I recently attended a house in Gold Coast where the owners wanted a security solution a bit outside the box. A long hours working couple, they had a cleaner who came once a week to clean the house whilst they were out. Their home security was pretty good, central locking for the house, security cameras and a home alarm… but they were concerned about the weakest link. The cleaner herself.
They believed their cleaner was honest… at least… as much as you can believe anyone is honest. But the cleaner having a key to their home just seemed too much of a risk. So we discussed options.
Modifying the locking mechanism of the front door.
The front door was a special 3-barrel door set up so a single key locked all 3 barrels, top middle, and bottom. I could modify the door, so instead, the top and bottom barrels could be locked with a single key, but not unlocked. On cleaning days, the top and bottom barrels would be left unlocked, and their cleaner would be able to access the house via the key, but when she re-locked the front door, the top and bottom barrels would also be engaged and she would not be able to re-enter the house. This would work but raised the problem of the cleaner being unable to access the house if the top and bottom barrels were accidentally locked, or if she locked the house whilst going out to her car to get more cleaning products etc. Scratch this idea, let’s look at something more hi-tech.
Key-less Entry.
Keyless entries are wonderful things. Lose your keys and suspect someone who knows where you live has them. You need to re-key all your barrels. Someone has the pin number you want to prevent accessing your home? Then change it. So we went with a keyless entry system and set it up as follows.
- General access code for the Mr and Mrs.
- Separate pin number for their cleaner. This pin number would only work between the designated cleaning hrs on cleaning day.
- If for some reason, their cleaner needed modified access times, the Mr and Mrs could modify the allowed access times by logging into an App on their mobile phone and modifying the times. So if their cleaner needed to do an extra 2 hrs for whatever reason, they could text the Mr and Mrs, advise, and they could update access times.
Combined with the cameras and alarm system, the keyless entry not only provided my new clients with tremendous convenience but fortress-like hi-tech security that will protect them against both strangers… and known possible risks.
Looking for that little bit extra in your home security? A keyless entry system could be just the thing.
Contact Allcoast Locksmiths today at 0406 333 300!