As South Africans, we really value the importance of safety due to the high crime rate we experience. We want to feel secure in our homes without worrying about who is able to access our property when we are not around. There are multiple solutions which are great for safety, but not ideal in granting access to other parties when needed. Like one of our clients, Jan, who has a Trellidoor and needs a simple solution to be able to let his Airbnb guests in without him needing to be there to supervise or to drop off the keys.
A simple solution in this scenario is the combination of a key box for the Trellidoor along with sensors to indicate if the gate is closed or open, and then using OPEN for the main door – meaning Jan still has full control of who enters his property, but also full security of a Trellidoor. However, before Jan made the smart decision, there were other options he could have considered. Let’s take a look at a few standard smart locks that are available and their pros and cons.
GSM Systems
GSM technology has been in South Africa since the early 90’s and for all intents and purposes it is a good option when considering a home locking system. The biggest drawback with this technology is that the GSM-switch only works when activated through an SMS, missed call or ‘Please call me’ message.
The difficulty with this being that if your phone’s battery should die, you are unable to access your home. The response time is also typically quite slow, which is a concern when dealing with security measures. Companies have tried to rectify the shortfall by introducing new technology, but this has often revealed other flaws. For example, a South African company have introduced mesh-networks and an app in an attempt to have less wiring but this is more prone to hacking or communication problems. Other short falls include the fact that the keypad has to be programmed on site as opposed to being remotely managed with new pin codes and access periods.
Smart Locks
There are a variety of smart locks to choose from, but they tend to be very expensive as they were originally designed for the US market and often have to be imported. These devices make use of Wi-Fi to connect, which is great in theory but then depends on the strength of the signal and whether or not the Wi-Fi is functional.
There is sometimes an option for it to work with Bluetooth, but again this means that your phone needs to be handy and fully functional for you to gain access to your home. There is also the option of a keypad that functions similarly to OPEN but it is expensive.
The most inconvenient part of the smart lock option is that it is only able to work deadbolt locks which are not standard with South African homes. This means that many changes will have to be made to the physical door and can only be fitted to an actual door, which excludes gates as well as garage doors.
Key box
This is an old faithful solution. It is simply a box to store keys in which is accessed by a 4-digit pin. This solution seems simple, but the difficulty lies in the fact that the codes can easily be found out through someone watching, or the person can be coerced into sharing them.
It also doesn’t provide real-time notifications of access and pin codes cannot be changed remotely.
OPEN
After taking into account the pros and cons of various options, we can confidently say that OPEN offers the best solution for controlled, convenient and compatible access management. Not only is it a proudly South African solution, created by people who understand your needs, it was created to bring the best of 21st Century technology to consumers – filling in the gaps that previously existed in the market.
OPEN offers:
- An easy to use app – no more complicated programming through SMS.
- Easy installation of the CONNECT device – can be done by anyone and in just a few minutes. The device is also ready to use and is immediately connected to the cellphone network – no dependence on WiFi.
- Compatibility with any device, including door, gates and garages.
- A convenient and fast solution to granting access to your property – and receiving real-time notifications of access.
- A keypad as an added extra for home-owners or businesses that want to allow a user to access the door, gate or garage using a pin code. This rotating pin code can be time-based and is trackable through the app.
- Through a minimal monthly subscription fee the CONNECT is loaded with data every month so there is no need for the user to load airtime or manage the device.
- New features are being developed constantly, such as the OPENalarm launching in October 2018 – get emergency alerts if a device opens when it shouldn’t.
Make the smart choice – choose the system that gives you smart access to your property from anywhere in the world, anytime. Choose OPEN.