Access Control and Keyless Entry in Jacksonville, FL

What we install, from one keypad to a whole building

Not every business needs a server closet. A standalone keypad or fob lock runs on batteries and keeps its user list in the lock itself, which suits a back door, a supply room or a small office with one entrance. You add and delete codes, fobs or cards at the lock or from an app, and nothing has to be wired through the walls.

A networked system puts a reader at each door, wired to a controller that holds the user list and the rules. Many are managed through the cloud from a browser or a phone, so a manager can add a new hire, switch off a lost fob or check who opened the stockroom on a Saturday without driving in. Schedules can unlock the front door for business hours and lock it again at close.

Behind each reader is the hardware that actually holds the door. An electric strike replaces the strike plate in the frame and frees the latch when a valid fob or code is presented. A magnetic lock holds the door with an electromagnet and is paired with request-to-exit devices on the inside, typically a motion sensor and a push button, so people can always get out. On doors that already have a panic bar, we tie the reader into the existing exit device where it can be adapted, rather than replacing hardware that works.

Why Jacksonville businesses move from keys to fobs

The usual trigger is a key that walked out the door. A manager leaves, a cleaning crew changes, a contractor never returned the back-door key. With brass keys the real fix is to rekey the locks that key opened and hand new keys to everyone who stays. With fobs or codes you delete one person, and everyone else keeps working without noticing.

We put these systems in for offices along Baymeadows Road and across the Southside office parks, medical and dental practices that need a staff-only door between the waiting room and the back, and warehouses on the Westside and the Northside with dock doors and shift changes. Churches use schedules so the office wing opens on weekdays while the sanctuary stays locked. Gyms tie each fob to a membership, so a canceled member stops getting in. Schools and daycares keep outside doors locked during the day with a reader for staff.

A small shop with one door and three employees may not need any of this. A single keypad lock or a smart lock can do the job, and the technician will tell you so rather than sell you a system.

How an access control project runs

Every job starts with a site visit, because the doors decide the hardware. The technician walks each opening with you and notes the door and frame material, the existing lock or exit device, where power and cable can run, and which way people leave in an emergency. A glass storefront door, a hollow metal warehouse frame and a wood door in a converted house each take different hardware.

From that door survey you get a free estimate, door by door, with the type of system we recommend and why. Once you approve it, we install the hardware, run and test the wiring, and set up your users and schedules. Before we leave, we show the person who will run the system how to add a user, delete one and read the entry log.

• Site visit and door survey with whoever manages the building
• Free estimate for each door before anything is ordered
• Installation, wiring and testing of every door from both sides
• Users, fobs, codes and schedules entered for you
• Training for your manager, so adding and deleting people stays in-house

Exit doors and the fire code

On an exit door, the rule that matters is simple to say: the outside can be locked with a fob, card or code, but people inside have to be able to get out without a key, a code or special knowledge. We install to the fire code's egress rules, and we coordinate with the building owner or the fire marshal where required before the hardware goes on.

That is why a magnetic lock never goes on a door by itself. It has no handle that releases it mechanically, so it is installed with request-to-exit devices on the inside and wired to release when it loses power. Where the building has a fire alarm and the code calls for it, the lock is tied in so it releases when the alarm goes off, and we coordinate that connection with your fire alarm company. Electric strikes are simpler at an exit: the inside lever or push bar still opens the door whether or not the strike has power.

Power loss, batteries and upkeep: fail-safe or fail-secure

Every electric lock is set up one of two ways for a power cut. Fail-safe means the door unlocks when power is removed. Fail-secure means it stays locked from the outside when power is removed. Magnetic locks are fail-safe by nature, because the magnet only holds while it has power. Electric strikes come in both versions and are often installed fail-secure, so the building stays locked through an outage.

Which one a door gets depends on what it protects and how people leave. A stockroom or a server closet usually wants fail-secure; a door where quick, free exit matters most may call for fail-safe. Jacksonville storms take the power out often enough that we fit networked systems with a backup battery and tell you what each door will do if the outage outlasts it.

Standalone keypad and fob locks run on ordinary batteries and usually warn you before they get low, and many have a key override as a backup. Readers mounted outdoors face sun, rain and salt air near the Beaches, so we choose and place them with that in mind. Door closers matter too: a door that drifts and never latches is unlocked no matter what the reader says. We come back for batteries, closer adjustments and added doors as the business grows.

Apartment communities, HOAs and gates

Pool gates, clubhouses, fitness rooms and pedestrian gates are where keys fail fastest: residents move, copies multiply, and the same lock gets rekeyed again and again. A fob reader or keypad on each gate lets the office switch off a fob the day a resident moves out, without touching anyone else's. On pool gates we fit the reader so the gate still closes and latches on its own.

Property managers can run the gates, the leasing office and the maintenance shop on one system and see which fob opened which gate. For the rest of the property, unit turnover rekeys, mailbox locks and common-area doors, see our commercial locksmith services.