SentriLock has provided the following update regarding their service:
SentriLock sincerely appreciates your business and the opportunity to be your trusted and preferred provider of lockbox services in the real estate industry. SentriLock is widely recognized as a leader and innovator in the access management space, and customers count on them to provide smart and effective solutions to their access needs. It is their honor and privilege to serve you today and for years to come. As a technology company, they take pride in always keeping a keen eye toward the future, while staying firmly rooted in providing the best products and services to their customers both today and for years to come. The result of this approach means that current technologies must be evaluated for their immediate and long-term viability. The smart card (SentriCard®) is one of those technologies that SentriLock recently evaluated.
SentriCards
You may not realize it, but SentriLock has been providing its smart card enabled lockboxes for 16 years. Smart cards, while innovative at the time of introduction, represent a technology that is reaching the end of its life cycle. SentriLock has experienced numerous trends as smart cards approach the end of their utility, such as:
- Industry-wide difficulty in acquiring key components that go into the use of smart cards.
- An inability to develop new, highly desirable features that will work with smart cards.
- The natural migration of customers to the superior Bluetooth® connectivity and app-only environment.
With these factors in mind, SentriLock is compelled to begin the process of retiring the smart card interface as part of their lockbox services. It will help SentriLock make sure that their customers are on the best, most updated technology to meet their needs.
Effective January 1 of 2022, SentriLock will officially retire the SentriCard as an access means for SentriLock lockboxes.
SentriLock is providing two-years advance notice so that everyone can prepare for the transition.
Over three-quarters of SentriLock lockbox accesses in 2019 were through the app. This number has continued to grow over the last several years and SentriLock expects greater than 90 percent of accesses will be via the app by 2022. When agents transition from the SentriCard to the SentriKey® Real Estate app, their user experience improves in several ways. Here are just a few benefits of an app-only interface.
- Immediate notifications when someone enters and leaves a property – no card related delays.
- No need for card renewals – ever! The ability to use Touch ID and Facial Recognition to streamline the access process.
- Property details through SentriLock’s listing detail partners.
- More features with the app – Agent Safety, report key missing, and listing agent information.
What does this mean to you?
Effective January 1, 2022, SentriLock will no longer support the use of a smart card as a means to access lockboxes for showings. This means that:
- All lockbox accesses for showings will happen via the SentriKey Real Estate app.
- All new credentials will be issued for the SentriKey Real Estate app only and not the SentriCard.
- SentriLock will no longer sell SentriCards, with the exception of replacement cards for non-Bluetooth® REALTOR® Lockbox owners.
- The only use of SentriCard will be for owners of a non-Bluetooth® REALTOR® Lockbox to enable them to take ownership of a lockbox, as well as assign a lockbox to a property – with limited settings available.
Keep in mind that, despite the retirement of the SentriCard, all previous generations of SentriLock lockboxes can continue to be accessed, including those without Bluetooth® connectivity, by using the SentriKey Real Estate app. Non Bluetooth® lockboxes can be accessed through app-generated codes entered via the lockbox keypad.
How Sentrilock will help you
SentriLock wants to help you transition to the SentriKey Real Estate app. Here is just one way SentriLock is working to help you through the process.
SentriKey App School
SentriLock created a special website called the SentriKey App School. Visit www.SentriLock.com/AppSchool to access and complete a brief education module on transitioning from the smart card to the app. It features how-to videos, helpful hints and more. Your can even print a certificate to commemorate completing the module.
SentriLock is excited about the transition of all their agents to an app-only environment by 2022. Such an environment enables SentriLock to design even more robust features, and to bring them to market more rapidly. With more than three-quarters of SentriLock lockbox accesses being via the SentriKey Real Estate app in 2019, SentriLock wants to help you enjoy the best available tools today, and for years to come. SentriLock appreciates your support as they make this important transition. And, they look forward to helping you benefit from all the advantages of using the SentriKey Real Estate app. Please direct any questions you may have about this communication to SentriLock via email or at 513-618-5800.
Using SentriKey Real Estate in Poor Coverage Areas
Sentrilock recommends that REALTORS® open SentriKey Real Estate prior to going to show the property while they are in a good coverage area. This will validate your access credentials, which will allow you to access a property that may be located in a poor coverage area.
Sentrilock also recommends that REALTORS® placing lockboxes on properties in poor coverage areas use a Bluetooth® lockbox instead of an NXT.
Please contact DAAR via email or at 703-777-2468 or Sentrilock via email or at 513-618-5800 if you have any questions regarding this update.