Today, I was locked out of my house. Unfortunately, all the keys were inside the house, which left me with just one option, calling the locksmith. I have had such an experience once before as a child, though I cannot remember the incident clearly, the thing I can recall is a man pedalling a cycle towards our house with a huge bunch of keys. I watched in awe. Today, however, the mechanism of the locks is different and the locksmiths come with a backpack loaded with their tools. And of course, they are a little heavy on our pockets.
Standing outside, watching him play with his tools, made me wish I had a number lock or touch screen kind of lock, which meant no hassle of breaking anything to get into the house. I had seen such a door locking system at a friend’s place. He didn’t carry any keys around, a simple touch and voila! It is called as ‘Electronic or Digital Lock’. These locks are battery operated and do not need any physical key to access the door.
There are many benefits of using a digital lock.
• Economical
• No physical keys, while some may use keycards
• Record of who accessed the lock at what time. And this is mostly useful for businesses
We think that all the digital locks are smart, but that is not the case. A lock should have some of these general features for it to be considered as ‘smart lock’.
• Integrated with alarm
• Smartphone operated
• Multiple access options
• Many backup or authentication procedures
• Tamper-proof
• Customised LED signals
It is said that digital locks are more secure than traditional locks, and also that they are ideal comparatively. You do not have to leave your keys under a pot or in shoe box, nor will you happen to lose it by mistake. All you will have to do is user your finger touch or passcode. There are times you aren’t physically available to unlock the door, then you can easily pass on the passcode for access.
There disadvantages too, like if there is a programming error or if the lock’s battery is down, it could be a hindrance.
Companies like Godrej and Hafele have designed many electronic locks, with different features. You can do your research but reading and understanding the features, and also visiting the review section could be helpful. Traditional or Digital, lock your doors safely.