Published On: Mon, Sep 16th, 2019

Entrance doors lead the way in smart tech

Nick Dutton, CEO of Brisant Secure looks at the adoption of smart technology in the home and suggests that there is a demand for more when it comes to security and functionality in entrance doors, something that Ultion Smart fully addresses.

When we started our smart lock development, we knew that it had to give the customer something in addition to what they already have, many consumers having invested £000’s on a new entrance door. Research tells us that customers thought about security and appearance when they made their door decision, making both of these aspects central in the next decision. But do they want a smart door?

In addition to this, research by GfK Global found that products offering ‘security and control’ were the most sought after, with many homeowners already having invested in ‘connected entertainment.’ Entertainment seems to be the gateway into consumers making their homes smart, with almost half of the population now owning four or more smart products.
We know that lots of people control their music systems and increasingly their heating, curtains, blinds, alarms and their lighting from their phone. It’s another jump to ask them to unlock their front door from their phones and for the homeowner to know the operation is totally secure. This was our thought process and part of the design brief in designing Ultion Smart.

When the car industry evolved into using remote control keys, they didn’t remove the manual key, it was just hidden within a fob. It enabled the car owner to override the remote functions and use a real key if they needed to do so, or even if they just wanted to. Ultion Smart comes with the integration of our top selling, fully accredited, 3-Star, Sold Secure Diamond Ultion lock. Whatever the reason, the key will still work and override all the smart functions that Ultion SMART offers. However convenient smart locks make people’s lives, we suspected that few homeowners would abdicate home access to their phone alone, they would not want to give up their key.

Many customers have painstakingly chosen their door because of how it looks. Our door furniture system, Sweet, has a curved edge which is more secure and has unrivalled pitting protection, so it looks beautiful for longer. We believed that homeowners who had chosen the look of their door wouldn’t want a ‘control panel’ on the outside face of the door. So, another pre-requisite for Ultion Smart was that it had to look like a Sweet handle from the outside, for both appearance and so that no one outside would know that it was fitted with a smart lock. This delivered the high-security finish that we know homeowners would not want to sacrifice. Then there’s security. With Brisant supplying over 60,000 high-security cylinders every month we know how important real security is to today’s door buyers. Why would we expect them to consider forfeiting this fundamental requirement of a door, for convenience? This is why we re-engineered the Ultion lock and all of its security measures to sit in the heart of Ultion SMART. The home defence system becomes the smart home defence system.

Of course, we needed to integrate all the features that a homeowner expects from a smart lock, while still keeping it secure. Ultion Smart is fitted to the inside of the door and will lock and unlock your door in a range of different ways dependent on what you ask it to do. Now that’s smart. Auto-lock enables the homeowner to set an amount of time after which they want the door to lock. This gives peace of mind that the door is always locked. Auto-unlock enables the homeowner to unlock the door from a distance. For example, if they arrive home with shopping and want to walk straight through the door; while Twist Assist has been created for people with arthritis or mobility issues and a slight touch will enable the lock to automatically turn. The UK is the fastest growing market for sales of smart devices for the home. With this in mind, we know that Ultion Smart gives the homeowner cutting edge convenience, whilst not taking anything away from them and it’s available now.

Tel: 01924 410200
E: nick@brisant-secure.com