The Benefits of Keyless Entry for Businesses

Modern businesses across the state of Georgia are discovering the many benefits of keyless entry to keep their commercial assets, employees, customer data, and customers safe from harm. Even small businesses can greatly improve their level of security by investing in keyless entry. If you’re wondering whether or not it’s worth it to invest in a keyless system, or you have doubts about whether this type of security is right for your company, read on to learn more about this innovation in commercial security and the many ways it can help your business now and into the future.

Types of Keyless Entry

Before we extol the benefits of upgrading to a keyless entry system for your business, let’s discuss the many types of keyless entry you can choose from. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and new innovations are being developed in terms of commercial security all the time. The type of keyless entry that you choose is an important decision, as it’s definitely an individualized need depending on many specific aspects of your property.

• Keypad Locks: Keypad locks come in both manual and digital keypad varieties. This is an extremely common and relatively affordable type of lock for commercial properties. They can be used alone to secure certain doors or as part of an overall business security plan.
• Magnetic Locks: Magnetic locks, which operate using an electro-magnetic current, are another common form of commercial locks. Magnetic locks can protect your building’s perimeter while also allowing for easy exiting in case of emergency. Magnetic locks are a low-energy device that holds doors strongly in place. Recent innovations have allowed them to run on LED power, making them even long-lasting and less energy consuming.
• Card Key Readers: Card key scanners, as their name suggests, use specially programmed card keys as access credentials to gain access to the door in question. Card key readers are extremely effective for large properties with the need for many restricted doors. As such, card key scanners have enjoyed widespread usage in the medical, hospitality, and retail industries, due to the affordability and ease of marking multiple cards that accommodates for a large staff, including one with a high turnover rate.
• Smart Locks: Smart locks are an exciting innovation that is becoming more and more common as it becomes more affordable and accessible. With smart locks, access to your property is secure and convenient as you use your phone to gain access to and monitor your property.

Access Control

Depending on the type of keyless entry system you select for your business and the complexity of the features it offers, it may include access control options. Access control can be beneficial for many types of businesses, especially those with high security needs and those with a large staff and frequent turnover rates, including retail stores. Access control not only allows you to grant and revoke access to individuals at any time according to the needs of your business, but to remotely monitor all activity involving your business’s entry points.

Convenient Access

If you or your employees are prone to losing your keys, or you otherwise find manual locks and keys to be annoying or inconvenient, keyless entry can be a major advantage. Losing your keys is not only a major hassle, but it can also pose a significant security risk as anyone who gets ahold of your business’s keys has direct access to your property, whether you want them to or not. With multiple key-holding employees, this risk increases.

Increased Safety & Security

One of the reasons keyless entry is gaining popularity among businesses all across Georgia is the increased security and safety that such a system delivers. Keyless entry makes it more difficult for burglars and vandals to gain unauthorized access.

Time Restrictions

Many keyless entry systems that have electronic access control allow you to restrict access to the property in question based on dates and times. This can be very effective if you want to keep your property safe during holidays and after hours.

Drawbacks to Manual Entry

Now that we’ve discussed some of the many benefits to keyless entry for commercial properties, let’s mention in brief some of the drawbacks to manual entry systems in case you are still on the fence. While some business owners prefer manual entry for various reasons, and may not find upgrading to keyless entry to be cost-effective or necessary, considering the negatives of your current locks and security is always a crucial part of making such a determination.

• The possibility of lost keys. This is especially worrisome if multiple employees have copies of the keys to your business. Anyone with the keys has access to your business. Even if your keys are returned to you, it only takes a few dollars and a couple minutes to copy a key, leaving your property vulnerable.
• It’s easier for a criminal to gain access to your property with a manual lock. Manual locks are usually spring-loaded, but even deadbolts can be vulnerable to common criminal attacks, such as bumping and picking. While you can upgrade to high-security manual locks, many business owners prefer to make the jump to keyless entry to better protect their business property.
• Manual locks are more complicated to change or rekey if you need to revoke access to a former client or business partner. Changes of staff are a reality in all businesses, and sometimes this means having to revoke access to your property. It’s not always a clean cut and dry process, and if you need to change your locks, it can be more costly. With keyless entry, you can quickly grant or revoke access to individual parties without calling in a locksmith in most cases.