Don’t search for your home key in your pocket in the dark anymore, never mind that you locked the doors when you left home, or don’t worry about your kids when they return home from school without door keys and you are still at the office! Gone that day, losing the home keys equals being stuck at the door, thanks to smart home solutions, particularly smart locks and access control systems. The future is in your pocket, not the keys, but your smartphone. With a single app, you can control anything on your smart living system, from smart lighting and even smart leak detectors to smart locks and access control systems; just push the button or give a voice command. You can set biometric specifications, voice recolonization, or use your mobile by NFC connection to unlock the doors easily. It offers more security, convenience, and a touch of futuristic flair to your home and businesses alike. We are going to explore additional information about what are smart locks and access control systems to learn more about their differences and benefits.
Smart Locks and Access Control System
In the construction of a building, locks play a crucial role at any stage; from the design process to installation, you need to consider your locks and access control system. When it comes to transforming your traditional home into a smart home by adding smart services, you should be aware of smart locks and access control systems.
What is Smart Lock?
As one of the most important additions of a smart home system that you can add to your home, a smart lock stands for an electronic lock that can connect to your phone, laptop, PC, tablet, and any other capable devices (Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple HomeKit) via WiFi or Bluetooth to lock/unlock the doors or windows, without using traditional methods “keys” to lock or unlocking doors, you have multiple options for smart door locks based on your need, choose the connectivity, the mechanism you want to open the doors (touchscreen or access code panel, etc.), the process of design and installation, security level (automatic locks or biometric options) to create your specific lock for your smart home.
You need an access control system to connect your smart lock to third-party software such as property management software.
What is an Access Control System?
To have complete supervision of your facility’s entry and exit, you need to have access control, which is a software system that regulates this subject and completes your smart lock system. This program lets you or anyone else with access keep track of who comes in and goes out from your property. You may need to double-check so that in case you need it later, access control systems can save a monitoring log of entries and exits. You can also offer remote access to residents, guests, merchants, or delivery persons by using access control.
Many access control systems use smart locks to control the access that you grant to your property. As a result, there is no need for traditional locks and actual keys for your new smart living ecosystem. Instead of it, you, your family members, or if you add it to your business building, your team, and coworkers can use a keypad, smartphone app, and other methods to access the property.
That’s true; independent access control systems exist, but their benefits are limited. An entire property and device management system is a more reliable and superior alternative. As a result, from the same platform, you can manage your property, devices, their access, and more.
There are physical access control systems, or PACS, which are centralized digital platforms that have the ability to handle locks on many doors or barriers, including any type of gate, elevator, and door in your facility. They enable administrators to schedule access, regulate users and permissions for each entrance, and remotely modify these settings.
Differences Between Access Control and Smart Locks
You may think smart locks and access control systems look similar to each other; they have similar functions, but there are some significant differences you should notice:
Being Comprehensive
The first and one of the most essential differences between smart locks and access control systems is that control systems are comprehensive, while smart locks just can give access to your property. As mentioned before, access control gives you access and monitors your property’s entry and exit activity. You can have a log of the activities that are saved by the access control system, which gives you the ability to have remote access to let non-residents in and out and allows monitoring of your property wherever you are. In conclusion, access control gives you a bigger picture of access to your property operations, which leads you to save money and time and have a superior experience of smart home controlling.
Ability for Integration
Integration is the next difference that you should consider between smart locks and access control systems. Smart locks have a much-limited option (smartphones, smart monitors, tablets, etc.) to connect compared to access control systems. By having the right choice for your home’s access control system, you can have a seamless integration with all the tech and smart elements of your home. By integration, your systems can share data much easier and work together more efficiently, which is necessary for a seamless experience of your access control experience, where a single, smart lock can’t do this on its own.
Flexibility
The third one is the flexibility distinction between access control and smart locks. Imagine you don’t like your current smart lock, or you are tired of it! You can replace your smart lock, but the worst subject is that you have to change your whole access system to make this switch happen.
But in the case of having access control on your smart living system, it will allow you to change a single lock without affecting the user experience and the whole control system. It doesn’t change the experience of your entrance, and it will still be the same (such as using the same app or keycard to open doors). Just choose a proper lock that works with your access control system. Now you can see that changing portions of an access control system is more flexible than changing a single smart lock.
Benefits of Smart Locks and Access Control Systems
Full Access Visibility
Some homeowners use different control systems for each part of their property, such as a smart lock for doors and a separate access control system to monitor public places. Expertise believes that it’s not wrong, but it results in data fragments, which could be challenging to use, waste your time, and cost more compared to using a single integration control system. By using smart locks that are linked to an integrated access control system, you are able to have full management access to all parts of your smart living ecosystem all in one place. If you add these services to your business space, you can observe all individuals entering and exiting the building and control their access wirelessly. It will enhance the productivity of unused spaces based on reports you can extract from smart locks and control systems. It lets you make it available to other users from the data of your centralized smart access system with a mobile application. You can use one-time digital keys for visitors and people who should not have access to your property more than once to feel safe and secure at all times.
Simplification
With a single-access environment, you can control the commuting of individuals with a one-time digital key from anywhere on the premises. So, you can avoid entering them into different levels of a building and get rid of inefficiencies. Witness how smart locks eliminate the need for key-making and re-keying.
More control
Smart locks are responsible just for the installed door, and the rest of the process is on access control systems to handle everything else. Thanks to a unified system, you and the rest of the users can use a single app to control access everywhere. That means you can welcome your guests at the front door with a few smartphone touches. It also eliminates the need for front-desk workers if you have a mansion or use the system for your company building to phone up and inquire if a homeowner is expecting visitors or pizza delivery.
Unification experience
A robust access system extends the apartment’s domestic atmosphere throughout the whole building. As mentioned above, you may invite visitors directly to the main door without any extra action. If you add the smart access control system and smart locks to an apartment, the residents will be able to enter the fitness facility, pool, or elevator using the same device they use to enter their own apartment. In summary, by combining the smart locks into an access control system, you can feel it’s your home everywhere you step on the whole property.
