Is Your Home Really Protected or is it Home Alone?
If you’re travelling for the holidays taking the proper precautions is paramount, right?
“Automatic timers for our lights, locks for our doors. That’s about as well as anybody can do these days, right?”
Peter McAllister (Home Alone, 1990)
Automatic timers for lights and locking doors were never perfect, which is why today, people go beyond with with fully integrated security systems that can prevent attacks, but also detect and respond to even more than theft or unwelcome entry.
In this article I’m just going to tell you about the first step we’ve taken with our newly built home: Smart Locks for our doors.
Questions To Think About
My husband Geoff is our family’s tech guru (and founder of our family digitial marketing agency Geoffresh), so when he does research on new tech—be it a new iPhone or anything you can think of—he does more than absorb what he’s researching. He comes up with questions that probe and test the fit, function, longevity, and relevance for our family.
And the big question we both had was, “does it work with HomeKit?”
HomeKit is a software framework and communication protocol developed by Apple Inc. It allows you to control your LED lights, thermostat, electric window blinds, and other Apple products from your phone. Taking advantage of this technology makes things so much easier for everyday life—like not having to go up and down the stairs everytime for all these utilities. The time saving your knees over time is priceless.
The other important question you need to ask yourself is, “does this feel intuitive for me to use?”
You know when you go shopping for a tv? Well I remember when we bought ours years ago, I was very a part of the process because I wanted to make sure I could learn how to work the remote, the screen menu, and everything. Life is too short to stick with something you can’t figure out. So try to find a way to either in-person take the smart lock for a ride and try to navigate it on your own. Online videos are available with most smart lock companies too, if you don’t have a nearby store that carries them.
Level Lock
Our family ultimately went with Level Lock and it has been so much fun. I can’t tell you how my husband set it up to integrate with HomeKit, but it is like magic.
If you’ve been to Disney and are familiar with magic bands, it’s like déjà vu. You can lock or unlock your doors with your Apple Watch or simply placing your phone infront of the locks—and a magical ding tone lets you know that you’ve successfully locked or unlocked your door.
And another fantastic ability with Level Locks and HomeKit is how you can check to see if a door is locked or not—and then you can simply unlock or lock a door remotely too!
For instance, while we were on vacation, we would get notifications whenever my closeby in-laws locked or unlocked our front doors to water our plants and Christmas tree. And if someone breaks into your home and you’re away—you will get a notification!
Best Level Lock Installer In Chicago Southland:
While my husband is very adept and handy, he preferred hiring a locksmith company to install our Level Lock system.
He did his Geoffrey research and found a local locksmith right in our hometown: Goldy Locks Locksmith in Tinley Park. They were super easy to work with, and the locksmith from their team who came over was a lot of fun—and so quick!
The service costed us around $300. Peace-of-mind, priceless.
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