Smart Technology

Opportunities set for builders get dealers knocking at the front door

Traditionally, homebuyers have been most interested in modern kitchens or high-tech home features. And for most homebuyers, a lock was just that… a lock. Today, however, both homebuyers and homebuilders are seeing locks a little differently. With the increasing popularity and affordability of home automation technology, smart electronic locks are nearing the top tier of features that entice buyers. With that comes a lucrative opportunity for security dealers, at least for those who are willing to reinvent themselves.

What’s the buzz?

The top two buzzwords among savvy homebuilders are arguably “green” and “digital.”

Green homes are all about energy efficiency and saving money in a way that makes homebuyers feel they’re making a positive contribution to the planet. There’s an increasingly popular and ever-growing list of devices that manage and monitor energy consumption. Skylights that let natural light shine into a great room, office or play room are becoming a hot addition in many new developments, while geothermal heating systems are on the cusp of taking off. Ultimately, customers feel like they can afford “more home” when they’re saving money on electricity on a daily basis.

The digital home, with automation devices and a central control system, is right behind the green home in terms of industry buzz and consumer excitement. Digital homes are more than just appealing as they deliver interoperability of home electronics from control panels, or often from the home electronics themselves, in ways that enhance security, convenience, comfort and overall livability. In digital homes, devices like alarms, lighting, thermostats and entertainment systems, as well as locks, all communicate with each other to provide maximum control, along with a trail of information.

Earlier versions of home automation systems were viewed as complicated and expensive because, in most cases, they were. They were an installer’s dream, though, responsible for racking up many man-hours of wiring and connection work. But in recent years, these networked systems have become easier to install and use, even for the do-it-yourselfer, more modular for adapting to changing needs and, perhaps most importantly, more affordable.

In fact, one of the most sought-after elements of today’s digital home among homebuyers is the electronic lock. This is a dramatic change from the days when the primary competitive advantages for a door lock were quality, style, finish and price.

Evolutionary Advantages

Over the last five to six years, there have been huge, technological advances in the world of door locks, each of which has increased the value of locks as an effective home sales tool.

  • Re-key technology provides homeowners the flexibility to change access to their own locks quickly and easily, without having to remove the locks from the door.
  • Electronic locks take the key and the possibility of losing it or having it stolen out of the equation altogether. Enter a personal code with just a few simple button pushes, and homeowners can enter their house. Temporary codes can be assigned to select individuals, granting access for a specific length of time.
  • With smart locks and home connectivity technology, locks can wirelessly talk with other devices within a home, while homeowners remotely communicate with and control their lock.

Most homebuilders recognize that the ability to control home electronics from the front door and grant home access from anywhere in the country, or even the world, is a significant selling tool.

For Smart Builders and Sealers, Smart Locks are the Future

Are builders getting more comfortable with these new electronic locks as well as the increasingly-sophisticated, home automation systems? If they are not yet, they likely will be soon.

The builder’s number one focus is building a house that people want to live in, at the right price. While it’s true that some builders are less welcoming when it comes to change, almost all builders want a competitive advantage. When price and location are similar, most builders welcome any element that will make the home more appealing than other choices.

For security dealers, the trend of attracting homebuyers with new technology, especially smart homes in general and electronic locks in particular, represents a new and major business opportunity.

Until recently, builders looked to dealers, installers and integrators for relatively low-level work, specifically pre-wiring for low-voltage, security electronics, expecting that work to be performed free of charge. The dealer may have converted homebuyers at a later date by selling and installing security products that would hook up to this pre-wiring, but it was never a guarantee.

For dealers wanting to form or strengthen existing relationships with builders, though, this was a necessary, but relatively unattractive task. Security dealers were somewhat taken for granted by builders, which caused tension. The builder often harbored a mindset that said, “If you don’t want to do the pre-wiring, the next dealer will.”

However, the advent of advanced technology, including electronic locks, changes the playing field. Builders are in need of a partner who can educate them and deliver this advanced technology, not to mention service it. Dealers need to reinvent themselves as technology providers rather than just security providers. In doing so, the dealer becomes a value-added partner to the builder, who in turn becomes more valuable to the potential homebuyer.

The wide array of wireless products makes it simpler and cheaper for the dealer to participate in this arena. And, for aggressive security dealers willing to slightly change their business model, opportunity is knocking very loudly at the front door.

This article originally appeared in the August 2013 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • AI Is Now the Leading Cybersecurity Concern for Security, IT Leaders

    Arctic Wolf recently published findings from its State of Cybersecurity: 2025 Trends Report, offering insights from a global survey of more than 1,200 senior IT and cybersecurity decision-makers across 15 countries. Conducted by Sapio Research, the report captures the realities, risks, and readiness strategies shaping the modern security landscape. Read Now

  • Analysis of AI Tools Shows 85 Percent Have Been Breached

    AI tools are becoming essential to modern work, but their fast, unmonitored adoption is creating a new kind of security risk. Recent surveys reveal a clear trend – employees are rapidly adopting consumer-facing AI tools without employer approval, IT oversight, or any clear security policies. According to Cybernews Business Digital Index, nearly 90% of analyzed AI tools have been exposed to data breaches, putting businesses at severe risk. Read Now

  • Software Vulnerabilities Surged 61 Percent in 2024, According to New Report

    Action1, a provider of autonomous endpoint management (AEM) solutions, today released its 2025 Software Vulnerability Ratings Report, revealing a 61% year-over-year surge in discovered software vulnerabilities and a 96% spike in exploited vulnerabilities throughout 2024, amid an increasingly aggressive threat landscape. Read Now

  • Motorola Solutions Named Official Safety Technology Supplier of the Ryder Cup through 2027

    Motorola Solutions has today been named the Official Safety Technology Supplier of the 2025 and 2027 Ryder Cup, professional golf’s renowned biennial team competition between the United States and Europe. Read Now

  • Evolving Cybersecurity Strategies

    Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to human-focused security approaches, as two out of three (68%) cybersecurity incidents involve people. Threat actors are shifting from targeting networks and systems to hacking humans via social engineering methods, living off human errors as their most prevalent attack vector. Whether manipulated or not, human cyber behavior is leveraged to gain backdoor access into systems. This mainly results from a lack of employee training and awareness about evolving attack techniques employed by malign actors. Read Now

New Products

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.