Home Automation Guide, Part 1: Everything You Need To Know About Keyless Door Locks

Keyless Door Locks: Making Life Easier

When it comes to home automation for your house in Charleston, you may have many questions about some of the equipment, features and services that are available for you on the market.

To help you understand home automation and the options you may have, over the next few weeks we’ll be reviewing some of the main areas of your house that several Lowcountry homeowners are automating and how you can benefit from a few simple home automation upgrades.

The first pieces of home automation equipment that we’d like to review are keyless door locks.

What Are Keyless Door Locks?

Like the name implies, keyless door locks are locks for your door that don’t require a key to open. In order to unlock your door, a verification step is added to ensure the person entering your home is allowed. This verification step can be entering a specific numeric (or alphanumeric) code on a keypad on your door lock, scanning a keyfob or access card, a fingerprint scan (biometric), or via a remote control or smartphone app specific to your home automation service or door lock.

The most common and popular keyless door locks are the numeric code verification type. Similar to how you would enter a pin at an ATM to gain access to your bank account to withdraw funds, on a keyless door lock you would enter a specific code on a keypad on your door lock to unlock your door lock and gain access to your home.

As mentioned above, when combined with a home automation service like Total Connect 2.0, your keyless door lock can be locked/unlocked using an app on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC.

How Do Keyless Door Locks Make Life Easier?

Having a keyless door lock allows you to control access to your home faster and safer than ever before. Instead of having several keys (which are well known for getting lost) made for each member of your family, simply assign a code to each person for them to use on your door lock. When they no longer need access to your home, simply delete the code from your door lock and their code can no longer be used.

If you need to let temporary access to your home to a plumber, HVAC contractor or any other kind of home contractor or technician, simply assign them a code to use while they need to be in your home and delete that code once their done, removing access.

The other option you have for temporary access is by using a home automation service (as mentioned above). When a contractor or technician needs access to your home, simply pull up your app on your smartphone or tablet and unlock the door from wherever you are. When they leave, simply lock the door and you’re all set.

Is There A Way To Track Access To Keyless Door Locks?

The other great thing about connecting your keyless door lock to a home automation service is the ability to receive notifications (via text, email or both) whenever your door lock unlocks/locks. Not only do the notifications track the time the door lock unlocks/locks, but you can also see which user or user code was used to unlock/lock the door. This allows you to keep a detailed record of who’s entering/leaving your home.

Keyless door locks also have the ability to sync up with your security alarm so that when you enter a correct code on your door lock, your alarm can be instantaneously disarmed, making entering your home that much easier for you. (Using a home automation service, you’ll also be notified when the alarm gets armed/disarmed.)

At Charleston Security Systems, we’re all about making life easier and letting Lowcountry residents get the Peace of Mind they deserve with our products and services; installing keyless door locks are just one of the many ways we can do both.