Use this guide to learn about License Plate Recognition (LPR), how to configure the LPR integration, and use LPR Unlock daily to secure entrances.
By adding License Plates as a credential in Verkada's Access Control, users can now open Vehicle Gates with License Plates.
Before you begin
A member of the Verkada Product team or Verkada Support should provide you with the link to this guide.
When you have access to this guide, you need to provide a support access token and a sufficient time until expiration to turn on the feature (if this is not yet been done).
Once a member of the Verkada Support or Product team has confirmed that the feature is enabled, you may be required to refresh your page or re-authenticate any Verkada Command sessions in use.
Requirements
You must ensure that you have the requisite hardware for running an LPR Unlock. We currently support LPR Unlock on any of our second-generation LPR cameras and all of our access controllers.
You need:
One second-generation LPR camera
One access controller
Ensure that Verkada Support has enabled the LPR Unlock feature for your organization
To enable LPR Unlock, you/your organization must properly:
Deploy and configure LPR-enabled CB52 or CB62 cameras
Secure garage entrances with a Verkada access controller.
Once configured, you can use LPR camera results as an input method for a door, unlocking that door anytime an authorized license plate is verified by the access controller.
Learn more about Verkada's LPR capabilities.
Enable LPR Unlock
This version of LPR Unlock allows a many-to-many pairing of cameras and doors. That is, a single camera can be paired to multiple doors (and thereby used as a reader on all of them). A single door can also have multiple LPR cameras as reader inputs (where each camera can be used to open the door). However, the number of LPR cameras that a single door can have is capped at 6.
To set up an LPR camera to unlock a door, you can add an LPR camera
during door setup or on the door settings page.
Door setup
Go to the Devices page.
Select the access controller you want to set up for in/out door options.
At the top right, click Add.
In the Add Entity modal, continue with the setup until you reach the Installer Setup screen.
Scroll down to LPR Unlock.
Click Add LPR Camera to add an LPR camera as an unlock method for this door.
Click Confirm to save your changes, and continue with the setup.
Your door will be initialized with an LPR Camera attached to it.
Door settings
Go to the Door page and click the Settings (gear) icon.
Scroll down to the Installer Settings and toggle to turn on the LPR Unlock feature on the door.
Click Add Camera and choose any of your LPR cameras.
You also have the option to set a given camera as an interior or an exterior camera for the door.Click Confirm to save your changes.
Add LPR as a credential
To benefit from any utility for this feature, Verkada Command Admins must first be able to assign license plates as a user credential. Here's how this can happen: CSV uploads, on the camera's license plate feed, or on a user's access profile.
CSV uploads
Verkada's existing comma-separated value (CSV) upload function now has expanded functionality. You can enter a list of comma-separated license plate numbers into the licensePlateNumbers column of your CSV file.
On the camera's license plate feed
Select any of the license plates that you want to add an access user to.
This should take you to the license plate-specific page (see below).
Click Assign Access User, search for the user you want to associate with the license plate, and select that user. You are redirected to the license plate-specific page (as shown below).
On a user’s access profile
In Verkada Command, navigate to Access.
Click the Access Users and Groups icon.
From the list of access users, click the user you want to add a license plate to.
Click Profile to go to their Credentials.
Click Add New License Plate to add new license plates to the user.
New LPR events
The introduction of this feature leads to the creation of two new kinds of events:
License plate accepted (see left image)
License plate denied (see right image)
When you click the license plate number on these events, you are redirected to the License Plate page, where you can perform more actions, such as looking at past events or assigning an access user to the license plate.
Use cases for LPR Unlock
Use Case | Scenario | Example |
Busy garages | Facilities (offices, hotels, and schools) can use LPR Unlock to reduce congestion at busy entrances. | |
Access for guests at gated facilities | Communities and facilities with gated access can use LPR Unlock to provide simplified guest access. | |
Protected parking lots | LPR Unlock can help secure parking lots from car theft or unapproved use of EV charging stations. |  |
Facilities for large vehicles | LPR Unlock can make it easier for buses and trucks. | |
Additional parking lot security | Verkada LPR technology can improve the security of a parking lot with intrusion and unrecognized plate alerts. |  |
Organizations with many garages | Organizations with multiple parking garages and many access profiles can streamline operations with LPR Unlock. |
Need more help? Contact Verkada Support.