Wednesday, January 17, 2018

What to Do When Transponder Key is Lost

Have you ever been stuck in the middle of the night because you have lost your keys? It didn’t feel so good, did it? There is nothing that is fun about being locked out of your vehicle in the middle of the night when you are eager to get home. That’s what locksmiths are for, right? Sure. Until you call a locksmith to assist you and realize that a few hours have passed and you are still waiting for them to show up.

Milton Locksmith in Milton, GA will never do this to you. We respond within minutes whenever possible to any emergency locksmith request. If you have lost your transponder key and you need help, call us right away. We will be there in the blink of an eye.

Transponder Keys are Special

Have you ever compared a transponder key with a regular car key? In some cases they may look very similar. But, transponder keys are a bit different from your average car key. What’s the big difference? The transponder chip. That’s it! There really isn’t much more to it than that. However, that small little chip in the key makes a world of difference. 

If you remove that chip from the transponder key, your car will never start. That’s how much of a big deal it is. Once you put that key in the ignition and turn it, the computer in the car has to receive a signal from the chip. No signal – no starting of the car. It’s as simple and as complex as that.
This is why it is such a big deal if you lose your car keys. You can’t simply go to a key cutting store and have them cut new keys for you. You have to get a new transponder key, not just a regular key. Fortunately, and unfortunately, this requires a special set of expertise and tools that not every key cutting service will be able to afford or provide.

Can’t Find Your Transponder Key?

Nobody really ever plans to lose their keys. But, things happen. One minute you’re staring at the key, the next minute you have no clue where it is. Did it get stolen? Did you lose it? Sometimes we never really find out what happened to our key. All we know is that it is nowhere to be found when we need it and it never shows up no matter how hard we try to find it. 

Because transponder keys are not much different from regular keys, you can undergo these same things with those types of keys. Before you start to panic however, make sure that you search your surroundings thoroughly. Sometimes we lose our keys, only to find them a few hours or a few days later. If only we had looked for them hard enough. Maybe we would have found them, right? 

Think about the last place you left those keys. Are they anywhere near there? Is anything else missing? Could it be that someone stole it? Be sure before you call for help. Transponder keys are a bit special so they cost a lot more to get made or duplicated. If you find those keys, you may save yourself a nice chunk of money.
Another thing about getting transponder keys replaced is that you are often required to prove your identity and ownership of the vehicle. These are safety precautions that help to prevent criminals from requesting or receiving a copy of your keys. Although it may seem annoying and bothersome, bear it with a smile. The system is there for your benefit.

Best Place to Get a Replacement Transponder Key

So, where can you go to get a new transponder key? Well, there are several places. However, most people tend to go to their dealer or a locksmith. If you are looking for the cheaper option, you need to find a locksmith. Although your dealer is able to get you a transponder key, it often costs way more for you to access that service through them. 

On the contrary, many locksmiths can make, duplicate and even program your transponder key for a fraction of the cost. Will there be a difference in quality? Certainly not! It’s just that you will avoid some of the hefty fees when you go through a locksmith.

How to Avoid High Charges When You Lose Your Transponder Key

Replacing a transponder key will always have some amount of expense to it. After all, it is not a task that many people can do. However, you may be able to avoid paying those high fees. How? Here are some tips.

  • Don’t lose it

If you never lose your transponder key, you won’t have to worry about getting a new one. There are many ways that you can prevent loss of your keys. Try to find one that works best for you.
  •  Care for the key. Don’t bend or break it

Sometimes your transponder key isn’t lost but you still need to have it replaced because it got damaged. Once again, make sure that you care for your key. Don’t use it to do anything other than what it was made to do. This includes opening bottles and other random tasks.
  • Keep it in designated areas

If you keep your keys in one designated area, you will decrease the chances of misplacing them. Set aside a particular spot in your home or office to store them. If you keep them in your purse, make sure you do not drop them in a very large area where they can easily be concealed.

  • Use a key finder

There are many different types and sizes of key finders. They can help you to locate your key if you have misplaced it. Consider investing in one of them if you tend to lose your keys often.

Although you will try very hard not to lose your transponder keys, you may still end up losing them. If you do, Milton Locksmith in Milton, GA will always be open to assist you. Give us a call today!




Friday, January 5, 2018

Who Can Benefit from Access Control Entry



Absolutely everyone can benefit from access controlled entries. You use them all the time but probably don’t even pay it much attention. They are used in most government buildings, schools, hospitals, laboratories, apartment buildings and other high-profile businesses, like law firms and brokerage companies. Access control is exactly what it sounds like, it controls who has access in and out of a particular building or area within a business. Authorized personal is permitted but those without authorization are not permitted to enter certain areas of a building or the building itself for that matter. Take for instance a hospital. With so many drugs and people who may have a person grudge against someone, without access control, anyone could walk in off the street and steal drugs or harm someone. Those who are given clearance usually undergo a background check of some sort. Also, think about what would happen if a criminal lawyer were defending someone and just anyone could come in as they pleased? If someone wanted to harm the defending attorney or the person whom they are representing, they could easily do so if access were granted to just anyone. 

Now that we know why they are necessary, you can clearly see why everyone is able to benefit from them. Crime is so prevalent today that even some churches are having them installed to keep out those who wish them harm. Having access controlled access helps to protect not only those who are in leadership roles within the church but, to some extent, it protects the congregation. There are more and more incidents of terrorist attacks. With this being the case, the sale of access controlled locks has risen. At Milton Locksmith, our locksmiths are often called upon to install this type of lock for our customers.

Businesses benefit from access controlled locks because they can keep up with who is in and out of their business. If someone were to come in and steal something, they would have a better chance of determining exactly who it was that committed the robbery. In some businesses, there are lots of important documents that could fall in the wrong hands. If you do not wish to have your documents fall into the wrong hands, it might be a good idea to consider the various types of access control that is available to you. Not only can you restrict the direct access into your building, you can restrict certain areas. Again, if you have files that only certain people should have access to, you would certainly want to have an access controlled lock installed to prevent those who are not supposed to see the classified information, the opportunity to do so.

Safety and Access Control

One of the reasons that access control is so important is because it can protect lives. We have spoken about it in the outset of this article but we can’t stress how important access control is to preventing others from being harmed. Take for instance a government building. Without access control in government buildings, it could prove tragic. Those who are angry and upset with the government of a law maker could be so upset that they want to take out their frustration on that person or worse, others. When you go into a government building you have to go through a series of check-in points. These are all access controlled. As annoying as this may be, they are designed to keep you safe. There have been times when someone was still able to get through the security checks and access controlled areas, but this is a very rare incident. 

The same is true when you go to the airport. They also employ access controlled areas to keep everyone inside the airport and boarding the plans, safe. Again, due to the increase in terrorist attacks, it has become even more necessary to beef up security in most public places. If you just look around in your daily life, we are sure that you’ll begin to recognize the many areas you are in that have access controlled entry or areas. This is simply a common thing these days.

Getting Access Control for Your Home

You might think that it is foolish to get access control for your home but we are here to tell you that it isn’t. Say for instance there are several people living in your household. Perhaps you have teenagers and each one has his or her own keys. Now we all know that teenagers can be rather irresponsible. If they lose their keys, they could be putting the safety of everyone in the house in jeopardy. Rather than risking your safety and security and everyone else’s in the household, contact our locksmiths at Milton Locksmith and let us show you what we offer to homeowners in the way of controlled access. We’ll install a keypad that requires a code to gain access. This is such a practical solution for having keys stolen or lost. You will not be putting your safety in jeopardy, as long you don’t casually offer others the code. While this type of access is a little more expensive than your standard locks, they provided added security. Who these days can’t use a little added security given the state of the world today?

When you think of home, you think of that one place you can go and escape the world outside. Don’t let that world come inside your home and disturb your peace. Instead, get the level of security and protect that will ensure your ability to maintain your peace-of-mind. We have plenty of security features that we can offer to you and one of the best and most effective things you can invest in to increase your level of security is access controlled locks. They offer more than just security, they also offer convenience. For all that you stand to gain from having access controlled, why wouldn’t you call on us today to install your access controlled locks!