What to Consider Before Changing Commercial Locks
As a business owner, you wear a lot of hats during the day. You can start out the day as a human resource director, move into salesforce mode before lunch, and end the day as a janitor taking out the trash.
There’s a lot to think about. There’s a lot to worry about.
And while some things can be solved with simple courses of action, studies show that we don’t always take the most straightforward routes. A recent survey from Insureon reported that almost 9 percent of business owners had a burglary or theft large enough to file an insurance claim.
Of course, burglary and theft can include a wide variety of malicious behavior. Some thieves are savvy enough to hack their way in through technology, even if they’re a half a world away.
But in many cases, thieves break in for one reason: opportunity. They find an easy way in, take it, and help themselves to things that are easily converted to cash.
The best way to stop that behavior is easier than you think. It involves paying a little more attention to your locks.
As a commercial locksmith, we’re called onto job sites all the time where break-ins could have been prevented with just a little foresight. Do you see yourself in any of these situations?
Lost Keys
It happens to all of us; when we lose a key and no matter how hard we search, we can’t come across it. It seems to disappear.
Whether you merely misplaced it or someone picked it up with less than good intentions in mind, a lost key puts you at risk. If you can’t pinpoint who has a set of keys and who doesn’t, it’s best to take the safest way out and replace the locks on your doors.
If you find losing keys becomes a habit, especially if you have several employees who lose them on a regular basis, it might be time to find an alternative. A keyless entry system may be the solution. It can give you the opportunity to change out security numbers as frequently as you desire.
Situation Changes
Life happens. And that means we have things that can change and impact our safety every single day.
- Have you had an employee quit?
- Do you have employees working after hours?
- Have you sold off a portion of your business to someone new?
- Have you had a divorce, separation, or dispute?
- Have you given keys to a maintenance worker?
- Have you provided keys to housekeeping?
- Have you renovated your space and had contractors enter your space?
Every time you entrust a key to someone new, it puts the potential for risk at a higher level.
As a commercial locksmith, we hear the tales all the time. “But we trusted him.” “I forgot all about giving her a key.”
We lock doors to create a barrier of entry. But in many cases, it’s people we’ve trusted in the past who have the most opportunity to do us harm.
Move
Moving is one of the most stressful times in our lives. And while statistics show that we tend to move into a new home on average every seven years, we move offices just as frequently.
- We move when we outgrow a space.
- We move to a newer building with better amenities.
- We move to enhance our brand.
And while logic tells us that with every move, updating the locks on the doors is a wise move to make, busyness often gets in the way and we simply forget.
Sure, you may have installed a new lock on the front door, but what about the interior doors?
- How about the locks on top management offices?
- How about the locks on the computer room?
- How about the locks on the side that open up to the hallway?
- How about the locks to the supply closet?
What would a would-be thief have access to if they made it past your front door? Especially if they had the keys in hand?
Break In or Attempted Break In
Want to know who is at greatest risk for a break in? If you said a building that was recently broken into, you’re correct.
While it goes against what most people think, there is a reason. Burglars know your defenses are down. We tend to think that if it happened once, we’re at a lower risk for it happening again.
Burglars also know we’re more likely to spend time recovering from loss rather than beefing up security. We’re more worried about replacing items like computers and supplies than worrying about replacing the locks.
That gives thieves a chance to come back in and take more. In many cases, they’ll have an even easier time—you’ll have boxes of new computers stacked up and ready for the taking.
If you’ve been broken into, before you replace anything, invest in a new lock system first.
Wear and Tear
Even the most secure locks will start to wear out over time. The keys lose their sharpness. It takes a little more wiggle to make the connection.
We often look at that little extra time needed to find the connection as a minor annoyance. But for a thief, they look at it as an opportunity. If it takes a little extra wiggle to find the connection with a key, chances are it only takes a little wiggle to pop the lock and be inside in seconds.
You can start to see wear and tear on the outside. The shininess fades. The area around the key entry is scratched and worn. Even your key starts looking a little more faded with time.
Age
Even if your locks stay shiny and new-looking, age makes every lock degrade over time. Even with a simple lock-and-key system, technology has changed. And with new technology means an improved way to lock and secure your premises from potential risks.
Even if you don’t want to move into a more sophisticated, smart technology system, today’s key entries are more secure than ever.
If it’s been more than a few years since you’ve upgraded your entry system, now is the time.
And we can help you. From simple rekeying to adding high security to your space, our team of highly qualified and trained technicians provide a variety of commercial locksmith services to help you keep your assets safe.