Getting keys cut is a bit like childbirth – extremely painful, but because you don’t do it that often, easy to forget exactly how painful it can be. Just ask Lydia, our user experience designer, who’s been there, done both, and got the proverbial T-shirt.
One of the biggest hassles of owning physical keys comes about when you need to give out spare sets to other people. Anyone who’s had to get keys cut will know that it can be an arduous and frustrating process, especially if it involves dealing with building management companies about communal doors.
Having had to do this myself some time ago (before I had Klevio), the comparison with childbirth doesn’t seem all that far-fetched. Here’s a (nervous) breakdown of the excruciating steps I faced that made the Brexit negotiations look like a walk in the park.
- Send an email to my building management company requesting a copy of the key to our communal front door
- Email ignored for a couple of days, so call them instead
- Told the person I need to speak to is in a meeting and will call me back (a flagrant lie)
- Call back a day later because no-one returned my call
- Finally speak to someone who gives me the number for a locksmith
- Call the locksmith – no answer, so leave a message
- Locksmith calls the following day to explain that I need to send an email, putting my request in writing and copying it to my management company
- Email the locksmith as instructed
- Email ignored for a couple of days, so call the locksmith to ask if they received the email they insisted I needed to send them
- Finally receive an email confirming the cost of the key (extortionate) and detailing my options for getting hold of it
Option A:
- Collect the key in person from the locksmith’s premises, which are miles from my home
- Except I can’t simply turn up during business hours – I first have to make an appointment, and the next available slot isn’t for two weeks
- And the only hours available are Monday to Friday between 5.30 and 6.30pm – right when I’m either working or commuting
Option B:
- Key can be sent via courier (also extortionate) or via signed-for delivery for an additional cost
- Except there won’t be anyone home to sign, because I’ll be at work
- Instead, I’ll get one of those red cards from Royal Mail through the door, confirming they tried to deliver the key but no-one was home, so it’s been returned to the sorting office (miles from my home too)
- I’ll then have to get up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning to get to the sorting office on a light industrial estate, which is only open between 9 and 11am
- I’ll be the 89th person in the queue and it will be raining
- I’ll eventually retrieve the key, around 4 hours after leaving home
Sharing a digital key in the Klevio app
See what I mean by childbirth-esque levels of agony? Now compare this with giving someone a digital key to my communal door since I had Klevio installed:
- Open the Klevio app
- Swipe left on my communal door key and tap ‘share’
- Enter the name and email for the person I want to share the key with
- Review and send
And that’s it. That’s literally all I have to do. It costs absolutely nothing to share a digital key and can be done in under a minute. All the recipient has to do is create a password for the Klevio account and then download the free app to retrieve the key.
Klevio is the only solution that works for communal and private doors. No physical keys, no risk of them being copied, lost or stolen, no cost to send or retrieve them, no need to take a day out of your life to get this sorted, no problem.
So if the first scenario feels all too familiar, do yourself a favour and get Klevio. Better yet, tell your management agency to install Klevio in your building and then everyone’s a winner*.
*Except the locksmith, but he’s always got shoe repairs to fall back on.