Door Access

Keyless Entry for Business: Fobs, Cards, Codes, and Mobile Credentials Compared

Physical keys have two fatal business flaws: they copy easily and they never report who used them. Every departed employee with an uncollected key means either re-keying or quiet risk. Keyless entry fixes both — the question is which credential fits your operation.

Fobs and cards

The workhorses: cheap per unit, instantly issued and instantly revoked, and every tap is logged with a name and timestamp. Departures stop meaning locksmith visits — you deactivate the credential and move on. Modern encrypted formats resist the cloning that plagued early cards; that's worth specifying.

PIN keypads

No credential to carry or lose — good for low-risk doors and vendor access windows. The weakness is sharing: codes travel by word of mouth and linger after departures. Per-person codes (never one shared code), scheduled validity, and periodic rotation keep keypads honest. Best used alongside, not instead of, credentialed access on sensitive doors.

Mobile credentials

The phone becomes the key: issued remotely in seconds (including to a contractor for one afternoon), protected by the phone's own lock, and very rarely forgotten at home. Guest passes that expire automatically are the sleeper feature — cleaning crews and service vendors get exactly the window they need. This is where access control is headed, and platforms like Ubiquiti Access make it affordable at small-business scale.

The features that matter regardless of credential

• Instant revocation and per-person identity — the entire point
• Schedules: staff doors that work 7am–7pm; server room limited to two names
• Audit trail: who opened what, when — invaluable the day something goes missing
• Remote unlock: buzz in the delivery from your phone
• Fail-safe behavior planned for power and network outages, aligned with fire code

One system with your cameras

Access events paired with camera footage answer questions completely: the log says whose credential; the clip shows whose face. We install both on the same network platform — door hardware, readers, controllers, cabling, and the app on your phone. A site survey prices your doors in an hour.