Having just wrapped up our webcast yesterday on Multifamily Security, one theme that remains consistent throughout our webcast series is how laser-focused locksmiths are on the business side of locksmithing, which is the focus of our next webcast on Nov. 18 at 1 ET. This theme is also throughout my cover feature story on electronic access control in the September issue of Locksmith Ledger.

“In today's competitive market, diversification of operations is essential for any business,” says Eddy Dacius, co-owner of Dacius Facilities Management, who is also an independent trainer specializing in locksmithing and security technology and former department head, Locksmithing & Security Technology, North Bennet Street School in Boston. “Establishing on-call services, collaborating on projects with integrators, manufacturers, and general contractors while increasing residential work are vital steps to adapt. While traditional residential locksmithing may be waning, the demand for smart locks and smart doorbells is on the rise.”

Another theme in our webcast series and throughout the locksmithing industry is the continued expansion into electronic access control and offering more options around the door beyond just a mechanical key.

While a lot of the enterprise campus environments already have solutions installed, many small businesses, like office buildings, medical offices, gas stations, and strip malls, “haven’t yet made the leap to access control,” says Beau Edelen, Senior VP of Sales and Business Development for Lockmasters, in that same article. “The technology has gotten easier to learn, easier to install, and there is more help available than ever before. I’ve always believed that it is an easier jump for a locksmith to learn integration than for a security integrator to learn locksmithing.”

Edelen astutely points out that the public doesn’t always think of the local locksmith for an access control system, since EAC is often used in combination with the video surveillance and fire/burglary intrusion systems, which “are spaces that not enough locksmiths participate in,” he says, noting that there are many benefits for locksmiths to up their game and start diversifying their business. “The main benefit is making more money and increasing the value of their business by adding additional services, especially ones that allow them to gain recurring revenue from their clients.”

Couldn’t have said it any better.

-Paul Ragusa