Inlet's ecosystem overview:
Our core lock service underpins a complete digital customer journey by integrating ordering, payment, access, communication, and control systems into a seamless Inlet Ecosystem. This modular approach delivers a frictionless and comprehensive customer experience.
Lock-System Agnostic:
We are not tied to any specific lock brand or manufacturer. Our platform integrates with a wide range of locking and access-control systems and can unify them under a single user interface. Whether environments use multiple lock technologies or customized hardware, we can issue consistent access codes, tokens or keys that match the desired user workflow.
Secure Lock Communication:
To enable secure and reliable communication with locks and controllers, we require:
- API endpoints from the lock provider
- Whitelisted IP addresses
- Defined and secured network ports
This ensures controlled connectivity and allows us to maintain accurate, real-time status feedback across systems.
Booking and System Integration:
We support flexible booking flows based on customer requirements, including:
- SMS and QR-based access
- Direct third-party system integrations
- Full PMS (Property Management System) integrations for hotels and lodging environments
Through strategic integration partners, we maintain broad compatibility and can customize implementations to specific business use-cases.
API Security:
Our API is built on Laravel and uses authentication tokens per location and customer, and can further be restricted to authorized IP ranges.
All communication is encrypted via HTTPS.
Traffic is routed through an Azure gateway, providing:
- Layered access control
- DDoS resistance
- Centralized ingress management
Docker & Microservice Architecture:
We deploy our platform using a microservice-oriented architecture supported by Docker containerization.
Key Benefits:
- Service Isolation: Each service runs independently in its own container, improving security and failure-resilience.
- Scalability: Services can be scaled individually based on load rather than scaling the entire system.
- Consistent Deployments: Docker guarantees that environments are stable and reproducible across development, staging and production.
- Fast Rollbacks: Containerized deployments allow quick rollback to previous versions if an issue is detected.
- Secure Boundary Layers: Internal services are segmented so that a compromise in one component does not propagate to the others.
This architecture supports stable growth, flexible integration and strong operational reliability.
Testing & Code Reliability
We maintain approximately 90% automated test coverage across our entire codebase.
This includes:
- Unit tests
- Integration tests
- System and workflow validation tests
High test coverage ensures reliability, reduces regression risk and helps maintain confidence in system behavior during updates and scaling initiatives.
Hosting and Infrastructure:
Our system is fully cloud-hosted in Microsoft Azure. Internal services communicate over secure channels within the cloud environment, and all logging and monitoring are centralized. Automated deployment pipelines ensure consistent updates with minimal downtime.
Lock Connector Authentication:
Connections to lock systems require:
- IP + port access
- SSL/TLS whenever supported
- Strong credentials (minimum 12-character passwords with complexity)
Firewalls on the lock side must whitelist our production services. We encourage and support best-practice configurations for every integration.
Portal Dashboard:
Our dashboard provides real-time monitoring of location and lock status. Alerts surface unusual or unauthorized behaviors quickly, supporting proactive issue resolution.