Granting access without handing over a keyring
The real benefit is not doing away with the key, it is opening and closing a right remotely. A tenant reaching the Carnolès station on a Sunday evening, a cleaning firm between two stays, a gardener tending a terrace in Garavan: each is given an access that expires by itself.
The second gain is traceability. A time-stamped log shows which opening took place and under whose identity. For an owner living in Monaco or on the far side of the Pont Saint-Louis who lets by the week, that is worth more than a spare key left with a neighbour. A code is revoked in seconds, where a lost key means changing the cylinder.
Three arrangements exist side by side. A motor fitted on the inside face of the existing cylinder, reversible, suited to a let property. A smart cylinder, which replaces the barrel alone without touching the leaf, useful on the non-standard doors of the old town. And the complete smart lock, more capable, but not reversible.
Batteries, salt and network, here in particular
Battery life comes first. These locks run on cells, and a Garavan house closed from November to March warns nobody when the level drops. Check before buying what fallback is provided: a mechanical barrel kept in place, emergency power from an external cell or a connector on the front face.
Exposure comes next. A keypad or a reader mounted on the street face along the promenade du Soleil takes the spray and the full sun; the same unit fitted inside, sheltered by a vaulted passage of the old town, ages quite differently. Where the device sits counts as much as which model it is. Salt-laden air also attacks the contacts of a poorly sealed outdoor unit, and that only shows up at the first failure.
Then the network, and privacy. Remote control means a gateway and a working connection: an outage must never stop you getting into your own home. The access log is personal data that reveals when people are there, and the occupants of a furnished let have to be told about it. Mechanical resistance remains that of the door.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our smart lock page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Menton.