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Electronic door locks are making their way into every household thanks to their accessibility and ability to be locked from everywhere. But does that make them safe and are they good for every occasion? The answer comes down to what type of lock you’re looking to replace.
Here is everything you need to know about the safety of electronic door locks.
What Type of Lock Are You Looking for?
Not all locks are created equal in the smart and electronic door lock world. You can have doors that only allow those with a digital key in or those that can be accessed through pin pads or finger scans.
Each comes with its own benefit. For instance, the digital key requires you to give someone something physical for them to hold onto. This can be their ID badge or a separate fob.
This fob then acts as the key for people to enter into the building, rather than an individual physical key that needs to be inserted. The benefit of these is that they can double as verification as well as a key.
Then you have options like smart locks that require a digital key on something like a smartphone. If your employees are given a phone for work purposes, you can install and give them a key for accessing the office. You also have the option to use your phone to lockout or let people in with your smartphone.
How Many People Are Going to Have a Key?
The safety of an electronic front door lock comes down to the number of people that are going to have access to the building. The fewer the amount of people, the less likely you are to run into a problem of someone forgetting their “key” to get in.
The more people you give access to the building, the more likely you are to deal with issues. Whether this is a passcode or fob not working, or worse, someone accessing the building without proper permission.
With that being said, this applies to a normal door as well. The more people that have a key, the more likely something going wrong is going to occur. So in this sense, normal doors are no safer than electronic doors.
What Does Your Turnover Look Like?
Turnover plays a huge portion in the safety of locks. If you find yourself with trustworthy employees that stick out the years with you, then the safety of giving out passcodes and fobs are relatively high.
However, if you experience high turnover that constantly creates the passing of keys around, you run into the problem of someone creating problems. In this instance, having a digital code for an electronic lock is much more beneficial than having keys.
You can simply revoke their code the moment they drop employment or become suspicious. All you have to do is either call the company or go into the access codes yourself and remove their code.
This is much simpler than having to find out where they are. Report the stolen key, replace all the locks, and then hope nothing negative comes about the missing key.
How Easy Is It to Operate the Door Remotely?
A positive for electronic doors is the ease of accessing and unlocking the door remotely. This can be beneficial for those that are constantly running into the problem of lost keys.
Rather than you having to drive up to open the door with your keys, you can easily go to your settings and set a temporary code or unlock access to your front door. From there, the person can enter the building and go about their day.
This also makes it easier for maintenance jobs that don’t require someone on hand. For instance, if it is routine maintenance to check that the AC is running well and there are no plumbing leaks then there is no need to be there. You can simply give the maintenance person a temporary code and they’ll be good to go.
How Safe are Electronic Door Locks?
Getting an electronic doorknob or lock is just as safe as a key lock, but don’t come without their own caveats. While they have the ease of access and security features that most people want, they are often cheap and very easy to break compared to traditional locks. If the lock breaks on the outside and automatically unlocks the door, then you’re going to run into a problem.
The other issue is batteries and electricity. If the electricity goes out or a battery fails, you might be stuck with a door lock that no longer works. That is why it is important to get a lock that has the option for key entry, in the event that the electronic portion fails.
Who Should Get a Smart Electronic Lock?
Electronic doors and locks are great for big companies. It is much easier to program a single code, rather than trying to get a key made and hope that hundreds of keys stay in the right hands. You can quickly add or revoke access to the codes with a flip of a switch.
For those that are operating small businesses, you should still consider electric locks. You still have the benefits of the big business, but it also helps you out in times where you need to let someone into the store temporarily and you don’t have to dry up to the location.
Electronic Door Locks: Paving the Way of the Future
By picking up an electronic door lock, you’ll have a piece of mind when it comes to the safety of your business. You can check to see if the business is locked up securel
y and know exactly who accessed the door and when if someone acts in bad faith.
If you want to learn more about the latest tech trends and how to keep up with them, then be sure to check out the rest of our blog. If you know a business that could upgrade its locks, be sure to share this article with them.
