Frequently asked questions

The Online version has a cellular modem and can communicate with the system over the cellular network. Cards can be added and removed remotely from the operator panel, and opening records reach the system as they happen. The operator can also check the battery state, the fill level and alarms.

The Offline version has no cellular link and needs no subscription. The card list is held in the device memory, and permissions can be changed locally — with a service card or a phone during a visit. Optionally the event history can be stored in the device and read out locally.

Opening the container itself works the same way in both versions — the decision to grant access is made locally by the reader.

SAC handles one lock. It is meant for a single point of access — one container or one compartment.

MultiLock is a single device driving up to five independent locks. The user picks the fraction, presents a card, and the system opens the right access point. It suits bin stores and multi-compartment enclosures, where a separate reader at every access point would mean more devices, more batteries and more things to service.

Both are available in an Online and an Offline version.

They do two different jobs. SAC handles access control — it decides who may open the container, and records the openings.

iCober Bin Sensor only monitors the fill level and has nothing to do with access control. It can also be fitted on containers that are open to everyone.

Optionally SAC can carry a fill-level sensor as well, so one device combines access control with fill monitoring.

In short: SAC answers who used the container and when, Bin Sensor answers when the container needs emptying. SAC can do both at once.

Yes — and it is one device, not two. SAC Online can also carry fill-level measurement: the sensor connects by cable, through a sealed Plug & Play connector, straight to SAC.

The sensor draws power from SAC and sends its data through it, so the whole thing needs one SIM card and one power source. In practice that means one installation, one battery to replace, one service point and one subscription — instead of two independent devices. Openings and fill level sit side by side in iCober Cloud.

That is what we did in Gdynia on a textile container.

If the containers are already in use and only fill measurement is needed, a separate iCober Bin Sensor will do.

The container opens as usual. The access decision is made in the reader, from the list held in its memory — no connectivity is needed for that.

Events recorded during that period remain in non-volatile memory and are sent automatically once connectivity is restored. Each carries a marker showing whether the server has already accepted it, so a fortnight without coverage does not lose the history.

Both are available. Battery power is the default, because it allows the device to be fitted where no electricity is present — the usual case with waste containers.

Where mains power is available at the installation point, we can use it. Battery replacement then ceases to be a concern, and the device can run in a more active mode — for example with more frequent reporting or a permanently ready reader.

Tell us what the mounting location looks like and we will match the variant.

The working life depends on the device, the configuration and how heavily it is used.

SAC and MultiLock — up to 2 years as standard at typical usage. A larger battery is available on request and can extend that to as much as 5 years.

iCober Bin Sensor — up to 10 years on a single battery, depending on the configuration, the measurement interval and the working conditions.

In the Online version each device's battery state is available in the operator panel. A drop below a set level can raise a notification, so a battery change can be planned in advance.

Yes. The parts of the system are joined Plug & Play, through sealed connectors. Replacing the battery means unplugging one connector and plugging in the new part. No soldering, and no dismantling of the whole housing.

The same principle simplifies servicing the other parts. A faulty component can be replaced on site, without taking the whole device away for repair.

Yes. Every installation includes manual emergency opening — for a flat battery, a damaged reader or any other fault.

This is non-negotiable: a container that cannot be opened without working electronics blocks waste collection.

In the Online version the operator removes the lost card in the panel and issues a new one.

In the Offline version the lost card can be excluded at the next visit by a technician or the property manager, using an administrator card or a phone. Until then the card stays active, because the device has no way of receiving a remote change.

The reader supports the common NFC and RFID standards, including the technologies working at 13.56 MHz: NFC-A / ISO 14443A, NFC-B / ISO 14443B, NFC-F / FeliCa and NFC-V / ISO 15693. Depending on the configuration it can also handle 125 kHz RFID credentials.

That covers a wide range of proximity cards, fobs and stickers available on the market. Very often the credentials residents already carry can be used.

For higher security requirements we recommend MIFARE DESFire EV3.

If you already have particular cards or fobs, tell us which. We can check their compatibility with our reader rather than relying on the specification alone.

Yes. The iCober Key app turns a phone into an identifier — presented to the reader exactly like a card. Android is supported today.

Cards and phones work side by side, so residents do not have to choose and those without a smartphone are not excluded.

With simple proximity cards, access may rest on reading the card identifier alone. That identifier can be copied, so reading it gives no cryptographic protection.

DESFire EV3 uses cryptographic authentication. The reader sends the card a random challenge, and the card proves it knows a secret key without revealing it. Copying the card identifier alone is therefore not enough to gain access.

We recommend it where access control carries higher security requirements — for instance in PAYT (Pay As You Throw) schemes.

Usually, yes. Our devices turn an existing container into a smart container, and a bin store into a smart bin store — with access control, fill measurement or both at once, without replacing the infrastructure.

We have fitted them in underground and semi-underground containers, in bin stores, on textile banks and in multi-compartment enclosures.

The device runs on its own battery, so no power and no network have to be run to the site.

For an unusual construction, send us photographs and dimensions — we design the electronics and the mechanics ourselves, so adapting the mounting is part of our normal design work.

The process is short: photographs and dimensions → assessment of the construction → choice of fixing → installation. We do the first two steps remotely and without obligation, so you learn whether mounting is feasible before ordering anything.

Yes. iCober can be part of an existing system rather than a replacement for it. We provide an API through which data from our devices can be passed to the customer's software or to an external supplier.

You can use only the parts of iCober you need. If you already have a waste management platform, fill-level sensors or other solutions, we can supply the access control alone, with its opening data. That data can be passed into the system you already run.

The scope of the integration and the way data is exchanged are agreed before deployment. iCober can therefore complement an existing solution instead of forcing its replacement.

Usually yes. You can keep your sensors and your platform and take the access control alone from us. Opening data can be passed into your system via the API, so both solutions work together.

The reverse also works — we can take data from your devices into iCober Cloud, if it suits you better to have information from different devices in one place.

What is possible depends on the particular hardware and platform.

We design and develop SAC and MultiLock at iCober, as we do the iCober Cloud and iCober Key software. For Bin Sensor, we use hardware from a specialist manufacturer, which we configure and integrate with our system.

Yes. Because we design the hardware and the software ourselves, adapting the device is part of our normal work: a different mounting, a different housing, a different credential, an extra sensor, a different data format for your system.

We also build devices from scratch — see the Custom projects page.

From a GDPR perspective what matters is that our access control devices do not directly store residents' personal data. The device can operate using a card or key fob number without storing the resident’s name or other directly identifying personal data.

Linking the card or fob number to a specific person can stay with the data controller — the operator or the municipality. The scope of stored data can be matched to how the system is organised and to the requirements of the particular deployment.

In practice access control can work without personal data of residents being held on the device.

Online devices use the LTE-M and NB-IoT cellular networks, available in many European countries. Actual coverage depends on the operator and the particular location.

The Offline version needs no network at all, so it works anywhere.

If you are unsure about your country or a specific site — write to us. We will check coverage with the local operators rather than guess.

The technician authenticates with a phone, using the appropriate permissions, and can then read the state of the device without opening the housing — battery voltage, the number of stored events, the state of the link, the number of cards in memory.

Basic diagnostics can therefore be done on site, in a matter of seconds, with no dismantling and no laptop.

In the Online version some diagnostic information is available remotely in the operator panel, so many problems can be checked without a service visit.

The working range is −25 to +60 °C. The devices are built for year-round outdoor conditions — frost does not stop access control from working.

The battery is not the limiting factor here: we use a lithium thionyl chloride cell, a chemistry made for low-temperature operation, rather than an ordinary rechargeable battery that loses capacity in the cold.

No — and we say so plainly, even though it does not suit us. The devices are rated IP67, meaning dust-tight and protected against short immersion. That is not the same as resistance to pressurised jets, which is covered by the separate IP69K rating.

Rinsing with water and washing from a distance are fine. What should not be done: aiming a pressure lance straight at the seals, connectors or the reader. If the containers are pressure-washed, it is worth instructing the crew to avoid the iCober module — one sentence in a work instruction that saves a warranty claim.

The electronics sit in a housing with no access from the outside, and the fixings are concealed — there is nothing to unscrew or lever from outside. We do not promise indestructibility, though: a container standing in a public space can be damaged if somebody is determined enough.

What matters more than the claim is what happens after damage. The whole system is modular and runs on Plug & Play connectors — battery, reader, modem, speaker, lock and fill sensor. A damaged part is swapped on site in minutes, without replacing the whole device and without shipping anything to a service centre.

The same design guards against technology ageing: when mobile networks change, you replace the connectivity module, not the fleet.

Yes. A denied attempt is the same kind of event as an opening and reaches the system together with the card number, the time and the device. So you see not only who uses the container, but also who tried.

Alarms build on this: a run of denials on one device raises a notification to the operator, as do low battery voltage and a high fill level. The administrator does not have to read through history to spot a problem — the system reports it.

Yes. Every event carries the card number, a timestamp and the device, and in the version with a sensor also the fill level and battery voltage. The history is unambiguous — there are no anonymous or aggregated events.

One device holds up to 1000 user cards plus a separate 20 service cards, so the capacity covers large housing associations and collection points too.

Yes. The permission belongs to the card number, not to a single device — the same card can open containers at different points and different locations within one organisation.

This matters for administrators running several properties, for companies whose staff visit many points, and for residents who use more than one collection place.

In Poland. iCober Cloud runs on a server in OVHcloud's Warsaw data centre — the data leaves neither the country nor the European Union, and is not passed to providers outside the EU.

This is usually one of the first questions in public procurement, so we answer it concretely: the provider's name and the location, rather than a vague "servers in Europe".

The history is available for the whole term of the contract — as standard at least two years back, and longer on request. We set the retention period in the contract, because some customers care about current oversight and others need to account for a full budget year.

The data can be exported at any time, so ending the cooperation does not mean losing the history.

Yes. We keep a public demo environment — one click, no sign-up and no account. You see the same panel an operator gets.

It holds 25 devices with 30 days of history: access control, fill measurement, alarms and opening history. The devices and the data are simulated — this is a showcase environment, not somebody's deployment.

Open the iCober Cloud Live Demo

The price depends on several things: the number of devices, the choice of the Online or Offline version, the way it is mounted, the number of fractions and whether fill measurement is needed. That is why we do not publish a price list, which would not answer your question anyway.

Instead we put together a specific configuration and a quote. Usually the number and type of containers is enough — we select the rest ourselves and explain why.

For existing containers, photographs and basic dimensions let us check straight away whether mounting is feasible, so the quote does not rest on an unknown.

In most cases we need: the number of containers, their type, a few photographs, basic dimensions and the number of fractions.

You do not have to know which version to choose. If it is unclear whether Online or Offline suits you better, we will pick it based on how the containers are used — how many points there are, how often permissions change and whether live oversight is needed.

Yes, and that is usually what we recommend. You can deploy the system at selected locations — the ones where the problem bites hardest — look at a few months of data, and only then decide on the scale.

Expanding requires replacing nothing that is already in place. Further devices join the same panel, and residents cards work at the new points without being reissued.

Two years on the device. Service is included during that period — repairs and visits are not billed separately.

The battery is a consumable, as in any battery-powered device: the warranty covers defects, not the wear that comes from use. Operating time depends on how often the container is opened, and we always state it together with the condition it was calculated for.

In the Offline version there are no running costs — the device uses no mobile network and needs no subscription.

In the Online version the fee covers access to iCober Cloud and data transmission including the SIM card. Service is included for the whole warranty period, that is the first two years.

The cost depends on the number of devices, so it looks different for a large rollout than for a few points — we give it together with the hardware quote so the whole picture is visible.

Yes. We block nothing. The decision to grant access is made locally in the device, so residents open the containers just as before — access control keeps working.

What stops after the contract ends is the cloud side: live data, remote permission changes and alarms. The devices themselves remain your property and do not turn into useless hardware.

We say this plainly, because dependence on a supplier is one of the most common worries in deployments like this — and rightly so.

We do the installation ourselves. If a partner works on it, they are trained first and we inspect their first installations — only then do they work on their own.

We are strict about this, because the quality of the installation determines the sealing and the lifetime of the device, and a mistake at this stage only shows up after the first winter.