dormakaba Flips the Switch on Electronic Core Locks

If a client has a mechanical interchangeable core lock, dormakaba soon will let you turn that lock into a keyless access point in less than five minutes.

That’s courtesy of dormakaba’s new Switch Tech by BEST platform, which was unveiled earlier in March 2020.

Dan Stewart, business development manager at BEST Access Solutions, demonstrated the simplicity of the installation in a video conference:

• You remove the small-format interchangeable core (SFIC) on a door lock by using the core’s control key and remove the mechanical core’s tail piece.
• You plug the tail piece into the new electronic Switch Core and the core into the door lock. The Switch Core includes a twistable knob to retract the latch on the door, like turning a mechanical key in a lock, Stewart says.
• You turn the included one-sixteenth Allen hex key to lock in the core.
• You insert the included CR2477 3-volt battery into the knob.
• You place the cap over the core knob and lock it into place.
• You set up the lock through the Switch Mobile Access app on your Apple iOS or Google Android cellphone for time and access.
• You touch the knob, with the phone nearby, and the app then sets up the lock and locks the door.

To activate the lock, you press a button on the app’s home page and twist the knob to release the door latch. If you don’t have access, the knob merely spins, and the door remains locked.

Through the app, you can set the lock to be opened only by administrators, by anyone who has a valid credential or by a combination of credential and PIN.

Stewart points out that the app allows for automatic dual authentication simply because a person would have to gain access first to an authorized phone before they could unlock a Switch Core lock. He adds that biometric access comes into play if the user has a newer cellphone model that includes biometric control, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, to access the phone.

You don’t have to have the app open to unlock a Switch Core lock. When the app is set in Background Mode, the cellphone acts as a prox fob to allow access. For those who don’t have their phone handy, a dedicated fob also will work.

Switch Tech will allow a client to keep track of access via a cloud connection through a Switch Bridge to the client’s computer. This happens automatically through the app. To collect data from a fob, you would have to place the fob near to an authorized cellphone to make the cloud connection. dormakaba says the system will allow access to multiple doors off a single credential.

Switch Core will integrate with Lenel access systems, and Genetec integration is expected “in short order,” Stewart says.

dormakaba says the Switch Core battery should be expected to last up to two years at 10 uses per day, and the app will send alerts when it detects batteries running low. The electronic core is compatible with SFICs on cylindrical, mortise and other locks by BEST, Corbin Russwin, SARGENT, Schlage, Yale and others. Although the Switch Core is made almost entirely of stainless steel, it’s rated for indoor use only, for now.

Stewart says Switch Core electronic cores will start to ship “as soon as possible” but couldn’t give a specific time of their availability.

More info: www.timeforaswitch.com