Interview with Marla Miller, GM of Niguel Shores

Niguel Shores has a rich history dating back to 1970 when the first subdivision and homes were built. Originally part of Laguna Niguel until 1989 when the entire Monarch Beach area voted to join Dana Point. In 2004 Barcode Automation was selected to provide automatic vehicle identification to their system. In 2017, we met Marla Miller then General Manager of Niguel Shores at the CACM Southern California Law Seminar and asked her for this interview:

You've had BAi Readers for 15 years now. Do you know what problem existed that our system helped solve?

We had a different reader before and handed out cards that were inserted into that reader. This was very problematic because they could be passed around with no controls in place. In addition, owners did not like the fact that at times it was difficult to insert the card into the reader. We needed more controls and to have the owners happy with the gate system. In changing to the BAi Readers we have control over the person that can enter the community.

At the front entrance you're using our now discontinued BA-220, in the back entrance you have our newer BA-440. Has the BA-440 met or even exceeded expectations? When the 220 does eventually give out do you think you'll be upgrading to the 440 as well?

In addition to the two readers you saw, we have 3 other entrances and they all have the older BA-220 Readers. Once those 4 gate readers no longer work, we will be upgrading them all to the 440 Reader. We purchased the newer 440 about 6 months ago. It was difficult to install, because the mounting post needed to also be replaced with the new smaller one. We also had issues reading the bar codes at first due to it being a little more sensitive, but we got all that worked out. We have been very happy with the performance of the readers over the past 15 years and will continue using this system.

You have a variety of decals now including custom ones. Are they used for different purposes, and has it helped management?

Yes, we have blue, red and black (NSCA) barcode decals. The blue ones are for the owners that have a waiver to part on the street overnight. The red decals are for guests of residents that are visiting the community, and the black are specifically for an owner's vehicle in Niguel Shores Community Association.

Would you recommend Barcode Automation to others?

I would definitely recommend these readers, they are accurate, convenient and do the job we need done, with very little downtime. Our owners and staff have been very pleased with these readers and we will continue to use them.