Panic Devices in Commercial Buildings

Experience shows us how things should be done. That is why elders are said to be wise, because they have experienced plenty of things. After many unfortunate accidents, humans learned that buildings need to have some sort of system that will allow people to escape quickly from the building if something terrible happens. That’s why now, there are several building codes that people need to stick to before constructing something. The purpose is to increase people’s survival in case of a fire, earthquake or other similar event.

Nowadays, commercial buildings are required to have a number of panic devices that allow people to quickly exit the building without taking too long to open the door through which they’re trying to escape from a disaster. Just imagine hundreds of people trying to exit a building on fire through a door with a deadbolt. Panic would strike and a deadbolt wouldn’t exactly help the cause because it’s harder to open.

That is exactly why panic hardware was created – to increase safety and the chances of survival in a building that is falling apart. If you are building a commercial property in El Paso, make sure you contact El Paso Locksmith to install a few panic devices in it to comply with the code and keep your employees and clients safe. It is always better to be safe than sorry and it’s a good idea to implement security measures that might save people’s lives in case of an unfortunate event. Plus, you don’t want to be held liable for not having the proper security measures in your building. 

Conveniently Re-Keying Your Locks

With so many doors in a house, you probably have many keys in your keychain. I have seen people with really heavy keychains that just seem totally impractical because it would probably take them forever to find the right key. That is very inconvenient and simply annoying, especially if you are in a rush and you can’t afford to be wasting time. A good option to avoid having so many keys is re-keying the different locks in your home.

Re-keying refers to a process in which an expert, usually a locksmith, manipulates a certain lock’s internal
pins and springs with the intention to prevent the initial key from being able to open the lock. This means that you can keep your original lock and change the key. This can truly come in handy when somebody moves out and you are not sure if they made copies of the keys without your consent.

If done by professionals like El Paso Locksmith, re-keying can be a very simple process and will only take a few minutes. I think it is a good investment because it would be very convenient to re-key several locks in your house and have them all open with the key. That would save you time and space since your keychain wouldn’t be so big and heavy anymore. But like I said before, re-keying is not only meant for convenience, but also for safety. It is highly recommended that people re-key their locks when people who previously lived in the house move out.  

Your Commercial Locksmith

Any business owner needs to have different service providers, especially when they are first opening their business. One needs to be a commercial locksmith and it can’t be just any locksmith, it needs to be someone experienced, licensed, and reliable. Imagine trusting your business on some fellow you’ve never heard of and that doesn’t have the credentials so that you can make sure he knows what he’s doing or that he has a clean background.

I believe in getting a good commercial locksmith since the very beginning and sticking to that person for future needs. A commercial locksmith will install high security locks to make sure your business is secure and that will give you the confident that all your valuable items and your employees will be safe. But besides installing the locks he can also provide different services.

A commercial locksmith offers services such as mater keying, which quite frankly can make things a whole
lot easier for a business owner. Also if you ever get locked out of your own office, you will already know what number to call and there will not be need for stressing out.

Another important feature a commercial locksmith offers is security assessment. Over the years, locks start to deteriorate and unless you are some sort of expert in the matter, I recommend you hire a professional locksmith to determine whether your business has secure locks to prevent any intruders from breaking in. 

Combination lock vs Key lock

A few years ago, a good friend of mine mentioned in passing how she felt her belongings were safer with a combination lock. I didn’t know what to say so I nodded politely. However, her words lingered in my head so I did some research and discovered that most combination locks are very traditional in the sense that most of them operate similarly especially regarding the turn patterns for example, you always turn the dice three times to the right, twice to the left and once again to the right with the only variable being the set of numbers from 1 to 40 for your particular lock.

I also read some reviews posted online by people who had purchased these types of locks before and found out that many of them forgot their combination and had to replace them (instead of being able to contact a local locksmith and have a new key made) and then other buyers claimed to hear a click whenever the combination lock had reached the amount of turns it needed in order to go on to the next step. The problem with this last scenario is that if a burglar wants to rob you, all they have to do is to be really careful and listen closely to the sounds of the lock while turning it around.

If they hear 3 clicks, the lock’s open and soon your possessions will be gone along with your short-lived affinity towards combination locks. I don’t mean to undermine them here, I think they are really good for people who forget to carry their keys but I just think a good majority of people know the importance of a unique lock and feel much safer with a unique key to have it opened and if they happen to lose the key or forget where they left it, they can always reach a local locksmith to save the day.

Digital Locks

I have used locks and keys for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was a little girl, my mom put a cute little Barbie lock on my elementary school back pack. Then I had a little wooden chest in my room with a combination lock that was supposed to be as secure as Fort Knox. Now, in 2014, I have a safe that uses a digital lock system. I basically programmed it upon purchase to a specific combination of numbers that would unlock my safe.

There has been what I would call a proliferation of these types of locks particularly for safes. I think the reason for this trend is because of how durable and secure they are while also being quite affordable. You can find these types of storage units on a wide range of sizes. Mine is a small one (not any bigger than a shoe box) and I put my jewelry, cash and private documents in there. It’s very versatile because I can carry it with me which can be quite convenient.

The one feature I absolutely love on my safe is its lock mechanism. I bought my safe in a locksmith company in El Paso, the owner recommended it a lot and informed me that in case I forgot the lock code, I could always bring it back to have it unlocked and reprogrammed with a new lock code. They always recommend you change your codes periodically perhaps once a year or so. It’s very important that you keep your lock pattern to yourself, never write it down and make it easy for you to remember. I picked the most random code you could imagine and surely that my friends (or more importantly people that are not my friends might surmise). If you adopt those recommendations and decide to buy a safe I highly recommend you get a digital one. Those combination-lock safes just seem too outdated.

Having my own set of keys

Women need to stop depending on men. Trust me, I was one of those women that growing up I thought one day I would become the perfect housewife that would expect her husband to come home everyday from work and have his dinner ready. And for a while I was that person, but let me tell you that reality is way different now. The economic struggles of the twenty-first century practically force every person in the house to work. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against housewives; the work that they do is way harder than what any man does. But unfortunately being a housewife is not an option in my case, and that means that I had to take a different control of my life.

For example, at the beginning of my marriage something in me always “knew” that my husband was the one who had to open the house door, drive the car, change a flat tire, and run all the errands that were “men-related”. Stereotypes, I know, don’t judge me. But at the same time something told me that I had to have some kind of independence.  So when I started working full time and got my own car I knew I couldn’t depend on my husband to open the door for me or do all those “men-things”. The first step was getting my own set of keys with a locksmith in El Paso, the beautiful place where I live. Having my own set of keys gave me special powers. I felt like a woman in control, my eyes opened and I realized that I couldn´t live under stereotypes. I know it sounds silly but it is true. I could get home at any time and not depend on someone to open the door for me.  I had more control of my time and that felt liberating. 

Sometimes I want to go back that locksmith in El Paso and thank him for giving me the keys that changed my perspective. My husband is happy to see that I feel more confident and not afraid to make decisions. Now I change tires, visit the hardware store, work hard everyday and even sometimes get home late to find out that he is the one who has my dinner ready.