer contributions — only then do you see the true annual cost worth calculating with.
Add the administration that never shows up in any report: a hand-kept visitor book, phone calls with carriers, chasing unreturned cards, retyping the same data twice. And a cost almost nobody measures — vehicles and people waiting at the gate.
Most of that is routine, not judgement. And routine is exactly what automation takes over: a regular vehicle is handled by e-Vrátnice based on its licence plate, a visitor registers at the e-Recepce kiosk. On the sites we measure, the share of automatically handled passages stays around 99% long term.
What counts into the cost
- Staffing shifts including holiday and sickness cover
- 33.8% employer contributions on top of gross pay
- Administration and duplicate records
- Vehicles and people waiting at the gate
- Issuing, collecting and losing cards
Automation is not for every operation
A small site with one shift and a handful of arrivals a day will not save on wages — the investment is then justified by records and provability, not money. Nor does it make sense to automate an entrance that awaits reconstruction: cameras, loops and barriers are tied to the specific layout.
And if the gatehouse remains fully staffed, count the benefit from records and faster handling, not wages. We say this up front, because a project built on savings that never materialise falls apart at the first audit.
Security does not end there — the system replaces routine presence at the door and the barrier, not security supervision. Guards keep oversight, exceptions and response; you just stop paying for routine in three shifts.
When to postpone the investment
- One shift and only a few arrivals a day
- Planned reconstruction of the entrance or site
- Staffing will not change and wages are the only argument
- The budget will not cover service and licences too
What CFOs ask most often
How do we calculate the payback for our operation?
From your own numbers: staffed posts, shift mode and gross pay. One post on a single shift is 1.15 FTE, two shifts 2.3 and 24/7 operation 4.8 FTE; add 33.8% employer contributions to gross pay. Set that against the investment and the monthly fee from our quote — typical setups pay back within one to two years.
How much does the system cost?
It depends on scope — the number of entrances, kiosks and integrations. We do not publish prices; put your requirements together in the configurator and within one business day we come back with a quote including a breakdown of the one-off investment and monthly costs.
Can costs go down without layoffs?
Yes, and it is the most common scenario. The saving comes from not having to staff the second and third shifts, stand-ins and weekends — your existing people stay for what a machine cannot do: representation, exceptions and oversight.
What are the running costs after deployment?
A monthly fee for the SLA service contract and licences. Service comes in four levels from BASIC to NONSTOP with response from 24 down to 4 hours, so you pay for the level your operation actually needs.
Will outages not push our costs up?
The system decides locally on site, so an internet outage does not mean a closed gate. On top of that we offer SECAPRO REMOTE CARE — continuous remote monitoring that deals with a fault before your operation notices it in the morning.
Want to see the numbers for your operation?
Tell us how many shifts you staff today. We will come back with a proposed scope, a price and a payback calculation from your own inputs.