Hi everyone,
Seeing a few posts for Smart Locks here , here and here Iit reminded me and motivated me that I wanted to reach out to the Hosts Airbnb Community and ask, whethere there would be an interest for a Smart Lock that doesn't exceed in cost the $120-150 mark, and doesn't require monthly fees. I confess that I wanted to write this a long time ago but didn't have the time.
I started my hosting journey a couple of years now, and intensified it after my parents had health issues - one with a stroke, and one with heart attack. Being "forced" (it is not the right word) to quit my career in marketing to take care of them, I started being a vacation rental host full time.
Now, as I started with one property, I expanded to a second one, and also broke them down into rooms and rent them as well - so you could say that I manage 2 apartments and six rooms in total.
Being highly technical, I started searching to find ways to automate my processes, and I came across a variety of smart locks, only to find that they cost way to high to implement them to six accomodations, not to mention that where I am located is not prime tourist area - (I am still surprised everytime someone books).
So, to make the story short, I decided to create my own, so as to:
- Be able to lock and unlock the door from anywhere in the world
- Be able to program the lock to automatically lock as specified times - for example, lets say that a guest arrives at 3:00 am, you program the lock to accept the code that it is given and then when the gest departs, to discard the code and lock the door (obviously within a reasonable tiem frame)
- Be able to send a code to the customer's email or phone immediately after they booked
- And of course, to let me know with an SMS when the lock unlocks for the first time (so as to know that the guest arrived).
Now, just to give you a few background information I have 15 years experience in product development and marketing, and I have created things from packaging of teas to the development of electronic toys for kids, so I know a thing or two about how to develop products.
I am asking the community whether anyone else is interested, so as to register interest and accelerate - my first prototype will be ready late June.
Let me know any other ideas that you would like to have in a lock like that and whether you would be interested in this project.
Sal