A lost key means new cylinders on every door it opened. A lost fob means thirty seconds at a keyboard. We install fob entry on commercial doors, repair readers and releases that have failed, and keep the door hardware underneath working — because a perfect reader on a dropped door still doesn’t open.
Fob entry is sold in two very different shapes, and paying for the wrong one is the most common mistake we see.
Standalone puts the brains in the reader at the door. Fobs are added and removed with a master card or programmer at the door itself. It is inexpensive, has no software to maintain, and for a staff entrance or a stockroom it is all most businesses need.
Networked systems move the brains to a controller and management software. Access is granted per person, per door, per time band — cleaners until 9am, managers everywhere, contractors this week only — and every door event is logged. When someone leaves the company, their fob dies everywhere at once. If you manage staff turnover, multiple entrances or audit requirements, this is where you land.
Either way the physical door still does the securing. We fit the reader, the release — maglock or strike — the exit button or sensor, and the power supply with battery backup, and we make sure the closer actually closes the door behind each entry. An access-controlled door that stands ajar is theatre, not security.
You delete that one fob from the system and hand out a new one — a two-minute job. Compare that with a lost master key, which honestly means changing every cylinder it opened. This is the single biggest reason businesses switch to fob entry.
One or two doors, one entrance to manage: a standalone reader with a fob programmer is cheap and dependable. Multiple doors, staff turnover, an office manager who wants to add and revoke access from a desk: networked. We will tell you honestly which side of the line you fall on.
Usually. Common causes are a failed power supply, a damaged reader head, a stuck exit button or a lock-side fault rather than the reader itself. Send a photo of the reader and the door hardware and we will diagnose from there.
Yes — that is the standard pairing. The reader validates the fob and the maglock or strike releases. If the door is on an escape route the release side must fail safe; we install and test for that as part of the job.
Send a photo and a short description of the fault and we’ll come back with a fixed-price quote the same day. Most diagnoses don’t need a site visit.
Get in touch
Head Office:
Commercial Door Maintenance and Security Ltd
61 Bridge Street,
Kington,
HR5 3DJ
t: 0800 774 7998
e: info@cdms-ltd.co.uk
Office Hours
Mon - Sat: 8am - 10pm
Sun: Closed
