Exit the key, enter the mobile access systems
05 Jul 2011
One of the most enduring tools invented by man, the key, is in the process of making an exit as smarter means increasingly push out the unassuming mechanical contraption.
Powerful tehcnologies now available allow smartphones to unlock hotel, office and house doors, open garages as also car doors. It is not a very distant cousin of the technology that allows key fobs to unlock automobiles or key cards to be brushed against electronic pads at office entrances and will ride a device more people are using for multiple purposes – the cellphone.
The phone simply emits a signal that is carried over the internet and a converter box to a deadbolt or door knob. Some systems are also leveraging intranets like General Motors' OnStar system, to unlock car doors.
With just about everyone owning a cellphone, a number of start ups, lock companies, carmakers are lining up to get their own piece of the action, given the broad acceptance of the technology.
Schlage, a major lock maker, markets a system that allows homeowners to unlock their doors from miles away and manage their home heating and air-conditioning, lights and security cameras.
In October, General Motors will introduce an application to allow owners of most 2011 GM models lock and unlock the doors and start the engine remotely. The system allows car owners to warm up the engine on a frigid day or fire up the air-conditioning on a hot one from the comfort of their office cubicle.
