Smart doors and garages: open sesame

It has never been easier to unlock or lock your house or apartment door. With smart door locks, you simply use your smartphone, smart watch, key code, coded bracelet, or key fob. When someone rings your doorbell, you don’t even have to go to the door or intercom. Instead, you can do it from the comfort of your sofa. The intercom’s camera lets you see who’s there on your smartphone. For example, the kids coming home from school – or your already-anticipated party guests. You can then unlock the door for them with a single tap. And it even works remotely via the Internet. In an emergency, you can open the door for someone else, such as a repairperson, while you’re at work.

With a smart door lock, you can be flexible and you can often distribute electronic keys to family and friends. You can even set the lock to unlock automatically via geofencing when you approach the front door with your smartphone or a digital key. And when you leave your home, the smart door locks again automatically.

You don’t have to worry about security with a smart home door system either. Communication between the door lock and the app or an electronic key takes place via end-to-end encryption. And there’s also no potential risk from a lost key with a smart lock. Smart door systems are compatible with most common doors and can be easily retrofitted. This means you don’t have to replace the entire door if you want to upgrade your smart home.

A smart door lock is the basic component to make your house or apartment door smart. You can install or upgrade it on almost any door. The smart lock is mounted on the inside of the door. Depending on the model, the normal lock cylinder is either integrated into the new door lock or completely replaced.

Once installed, it usually communicates with your smartphone via Bluetooth and you can lock and unlock it with the appropriate app, for example the Home Connect Plus app. This way, the smartphone conveniently replaces the traditional key ring, and a forgotten house key will no longer be a problem for you in the future. When using the geofencing function, your door opens automatically as soon as you approach the door with your smartphone. This way, you don’t have to set down your groceries in front of the door ever again. Instead, you can enter the house with your hands full.

Another useful element for your smart door is a networked door intercom with video function. This consists of two parts: an outdoor station with camera and an indoor station with display. Both are connected to each other via Wi-Fi or a smart home wireless standard. Installation is therefore child’s play. What’s more, you can position the indoor station anywhere, for example in the living room, kitchen, or any other room where you like to spend time.

The front-door station usually also has a doorbell button, a nameplate, and in some models a keypad. Smart indoor stations usually have a touchscreen. You can often control other devices in the smart home, such as a smart lamp, with the indoor station. For example, you can directly activate the smart outdoor lighting to greet your guests.

Your smart door becomes even more intelligent and connected with the right accessories. For example, if you want to control the door lock and the video system remotely, some systems require a Wi-Fi bridge that connects your door to the Internet via the router. To operate the door lock, there are additional chip readers, keypads, remote controls, and other smart door openers. There are also additional cameras, monitors, call buttons, bells, and more for the door intercom system.

It’s not just your front door that can be integrated into the smart home, controlled remotely, and even automated. The garage door or the gate to the courtyard can be integrated in this way too. This is done via radio drives, control units, and light barriers. This allows you to control the garage door directly from your home and you no longer need to get out of the car to open it. This is not only practical, but also very convenient, especially when it rains.

Of course, you can easily open the smart home garage with your smartphone, either with the help of voice control or with a tap in the new Home Connect Plus app. For gate control, you can also use other systems such as keypads, a Wi-Fi garage door opener, or the smart door intercom. Quite cleverly, the gate opens all by itself through geolocation technology. Imagine coming home from work in your car and having your smart home open the garage as if by magic when you turn into the driveway. It could hardly be more convenient. What’s more, you can connect your front gate and garage door and open them both at the same time with a single action.

However, a smart garage door or yard gate is not only very practical, but also offers maximum safety. The intelligent technology uses light barriers and sensors to detect if there is an obstacle or a person in the way when opening or closing and stops the door immediately if there is. So you don’t have to worry if, for example, the children are playing in the garage entrance. You can also let your dog run around on your property without worrying. Your smart home makes sure that nothing can happen. And in the event of a power failure, you can still operate your gate thanks to the emergency power supply.

Never look for keys again. With the smart lock systems from our partners, getting started in the smart home is very easy and extremely practical – especially in combination with other smart devices. The Home Connect Plus app makes it all possible. 

What does an intelligent home look like in reality? We’ll make it easier for you to get started in the world of smart homes and show you – using real-life examples – how your own personal smart home can support you in your everyday life.