The visitor book can't answer the questions you get asked
Who invited this person? Which guard let them in? Did they ever leave? At most gates the only check is a name written in a book and a house number anyone can say out loud.
That open book is also a liability. It sits on the guardhouse desk full of names, phone numbers and ID numbers, readable by the next visitor. Under the Data Protection Act 2019 the estate is the data controller, so that exposure belongs to the committee, not the security company.
At the gate the officer says “Nipe code yako, tafadhali.” Everything else follows from that sentence.
How it works
Three people, one six-digit code, and a record of every visit.
The resident invites
Only a resident can invite, and only a named person. They type the visitor’s name and get a six-digit code for that one person, good for the day and usable once. No phone number is needed.
The officer checks the person
The officer types the code or scans it, and the screen asks about the person: “Is this Neema Tumaini, here for House 01?” A spent, expired or revoked code is refused.
In and out, on the record
The gate lists everyone inside and since when. The resident sees their visitor arrive, and when the visitor leaves the officer checks them out and the visit is closed.
What your gate gets
Every property gets the full system. There is no feature held back for a higher plan.
Works when the network drops
What the officer records offline is kept on the phone and sent the moment the connection is back. Nothing is lost and nobody waits.
A child leaves only with a yes
For a child who needs approval, the gate asks the parent and waits for the answer. A child who may never leave alone is refused outright.
Every officer named
No shared guardhouse login. Each officer signs in as themselves and starts a named shift, so every entry says who let the person in.
Incidents logged at the gate
The officer records what happened, how urgent it is and the house it concerns, with their name and the time attached.
A manager dashboard
Who is on duty and at which gate, who is inside right now, every incident, and an audit trail of who did what, and when.
Less personal data at the desk
The officer sees a code and a house, not a visitor’s phone number or ID. Phone numbers and emails are stored encrypted, and records expire on a period you set.
Who it is for
Any place with a gate and an officer who checks people in. The same code works everywhere, in the words each place already uses.
Estates and apartment blocks
Residents make the codes, officers check them, and the committee holds a record it can stand behind. Parties get one code with a headcount.
Estates on NIPE code →Schools
Every child released only to an adult the parent named. The teacher is told who is waiting, so the class is not interrupted by a call from the gate.
Schools on NIPE code →Hotels and venues
Guests let in their own visitors by room, and a conference or a wedding gets one code for everyone on the list.
Hotels on NIPE code →Offices and business parks
Staff book their appointments into the gate, deliveries are logged against the office they are for, and events have a headcount.
Offices on NIPE code →Coming next
Marked exactly as ready as they are. Nothing below is sold before it exists.
Perimeter security
Every code at the boom tied to the resident who issued it, a binary valid-or-refused check that protects the officer from arguments, and a live list of who is on site.
Service charge recovery
A unit in arrears stops issuing visitor codes and gets them back the moment it pays by M-Pesa. No arguments at the boom, no WhatsApp-group shaming.
Private homes and short-term rentals
Time-bound codes for a single house or a rental, turning on at check-in and off at checkout.
Your property’s own name
Access delivered from your own address and branding, with no NIPE code mark on any screen a visitor sees.
Pricing
One property, one monthly bill. Every estate, school, hotel and office is different, so nothing is priced from a list: an agent from your area surveys the property first, and you get one figure to approve.
| Item | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | One figure for the property | Set from the property’s size after the survey, and written down before you pay anything. No per-visitor fee, and every resident, parent, guest and officer account is included. |
| Setup | One-off fee, quoted with the monthly figure | A local agent sets up your gate, trains your officers and stays on call. Paid to NIPE code, never in cash to anyone. |
| Free trial | 15 days | Every new property, starting once the agent has set up the gate. |
| People at the gate | Never pay | Residents, parents, staff, guests, officers and visitors use it free. The property is billed, not the households. |
Where the full figure is out of reach, the survey says so and the price reflects it, in writing, with the reason and the date it ends.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is NIPE code?
“Nipe” is Swahili for “give me”, so NIPE code means “give me the code”. That is what happens at the gate: the visitor gets a six-digit code from the person who invited them, the officer says “nipe code”, the visitor gives it, and they are checked and let in. Every entry and exit is recorded, with no paper visitor book and no phone calls to the gate.
Who pays for NIPE code?
The management of the property: for an estate, the residents’ association, the committee or the managing agent; for a school, the school; for an office, the building’s management or the company; for a hotel or venue, the hotel. Residents, parents, staff, guests, officers and visitors never pay anything to use it.
How much does NIPE code cost?
There is no price list, because gates, shifts and budgets differ. An agent who works in your area surveys the property, then you get one monthly figure for the whole property and a one-off setup fee, both in writing before you pay anything. The monthly figure is counted from the size of the property, with no per-visitor fee and no charge per account.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Every new property gets a 15-day free trial, and the NIPE code team can extend it if you need more time to get everyone set up.
Do visitors or residents need to download an app?
No. Visitors only need the code they were sent. NIPE code runs in the phone’s browser, and residents, staff and officers can add it to their home screen to use it like an app.
What happens at the gate if the internet goes down?
The officer’s screen keeps working. What the officer records while offline is kept on the phone and sent the moment the connection comes back, so nothing is lost and nobody waits.
Does NIPE code make our estate compliant with the Data Protection Act?
No software can, and we will not claim it does. Under the Data Protection Act 2019 the estate is the data controller, so compliance is the estate’s to hold. What NIPE code does is reduce what you collect and how long you keep it: the officer sees a code and a house, not a visitor’s phone number or ID number, and visitor records are deleted after a retention period the property sets.