We Are Kin

Smart solutions for sharp students

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We Are Kin is an independent business that provides smart living spaces for students close to campus in major UK cities such as Lancaster, Lincoln, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, and Salford.

The company set out to provide good quality student housing at a reasonable price. Their properties are well designed, functional, and engaging for students and feature high levels of technology to make students’ lives easier. One of the most significant decisions We Are Kin made was to install iLOQ’s state-of-the-art mobile access sharing solution in their portfolio of properties instead of a traditional mechanical locking system.

In student housing, there is always a big rush at the beginning of the school year to ensure new residents get quick and efficient access to their properties. Throughout the year, residents change constantly, and keys are frequently lost. With a traditional mechanical locking system, this causes complicated key logistics and administration of access rights and a high security risk for the properties.

Using NFC technology, iLOQ’s solution allows students to unlock the main entrance door to their house and their individual apartment using just their mobile phone. No physical keys are necessary. The solution is also battery free as the power to open the locks comes from the NFC field created by the mobile phone. This eliminates battery waste and the maintenance time and costs of replacing them.

All access rights are quickly and easily managed using iLOQ’s cloud-based software platform. They are sent remotely and in real time to iLOQ’s app running on the student’s mobile phone, updated as needs change and immediately cancelled when a student’s rental period ends. There’s no hassle to get the keys back, saving time and keeping security levels high.

If a student loses their phone, temporary access rights for their locks can be given to one of their housemates to ensure they are never locked out. This helps to avoid the costly call outs and locksmith charges related to a lost physical key.

“The lack of requirement for batteries or power supply to the door lock made iLOQ the obvious choice for us. The support has been excellent,” states Richard Crawshay Jones, Co-CEO, We Are Kin.

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