At one time Locksmith Ledger had several file cabinets filled with lock-related brochures. The brochures had been collected over a period of many years and served as our hardcopy reference library whenever a subscriber called with a question.
Another Information phase took place at the start of the computer age in the early nineties as 3-1/2" floppy discs became popular. Locksmith Ledger filled thousands of floppy discs each month with new product information and mailed them to subscribers around the world. At about the same time the internet appeared. Sending information on floppy discs by snail mail quickly lost popularity and the company ended up with a lifetime supply of unused floppies.
A California locksmith called Locksmith Ledger this week seeking information on a company called JPM. His customer owned a residence filled with JPM mortise locks. The locks use a profile cylinder so he guessed that the locks were not made in North America. One of the locks needed replacement and he was asking for a source.
The days of file cabinets full of brochures and 3 1/2" floppy mailings are only a memory. Google may not be our favorite when it touts scammers but it is very helpful for many other things. Search Google for "JPM locks" and the French manufacturer is instantly displayed. In this case JPM is part of the Assa Abloy group and we sent the California locksmith on to Assa Abloy headquarters.
My internet surfing continues in daily short bursts. Individual specialty keys such as for vending machines or machinery are displayed and sold on the internet. Amazingly, many of these keys are displayed full size and in good detail. This allows the cuts to be determined right from the picture. Some sellers are ruining my day by becoming more crafty and no longer showing completely cut keys.
Somehow my E-mail address has been added to a few internet locksmith forums. My concern is with obtaining or furnishing usable technical information. How many fish someone caught or what airport you visited is not anything I am interested in. People who gab endlessly on locksmith forums appear to have too much unused business time.
Another use for the internet is to watch webinars. With the security business changing so rapidly, a good way to keep up with the changes is to take a few minutes, watch as many free webinar as possible, and get some fresh business ideas. The price is right. You can turn the webinar off if it is not meeting expectations and you can watch the same webinar several times to verify facts. Finally, between monthly issues of Locksmith Ledger be sure to search LocksmithLedger.com daily for the latest up-to-date locksmith information available.
