Hear from Our Customers
You’re managing a business, not a security detail. But every lost key, every employee turnover, every contractor visit creates another access headache you don’t have time for.
Access control systems eliminate that friction. You grant access from your phone, revoke it instantly when someone leaves, and see exactly who entered which door at what time. No more rekeying locks when an employee quits. No more wondering if that contractor made copies of your keys.
The right system scales with you. Adding new employees takes seconds, not service calls. Opening a second location doesn’t mean managing twice the keys. And when something feels off, you’ve got a complete audit trail showing exactly what happened.
We’ve been in the locksmith business since the late 1800s. That’s not a typo—over 100 years of the McCausland family solving security problems in Delaware County and the surrounding Philadelphia area.
We’re not a national chain that showed up last year. We’re the largest locksmith company serving the Delaware Valley, with a storefront in Prospect Park and technicians who’ve been installing commercial access control systems across Upper Chichester and the region for decades.
When you call, you’re getting people who understand local businesses. We know the building types in this area, the security challenges you face, and how to install systems that work with your existing infrastructure without turning your workday upside down.
We start with a site assessment at your Upper Chichester location. This isn’t a sales pitch—it’s a technical walkthrough where we look at your doors, existing locks, power sources, and network setup to understand what you actually need.
Then we design a system that fits. That might be keypad entry for a small office, card readers for a multi-tenant building, or mobile credentials for a facility where people come and go constantly. We’ll tell you what makes sense and what doesn’t.
Installation happens on your schedule. Our technicians configure each component so it works immediately—doors lock and unlock properly, credentials are programmed, and the management software is set up so you can control everything from one place. We test every access point before we leave.
After installation, you get training on the system. How to add users, how to set access schedules, how to pull reports. We don’t hand you a manual and disappear. You’ll know how to manage your own access control without calling us every time something changes.
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A complete access control system installation includes the hardware—card readers, keypads, or biometric scanners at each entry point, plus the electronic locks or strikes that actually secure your doors. We handle the wiring, the power, and the connection to your network if you’re using a cloud-based system.
You also get the management software. This is where you control everything: who has access to which doors, what times they can enter, and how long their credentials stay active. Good systems let you manage this from your phone or computer, whether you’re in the building or not.
In Upper Chichester and throughout Delaware County, we’re seeing more businesses move to mobile credentials. Instead of cards that get lost or forgotten, employees use their phones. You can issue access instantly and revoke it the moment someone leaves. For businesses with high turnover or lots of contractors, this saves significant time and money.
We also integrate with your existing security infrastructure. If you have CCTV cameras or alarm systems, your access control can work with them—triggering recordings when doors open or sending alerts when someone tries to enter outside business hours.
Installation costs depend on how many doors you’re securing and what type of system you need. A basic keypad system for one or two doors might run a few hundred dollars. A complete card reader system for a multi-door facility with cloud management typically starts around several thousand.
The biggest variables are the number of access points and the credential type. Mobile credentials cost more upfront than basic proximity cards, but they save money long-term because you’re not constantly replacing lost cards. Biometric readers cost more than keypads but eliminate credential sharing.
Most Upper Chichester businesses find that access control pays for itself within the first year through reduced rekeying costs, eliminated lockouts, and better security. We’ll give you a detailed quote after seeing your facility—no guessing, no surprise charges later.
Usually, yes. Most commercial doors can be retrofitted with access control without replacing the entire door or frame. We install electric strikes or magnetic locks that work with your existing hardware.
The challenge comes with very old doors, non-standard frames, or doors that aren’t properly aligned. If a door doesn’t close securely on its own, adding access control won’t fix that—you need the door repaired first. We’ll identify any issues during the site assessment so there are no surprises during installation.
We work with all major lock manufacturers and access control brands. If you have specific hardware you want to keep or integrate with, we’ll make it work. And if your current setup won’t support what you’re trying to do, we’ll tell you exactly why and what the alternatives are.
Most commercial access control systems have fail-safe or fail-secure modes. Fail-safe means doors unlock when power is lost—important for fire exits and emergency egress. Fail-secure means doors stay locked during power loss—better for high-security areas.
We configure each door based on your needs and local fire codes. Your main entrance might fail-secure to prevent unauthorized access, while your rear emergency exit fails-safe so people can always get out.
Battery backup is standard on quality systems. If your building loses power, the access control keeps working for hours or even days, depending on the backup capacity. Cloud-based systems also keep functioning because the credentials are stored locally at each reader, not just in the cloud. You might lose remote management temporarily, but your doors still lock and unlock for authorized users.
This is where access control really shines. You can create temporary credentials that automatically expire after a set time—one day, one week, whatever you need. The contractor gets access when they need it, and you don’t have to remember to revoke it later.
With mobile credentials, you can issue access remotely. A contractor shows up unexpectedly? Send them a digital key from your phone. They finish the job early? Revoke access immediately. No physical cards to hand out or collect.
You can also restrict temporary access by door and time. A cleaning crew might get access to common areas after business hours but not to your office or storage rooms. A delivery driver might get access to the loading dock only, and only during their scheduled window. The system enforces these rules automatically so you’re not relying on people to follow instructions.
Absolutely. Cloud-based access control is built for this. You manage everything from a web dashboard or mobile app, whether you’re in the building, at home, or across the country.
When someone needs access, you grant it instantly. When they leave the company, you revoke it before they even pack their desk. If you have multiple locations, you manage all of them from the same dashboard—no need to visit each site or call someone local to make changes.
The system also sends real-time alerts. If someone tries to enter outside their scheduled access times, you get notified immediately. If a door is propped open or forced, you know right away. This matters more when you’re not physically in the building to notice these things yourself.
A single-door installation usually takes a few hours. A multi-door system for a larger facility might take one to three days, depending on how many access points you have and whether we need to run new wiring.
The timeline also depends on your existing infrastructure. If you have network connectivity and power near each door, installation is faster. If we’re running cables across the building or upgrading electrical, it takes longer.
We schedule installation to minimize disruption to your business. For some Upper Chichester clients, we work after hours or on weekends. For others, we can install one section at a time so you’re never completely without access. We’ll map out the timeline during the site assessment so you know exactly what to expect and can plan accordingly.
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