Our Review: The DaVinci Lock System
Updated: Apr 8, 2022
Considering the DaVinci lock system for your self storage facility?
DaVinci offers a solution for self storage facilities that are looking to allow "overlock" capabilities along with contact-less lock removal. This system is good for facilities that require the occasional "overlock" and use standard locks for their doors. Let's go over the basics.
DaVinci Workflow
Lets start with an overview of how a customer and how the facility both use the lock. Much of this information was obtained from first hand knowledge. But special thanks to Maven Storage for their input.
Option 1: Overlock Only
This option has customers supply their own locks and uses the DaVinci system for overlocks only.
The workflow is as follows:
The customer rents a unit.
Customer brings their own lock and locks their unit.
If the customer continues to pay, everything is good and there is no need for the DaVinci System.
If, however, the customer is unable to pay and an overlock occurs then the DaVinci lock system can be used.
The facility must still manually monitor past due units and decide when to overlock.
Once a unit is marked for overlock (the unit is overdue), the facility manager takes a DaVinci lock and puts it on the past due unit.
For here there are two ways the lock can be removed. Option 1) the customer goes to their storage unit, then visits https://davincilockrelease.com/, this automatically connects to your current Self Storage Management Software and allows for the customer to pay their overdue balance.
The customer then gets the unlock code for their lock from the DaVinci Lock Release Website.
Once the customer unlocks their overlock, they can then return it to your lock-dropbox.
Finally your Manager will need to pickup the lock from the lock-dropbox and return it to wherever you store the locks (likely just somewhere in your office). Of note, you can see each lock when you log in to the DaVinci portal. The manager needs to simply change the lock status from "returned to dropbox" to "available" - signifying that the lock is now back in your office (or wherever you store locks) and ready to be used again.
Option 2: Overlock with DaVinci Locks for Each Customer
This way is exactly the same as the previous except that customers each get assigned a DaVinci lock of their own. In this case, you have the ability to access each locks code from your DaVinci desktop.
Some Tips
While the DaVinci user-interface is overall friendly, it is still worthwhile to walk your managers through every aspect of the platform including the specifics of using the web portal and the app.
While customers can automatically remove their lock by visiting DaVinciLockRelease.com and paying their bill, there is no way to automatically overlock a unit like you can with an electronic lock.
Management Software Integration
The DaVinci will interact directly with your current management software. It will pull from your current system to populate units and to allow customers to pay their past due balance.
DaVinci works with most of the big management software platforms including: Store Edge, SiteLink, EasyStorage Solutions and Domico Cloud.
Final Thoughts and Opinion
So, is the DaVinci Lock system right for you? Well that depends on your facility. If you want customers to have the ability to use their own locks AND have the ability to overlock them, then the DaVinci lock system is for you.
The system is simple and managers can be trained in under an hour. It is easy to login, add users, and perform some "test" overlocks all from your computer. This makes training new users a breeze.
The experience is quite seamless for customers as well, if they get overlocked, they simply need to visit DaVinciLockRelease.com , pay their bill and recieve the lock code. Of note, you will need to have the DaVinci Lock Release site posted somewhere obvious around your facility if you want customers to be able to find it.
So whats the final verdict?
We give DaVinci locks a "YES".
It does exactly what you need with no frills or excess features to complicate things.