Locksmith software for Australian businesses

Lockouts first, everything else after

A rekey can wait until Tuesday. Someone locked out of their house at 10 pm cannot. Every message from your web form or email lands in one shared inbox and becomes a card, and WhatsApp and SMS messages land in the same inbox. Automations sort them as they arrive:

• When a message contains “locked out”, “lost keys” or “can’t get in”, set it to urgent and add an Emergency label.
• Notify the locksmith you name, in the app, by email or as a push notification.
• Outside your business hours, reply with your after-hours call-out fee, so the customer knows the cost before you drive.
• When a quote is accepted, move the card to Booked.

Not a phone system, and that is fine

Calls still come to your mobile. Karya Falak holds the messages, jobs and paperwork around them. Reply targets count only the hours you are open and tell someone when one is missed, so daytime enquiries do not slip while you are halfway up a ladder fitting a door closer.

Price the call-out before you go

Put your call-out fee, after-hours rate, rekey per cylinder, key cutting and common hardware in the price book, each with your cost and margin. Kits group what usually goes together, such as “Supply and fit deadlock: lock, labour, two keys”. The office can quote from it in a minute, and a locksmith you allow can quote on site from the same prices.

Bigger work, like a new master key system or access hardware across an office, goes out as a quote link. The customer ticks optional extras, signs with a finger, and can ask for changes. See quotes.

Record the lock, the key and the check

Add your own fields to every job: lock brand and model, key system, number of keys cut, door type. Make the important ones required before a job is done. A job form on lockout visits keeps everyone working the same way:

• Proof of identity or ownership sighted
• Photo of the lock before and after
• Method of entry used
• Keys handed over, and how many
• Customer advised about upgrades

A history on every door

Notes and photos stay on the card, and every change is logged: who changed what, from what to what, and when. Think about what you store. A key code written in a note can be read by everyone who can see the job, so keep restricted key details where your own procedures say they belong.

Paid before you leave the door

Lockout customers rarely want an invoice in the post. When the locksmith finishes the visit in the Field app, it asks Invoice now or Later. Invoice now bills the accepted quote, or lines from the price book, and issues the tax invoice on the spot. The Field app runs on iPhone and Android.

• Show the pay link as a QR code, and the customer pays by card on their own phone.
• Text the pay link to the customer.
• Record cash or a bank transfer on the phone; someone in the office confirms it before it counts.

Who sees the money

Each field member has switches for seeing prices, quoting, invoicing and taking payment, so an apprentice can finish a job without seeing your margins. Subcontractors never see prices. Card payments go to your own Stripe account, explained on online payments, and invoices and payments go on to Xero or QuickBooks.

Strata, agents and commercial clients

Real estate agents, strata managers and businesses bring steady work across many doors. Each contact can carry a company, tags and up to 20 saved addresses. Several small jobs for one agency can go on one invoice at the end of the month, grouped by job, and a client hub link lets the property manager see visits, quotes and invoices and ask for more work without ringing.

Regular work, such as a monthly check of a shop’s door hardware, can be a repeating visit that is put on the Calendar weeks ahead.

Getting to the job

The day’s visits sit in order and on a map, with a Navigate button. When the locksmith taps On my way, the customer can get a text with an arrival estimate, and a Running late text is one tap away. A live On my way link can show the customer the locksmith’s first name and a position rounded to about 100 metres, only while they are on the way with the app open; it ends on arrival or after two hours, and it is off unless you turn it on. These messages go by text and are kept on the job’s conversation.

What it costs

Starter is A$49 a month with up to 10 people in the office, and Growth is A$99 a month with no limit on people in the office. Each locksmith who uses only the Field app is A$9 a month. Text messaging is A$19 a month for an Australian number, with messages passed on at carrier cost. All prices include GST, and the 14-day trial needs no card. See pricing.