Page 34 - New England Condominium May EXPO 2019

34 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM —MAY 2019 NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM See us at Booth 204 MANAGEMENT Keys, Key Fobs, and Door Codes Controlling Access to Your Building BY A J SIDRANSKY I t’s been a long time since most people even hundreds of keys. Electronic technol- have felt comfortable just leaving their ogy simply eliminates that problem. front doors unlocked. For better or worse, security has become the order of er of Bullis Lock Co., in Chicago, says: “Fob the day – and technology follows security popularity has become prolific as the price needs. Today, that path leads to electronic ac- cess. And according to Bob Maunsell, the dropping, condos and apartment buildings CEO of Electronic Security Group in West are increasingly using the technology. Basi- Boylston, Massachusetts, when it comes to cally, fobs eliminate the need for a physical apartment living, that usually means key key. If you hand somebody a key and they fobs. “Anyone who is in the process of refi- nancing or doing any major capital im- provements are installing keyless entry sys- tems,” says Maunsell. “Everyone is moving – they give you control over who enters, toward key fobs. They’re also doing inter- com upgrading and video surveillance and the software and eliminate it without affect- getting rid of old-fashioned mechanical ing anyone else’s usage.” keys, since there is no way to keep track of them.” That lack of security tracking is a major keys was in the early 1990s, with the intro- factor in replacing old metal key systems duction of Dallas chip keys, also known as with electronic fob systems. “With keyless ‘transponder keys.’ They were originally entry,” Maunsell says, “you know who has used as a car-key technology, and contain a entered the building and at what time. You very small computer chip inside that sends can disable a fob when it’s lost, or when a an identifying message to authenticate the tenant moves out. It’s easier than having key for the lock. As it happens, these old- a locksmith come and change the lock.” model chip keys are usually compatible Changing a lock on an entry door also re- quires replacing what could be dozens or require a technology update. Tony Dahlin, a security expert and own- has dropped. \\\\\\\[They’ve\\\\\\\] long been popular in the commercial sector, but with the price don’t return it, you have to change the locks. They can make duplicates of the missing key, and you don’t know who has access to your building. With fobs, that can’t happen and when. If a fob is lost, you just go into How We Got Here The first big move away from physical with today’s fob systems – though they may