As more of us head back into the office, how to deal with home deliveries is becoming an issue once again. Staying in all day waiting for the doorbell is tiresome, and comes with a high probability that the delivery driver will decide to visit in the five minutes you decide to take a shower. And if it gets left outside the house, there's a risk of your precious parcel getting lost, rained on or even stolen.
With recent stats estimating that more than 7.5 million parcels have been lost or stolen since lockdown, it's clear we need a better way to protect packages when homeowners are out and about.
Yale has come up with one convenient solution: the Yale Smart Delivery Box. This weatherproof metal box sits outside your front door and provides a safe place for packages to be stashed when you're not around. This Smart Delivery Box comes with Yale’s mechanical seal of approval, with a high security night latch and sacrificial strip to make absolutely, definitely sure no one's getting in who shouldn't be. But as you've probably gathered from the name, that mechanical security sits along some very clever smart features.
Yale Keyless Smart Door Lock: no need for keys
The Smart Delivery Box features the Yale Keyless Connected Smart Door Lock, which means it opens via a specific PIN code, set by you. For extra security, you can have up to 20 different codes active at one time – so you could set one up that's unique to a delivery driver, for example, or one that's only live for 24 hours. When online shopping, simply add the Smart Delivery Box as your 'safe place', along with the PIN code to open the box.
When it comes to collecting your packages, you understandably might not be too keen on memorising yet another passcode. No problem – you can link a key card, key tag, key fob or even your smartphone (when connected to a smart home system) to the Smart Delivery Box for easy and quick access without a PIN when you arrive home.
Yale Access Module: even smarter security
That's the basic premise – but wait! There's a way to make the Smart Delivery Box even smarter, more convenient and fuss-free. Enter: the Yale Access Module. This is inserted into the lock on the front of your box, and works with a Yale Connect Wi-Fi Bridge, plugged into the nearest wall socket to the Box.
Once in place, the Access Module will enable you to lock and unlock your Box remotely, via the Yale Access app on your smartphone. That means if you're kitted out with a smart doorbell or entranceway security camera, you could bypass the need for PINs altogether, and simply check it's the delivery person via video feed, open the box for them to stash your parcel in and lock it remotely again when they're done.
You can also use the app to check the status of a door or keep an eye on which deliveries have arrived and when – for example if you're away on holiday – via 24/7 Access History. The Yale Access module is also compatible with leading voice assistants Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. So if you don't want to be bothered with either PINs or smartphone swiping, you can simply ask your smart speaker to unlock your Smart Delivery Box for you.
For owners of a Yale Sync Smart Home Alarm, the Smart Box is designed to integrate seamlessly with that security system via the Yale Sync Module. It's an alternative to the Access Module and Connect Wi-Fi Bridge setup that offers all the same benefits, with some extra helpful features thrown in. For example, you can set your Yale alarm system to automatically disarm when you unlock the Smart Delivery Box upon arriving back from work, making getting home that much smoother.
Never stay in for a parcel again
With its Smart Delivery Box, Yale aims to provide one convenient solution that will become everyone's answer to ‘leave my parcel in a safe place’. It means you'll never have to rearrange your plans around a delivery driver again. For multi-person households, it's also a handy way to avoid having to alert other household members when packages are being delivered – useful, say, in the run up to someone's birthday, or after you've ordered one to many bargains in the Black Friday sales.
"With millions of consumers purchasing online each day, the need for a secure location to store parcels is becoming more and more important," says Kevin Spencer, Head of Product Management at Yale. "The Smart Delivery Box gives homeowners the peace of mind that their deliveries, big or small, will be there when they arrive home, giving reassurance when they need it most.”
The Yale Smart Delivery Box will be available to purchase, in black or grey, from the Yale Store from Monday 18 October 2021 for £299.99.
