Schlage Home Alarm Systems in Charlotte, NC
September 12th, 2009The Schlage Lock Company is well-known in locksmithing circles for manufacturing a lock that’s considerably harder to pick than the standard Yale-type.
The Schlage Manufacturing Company was established in 1920 by Walter Reinhold Schlage, an engineer born in Germany whose mechanical skills were recognized by his father in his childhood. His first patent, in 1909, was for a device that allowed a light switch to be operated by the turn of a door knob. His first door lock patent was gained in 1923. His company is now a subsidiary of the Ingersoll-Rand Company, the portfolio of which includes refrigeration equipment, locks, construction equipment and golf carts.
Schlage Home Alarms now targets the mid-priced residential and commercial markets in Charlotte, holding a 40% share of the market in 1995 and calling itself “The Doberman of Locks”.
The company’s most elaborate offering is currently the Schlage LiNK suite of products, a system to control all the locks and monitoring systems of a house. Using Z-Wave technology, this system allows for remote control through any computer or cell ‘phone with an Internet connection. In this fashion, it is possible for a person to protect their loved ones - and all that valuable copper piping.
Entry is allowed after a four-digit code is entered and lights can be turned on. A text message can be sent when, e.g., children arrive home.
The value of a Schlage home alarm system was recently demonstrated in Gaston County, near Charlotte, NC. A woman was at home when someone started to beat upon the door. She looked through a glass pane to see a person unknown to her. She retired to the bathroom and locked the door.
A louder noise was heard, and the alarm activated, summoning the police. At first the woman was worried the man was in her house, however the police found a broken door but no intruder.
Sergeant JA Leatherwood said, “That alarm is what saved her”. This is the stuff of nightmares and Death Wish movies, but it leaves the value of home alarm systems beyond doubt.