Smart locks. Sure, you’ve heard about them. You’ve read about them. All your friends have them. You know you want one. But you just keep putting off buying one.
Well, we want to help our customers make educated decisions on what products are right – or not right – for them, and it can be hard to keep track of all of the advancements in smart home technology these days.
So, we did the hard work for you. Here are five different ways that smart locks can make your family safer, and why you should upgrade your locks today.
1. Keyed and Keyless Entry
Let’s walk through a few quick scenarios, shall we? Let’s say that your son, let’s just call him Robbie, got a ride home from school from one of his friends, but lost his house key. Again. For the eighth time this week. Sure, he could keep relying on that hidden key under that fake rock, but isn’t there a safer way to handle the situation?
You bet there is. There’s always a safety risk with using a hidden key, but with a smart lock you can have both key – and keyless – entry. Some locks have numerical keypads along with the traditional key hole, meaning if a key is lost or forgotten (AGAIN, ROBBIE, HOW DO YOU KEEP LOSING YOUR KEYS?!?) access can still be gained with a numerical code.
2. Open Sesame
Back in the day, your keys would always be with you. With you. With. You. The key word is “you.” If anybody else needed to get into your house, they either needed a key of their own, or you had to run from whatever you were doing and physically hand them the key. So gauche. So 1990-late.
Well, it’s time to takes keys out of the Flintstone-era, friends. Now, there’s something else that is always with you – your phone. And using your phone, you can lock – or unlock – your door from anywhere.
So, if you are adventuring in the Artic and just sat down to enjoy the Aurora borealis and nearly had the perfect Instagram shot only to have your house sitter message you to tell you they lost their key, well, you don’t even have to break a sweat. I mean, it’s the Artic, so you probably wouldn’t be sweating anyways. But you get the Instagram-ready picture.
3. Notifications
Peace of mind can be hard to come by. No matter how many times you tell your kids to text you when they get home, they are bound to forget. And keep forgetting.
Again, smart locks come to your rescue. Smart locks can notify you on your phone when your kids make it back home. No more waiting and hoping for them to remember your text. It shouldn’t be that hard, I mean, you did carry them around for nine months, but hey, we’re sure they are trying to remember. Either way, another safety feature knocked off the list by smart locks.
4. Custom Codes are Cool
OK, let’s run another scenario. Your TV needs repairs and the TV repair person gave you an hour window when they are going to show up. Do you take time off work? Do you have your weird neighbor who never leaves his house because he “hates the sun” let them in?
No. That’s not a good idea. He’s probably the reason you have locks on your door, in the first place. Instead, you can generate a code that only allows entry to your house at that specific time for the TV person. Problem solved safely. Phew.
5. Fort Knox Level Security
Perhaps you have some concerns about smart locks. Perhaps you are really concerned about using a touchscreen to enter your house. Well, like a sauna, let us wrap you in warm comfort and comfort your fears.
Kwikset locks can come with SecureScreen technology, which prevents people from using fingerprints to try to figure out your lock code. There’s a reason they are called smart locks – they really have thought of everything.
We think smart locks are pretty awesome and great additions to any home – smart or not. Of course, if you have more questions, or if you are all set to start on your journey to new age safety, give us a call and one of our awesome integrators will be glad to walk you through the options available for your home.