Up until about 6 months ago, I didn’t know who Alexa was or what she could do. I kept hearing about her, but just didn’t get the big deal. Then, I heard about the Echo device on a radio show and it all seemed a bit geeky. But at Christmas, I went to a friend’s house and my eyes were truly opened. The lights on, off and dimmed to perfection with a voice command. Information from verbal commands rather than sitting at a computer. The ability to control heating and music in any individual room. Gadgets galore! I even got excited about their robo-hoover.

Home security
All this new and exciting stuff and guess what they didn’t have? Adequate security. When light bulbs are now in the region of £20, everything in your gadget home is a draw for the opportunist burglar. If he can get in and out quickly, he will.

So why not get the full security set up? You can have a digital door viewer that takes a picture of anyone who approaches your door. Wireless alarm systems that can be programmed to set zones or individual rooms however you like, linked in wireless cameras and systems that allow you to talk to whoever has come into your home. These same systems can be used as emergency units for the elderly if they take a fall and need to get hold of a relative/friend. Through Alexa, you can answer your door from the other side of the world, let the delivery person into the hall while keeping the rest of the house alarmed and talk to them if needed before they leaves. No need to miss that delivery ever again, or have it left with the neighbour you really don’t want to get stuck talking to!

But there is a problem. All this requires a keyless entry system, and right now, no keyless home entry system is kite marked, meaning no keyless entry system is as secure as a keyed lock. And that means our opportunistic burglar can get in quickly, steal those gadgets and be out again before the alarm is noted.

So when I attended a seminar and found out that very soon a kite marked keyless lock will be out by mid 2018, I went lock geek gooey. The brand is ERA and my existing customers will know that I use this brand all the time because I know it allows me to leave a guarantee and not worry that I am going to be called back because something I have installed has failed. It will work with Alexa and the other similar devices. It will be secure. What’s more, current app activated locks mean you have to get your phone out, open it up, search for the app, open the app and then do whatever keyless thing you have to do, and it all takes longer than getting a key out anyway! With this new lock, you simply approach the door with your phone still in standby mode, and press a small button. The lock unlocks and you enter. It registers which side of the lock you are on to stop others opening the door while you are in the vicinity. This really is a product that needs to be seen to be believed.

If you would like more information regarding keyless entry and Echo compatibility, or anything else lock and alarm related, please contact through any of the methods on my contacts page.

Thanks for reading