We are all seeing more voice activated door locks being advertised and sold. By Voice Activated I mean that they can be controlled by Amazon, Google or Apple devices. Like “Alexa” opened the front door or “Hey Google” closed the front door. So how do these devices work?

The basic lock is remarkably similar to electronic locks, which I have discussed in previous articles. The difference is that these locks have built-in capabilities to communicate with voice-activated controllers. They will usually communicate with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or both. Bluetooth will be used to open or lock the lock; it will be controlled by your smartphone. Like all smart or electronic locks, installation is particularly important. It must be installed so that the mechanical action is exceptionally smooth and does not jam. The motor inside these locks is not as strong as your hand as was the case in all mechanical locks.

These smart locks can be configured to temporarily allow someone to enter only once, such as a cleaning service. They also have a history tracking capability, so you can determine who entered your home and at what time. Great for making sure your teens get home on time!

To control the lock from your smart controller, this will generally use Wi-Fi. You could set up a routine where if you say goodnight “Alexa” it would start a routine that turns off the lights, closes the doors, and maybe gives you a weather report. It’s never ending on what your routine could be. All this controlled by your voice.

Controlled by your voice can also be a problem. So if a burglar comes to your front door and says “Hey Google” open the front door, would that door unlock? It is particularly important that for any device such as a thermostat, door lock, alarm system, etc. that can only be controlled by your voice or the voices you authorized. Another way would be to configure a secondary authentication as a security code that the smart controller would have to listen to before activating. Most of these have the ability to learn voices and only respond to those voices.

Voice activated locks are an evolving industry, as they get smarter they will become more secure and will be able to communicate more closely with their smart controller. You will also see that artificial intelligence (AI) plays a bigger role in home security.