How to Remotely Lock and Unlock Your Doors: 4 Tips for Remote Home Management

Chances are you’ve forgotten your keys and locked yourself out of your home more than once.

The bad news is that amid a life of social commitments and work, you’ll likely forget your keys again in the future. These days, though, forgetting your keys doesn’t necessarily mean locking yourself out.

Remote home management is changing how we think about home security and door lock access. With smart locks, controlling your front door is as easy as tapping an icon on your mobile app — eliminating the need for a spare key and enhancing your door security.

In this article we share a few ways smart door locks can bring peace of mind, plus a few remote home management tips for a safer and more convenient home.

How to remotely lock and unlock your door

If you want to enhance front door security while adding convenience to your daily life, a smart door lock can be a good idea.

Vivint’s Kwikset Smart Locks allow you to lock and unlock your doors remotely through your mobile device.

Simply log into the Vivint app to remotely control your doors, set custom actions, and adjust your notification settings — all with the touch of a button.

Take a look at some of the benefits:

• Remote control of your doors: A smart door lock from Vivint lets you control your door access through the mobile app — regardless of where you are in the world.
• Know who’s coming in and out: Worried about your kids arriving home safely after school? A smart lock notifies you whenever someone enters or leaves your home, whether it’s kids, guests, or the pet sitter.
• Automatic locking: A smart door lock lets you know your home is safe, even when you forget to lock the doors behind you. With autolocking, you can program your smart lock system to lock after a specified time, offering much-needed peace of mind when you’re in a rush.
• Lock and unlock your doors with voice control: “Alexa, unlock the door!” — that’s all you have to say to control your door. A Bluetooth- or Wi-Fi-connected smart lock system lets you use voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to manage your doors with voice commands.

4 tips for remote home management

Remote home management is here to stay, and for a good reason. Remotely managing your home not only enhances home security but also makes daily life much easier.

Set unique access codes

Forget about hiding your spare key under that fake rock. With 30 customizable entry codes, a Vivint Smart Door Lock allows you to let family members and friends into your home safely and securely.

Remote access control can also come in handy when you’re expecting a babysitter, a pet sitter, or other houseguests. Instead of a spare key, you can give them a customizable remote access code.

You can delete or change user codes that you no longer need to ensure front door security. It’s that easy.

Integrate smart locks with other smart home components

Smart door locks can do much more than control the doors when part of a complete home automation system.

For example, you can program your smart home system to adjust the settings on your smart devices — like your smart thermostat, voice-enabled speakers, and smart lighting — just by locking your Kwikset Smart Locks.

You can also connect your door locks to smart home apps, such as Apple HomeKit (if you have an Apple device) or Google Assistant (if you own an Android device).

Use a doorbell camera with your smart lock system

Remotely locking and unlocking your doors sounds great, but did you know you can integrate your doorbell camera with your smart lock system?

Together, these devices provide complete front door security: monitoring what’s happening outside your doorstep and warning you about suspicious activity.

Featuring 1080-pixel HD video resolution and infrared night vision, the Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro allows you to see live footage of your home in high definition no matter the time.

Moreover, a video doorbell lets you speak to visitors through your mobile phone or smart hub — whether you want to ask who’s outside before opening your home or give delivery instructions to the driver.

Use smart lock systems for vacation rentals

Considering that 76% of vacation rental guests don’t behave as the hosts expect, leaving your property in the hands of strangers can be nerve-wracking for many homeowners.

From smoking inside to leaving the AC on and losing the keys, vacation rental hosts can face a handful of problems after their guests check out.

If you’ve found yourself in a similar situation, we have good news. Installing a smart lock system can help eliminate some of these problems and save on damages.

A remote door lock means you don’t need spare keys for your Airbnb home. Moreover, a connected Vivint home system can help you remotely manage your smart devices. Turn off the AC when it’s not in use, switch off the outdoor lighting during quiet hours, and make sure your guests check out on time.

Smart door lock FAQs

We’ve answered some commonly asked questions, from installing your smart door lock to using your mobile phone to unlock your house.

What happens to smart locks when the power goes out?

If your home’s network connection or power goes out, you might not be able to control your smart locks through your mobile app.

However, you don’t have to worry about being locked out or not being able to control your doors. Your smart locks work with batteries, which means you can still open your doors with the existing codes.

Can I use my phone to unlock my house?

With a Vivint Smart Lock, you can lock and unlock your house through your mobile phone or the smart lock’s keypad above the door knob or lever. This provides keyless entry through main entrances and interior doors.

You may assign up to 30 unique codes for people who need to access your home (like guests, friends, and pet sitters), which you can delete or change later.

Whenever someone checks in, your smart home security system will send a notification to your smartphone or touchscreen base station — tracking passcodes and keeping you in the know about what’s happening back at home.

Most smart lock systems work with both iOS and Android devices, meaning you don’t have to worry about device compatibility.

How hard is it to install a smart lock system?

If you’ve ever tried to install a smart device yourself, you know the hurdles of DIY installation.

Avoid the stress and frustration of spending an entire weekend trying to install and connect your smart device by hiring a professional installer.

Our Smart Home Pros know exactly how home security systems work. They can also provide expert insights on placement location, advanced features, and seamless integration with existing lock systems, such as smart deadbolt locks.

A professionally installed system, like one from Vivint, allows you to use all the features and benefits of smart home technology — which may not happen if you don’t correctly install and integrate the device with your existing smart home setup.

Discover Vivint’s smart lock systems

At the end of the day, it’s important to install a reliable smart lock system to keep your home and family safe and protected. Book a free consultation with one of our Smart Home Pros to learn more about getting your own Vivint smart lock system. Give us a call at 855.822.1220.