Smart commercial door locks

[Grant Gunderson]

At home I have August smart locks on all of the exterior doors and love them. Infact I have no idea where my actual key is.

I’m opening a new shop / commercial store front and one of the issues is I have bums sleeping in the door way every morning. After leaving the shop last night I kept asking my self did I lock the damn doors?

So that brings me to wanting to install smart locks. Will also be nice for when I start hiring employees as would be nice to allow them to open the shop on the am or close it up at night.

The rear door uses a standard deadbolt. Thats easy to convert to a smart lock.

Front door is a commercial glass setup.


No markings are on it.


So looking for a smart lock for this unit. Ideally from a company that will have one for the back door so all use same app. Bonus is if they integrate with a security/ video system the way my August locks do with the Ring system at home. I haven’t decided on a security/ camera system yet.

Obviously with glass doors this just keeps honest people honest. Hopefully I don’t have to add some metal behind the windows for security as well.

 

[kbuhagiar]

I'm not a small business owner, never have been, so I can't speak from experience.
And I hold those with the patience and determination to open and maintain a small business in high esteem.

But I DO know that if I DID own a small business the number one thing I would be obsessive about would be locking up every night.
Why why why would you even consider putting an electronic lock on your main entry door? If you have a problem remembering to lock the doors at night, perhaps you should reconsider your decision to open a bricks-and-mortar storefront.

Keep in mind that most street people (aka homeless folks - and especially the meth heads) have nothing better to do than to spend countless hours trying various combinations on any and all electronic locks they encounter in the doorways they sleep in and/ or otherwise occupy at night.

Just my humble opinion, and I wish you nothing but wild success in your new business endeavour.

 

[Grant Gunderson]

I'm not a small business owner, never have been, so I can't speak from experience.
And I hold those with the patience and determination to open and maintain a small business in high esteem.

But I DO know that if I DID own a small business the number one thing I would be obsessive about would be locking up every night.
Why why why would you even consider putting an electronic lock on your main entry door? If you have a problem remembering to lock the doors at night, perhaps you should reconsider your decision to open a bricks-and-mortar storefront.

Keep in mind that most street people (aka homeless folks - and especially the meth heads) have nothing better to do than to spend countless hours trying various combinations on any and all electronic locks they encounter in the doorways they sleep in and/ or otherwise occupy at night.

Just my humble opinion, and I wish you nothing but wild success in your new business endeavour.

Its more about having a piece of mind to be able to know its locked. IE getting notifications on my phone that the shop is locked when employees leave at night, and being able to give each employee a PIN code.

 

[markietas]

You can definitely get high quality electronic locks for a business. Any modern office building has them.

But they are definitely not marketed as "smart".

And of course whether they are worth it is a different discussion, that I don't have a strong opinion about.

Keywords would be "commercial Access control systems"

Ubiquity makes a relatively affordable system you could probably figure out how to install yourself: https://ui.com/physical-security/door-access

 

[BobnCO]

I know of none and have looked! (Comm. GC for years)

 

[Rusted Nut]

The type of latch on the front storefront door is difficult to retro-fit with anything but a "mag-lock". Mag locks are an electromagnetic lock system, very secure. Can be locked/unlocked remotely or by key card; by many access control systems. You'll need an access control contractor to install. PM me and I can give you the name of a company near you. No, I'm not affiliated in any way; just installed a lot of access control systems over the years.

 

[Skyman]

Can you see the position of the interior lock knob remotely via your security camera? Or add a camera that will allow you to see it?

 

[loganb]

The type of latch on the front storefront door is difficult to retro-fit with anything but a "mag-lock". Mag locks are an electromagnetic lock system, very secure. Can be locked/unlocked remotely or by key card; by many access control systems. You'll need an access control contractor to install. PM me and I can give you the name of a company near you. No, I'm not affiliated in any way; just installed a lot of access control systems over the years.

This. A surface mounted magnetic lock installed at the head of the door is the most common and least invasive option here. I'm not familiar with the access control and mangt of said system, but the mag locks can be incorporated on most any system.

There are other options, more concealed and less obvious....but with that you're trading money for looks....so just depends on what your value the most. For a lot of the basic systems your standard commercial entrance system company can often do the work

 

[cvairwerks]

BTW....that type of latching system in your photo can be opened in about 5 seconds with a properly bent piece of steel strip...

 

[walta]

The type of latch on the front storefront door is difficult to retro-fit with anything but a "mag-lock". Mag locks are an electromagnetic lock system, very secure. Can be locked/unlocked remotely or by key card; by many access control systems. You'll need an access control contractor to install. PM me and I can give you the name of a company near you. No, I'm not affiliated in any way; just installed a lot of access control systems over the years.

So in the event of a power outage long enough to deplete the back up battery the door will be unlocked?

Walta

 

[reader2580]

So in the event of a power outage long enough to deplete the back up battery the door will be unlocked?

Yes. They have failure modes where the door can be unlocked. They tend to favor life safety over physical security.

 

[Rusted Nut]

So in the event of a power outage long enough to deplete the back up battery the door will be unlocked?

Walta

Yes, mag locks release without power. Ones I’ve installed have battery backup, rated for 96 hours; field testing showed they kept power for about 140 hours.

 

[cvairwerks]

Grant: The video I was referencing...

 

[bluedog225]

I guess. Smart for me as a key. Not a fan of all the electronic gizmos. They’re really selling Wi-Fi refrigerators?

 

[rlitman]

Its more about having a piece of mind to be able to know its locked. IE getting notifications on my phone that the shop is locked when employees leave at night, and being able to give each employee a PIN code.

Peace of mind comes with a commercial alarm system. Not locks. Something that alerts you on late opening or closing, and has central station monitoring. I'm all for smart access control, but smart locks just make things easier; they don't buy peace of mind.

 

[walta]

Yes, mag locks release without power. Ones I’ve installed have battery backup, rated for 96 hours; field testing showed they kept power for about 140 hours.

And when the battery gets to be 7 years old?

Walt

 

[Rusted Nut]

And when the battery gets to be 7 years old?

Walt

Change them every three years.

 

[rlitman]

And when the battery gets to be 7 years old?

Walt

It's never come up for me, because fire code here doesn't really allow for batteries on mag locks. When the power's off, the mag lock releases. Just like in Die Hard.

 

[ozyborn]

Could go with a Honeywell badge reader and electric locks. Would require some system setup
work. If they are good enough for hospital pharmacies.....

 

[Noah4363]

Good idea especially for staff access and not worrying about keys.

Rear deadbolt is easy to convert to a smart lock, but the front glass door will need a commercial narrow-stile smart lock/access control system, not a standard August-type lock.

Best approach is to choose one ecosystem that supports both doors + possible camera integration later, so everything runs on one app.

For the glass door setup, an affordable locksmith familiar with commercial hardware can match the right system and make sure it’s properly installed and compatible.