How It Works

From jammed lock to verified guest in under a minute.

Here's exactly what happens when a guest can't get in — and why you can trust the system making that call.

1

The lock fails

A guest arrives, and the smart lock won't cooperate — dead battery, jammed bolt, a code that didn't take. There's a sign near the keypad with simple instructions: text the property name to a number.

2

The guest texts in

GrantKey answers immediately as your property's digital doorman — not a generic bot. It asks for the guest's name to confirm who's texting. GrantKey only texts a guest after they text first.

Example message (the live wording; names are placeholders)
"You've reached GrantKey - Example Stays's digital doorman for The Maple. I just need to verify your reservation first. What NAME is the reservation under? Up to 10 msgs/lockout. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Terms: grantkey.io/sms"

See exactly how guest texting works →

3

Verification happens — deterministically

The core trust moment

This is the part that matters most. GrantKey checks the guest's stated name and the current time against your live reservation calendar using a rule-based logic system — deliberately not an AI language model. That's not a limitation, it's the design: a security decision should be the same, auditable, and predictable every single time. No hallucinations. No prompt-injection surface. No creative interpretation of who's allowed in your property.

4

What happens next

Verified

GrantKey immediately shares the backup key or lockbox location and code. You're notified afterward — because the whole point is that you shouldn't have to be involved at 2am.

Doesn't match

If the guest's name or timing doesn't line up with a reservation, GrantKey doesn't guess. It responds to the guest and flags you to step in manually. When it's not sure, a human decides — not the system.

What GrantKey isn't

GrantKey is a lockout fallback system, not a full guest-messaging assistant. It won't send your wifi password, answer parking questions, or handle check-in instructions — that's a different job, and we think it deserves a different tool. GrantKey does one thing: gets a locked-out, verified guest into your property, fast.

Data & Security

What we do with guest information

GrantKey checks a guest's name and phone number against the reservation already on your property's booking calendar — that's the whole verification. That information is only ever used to confirm the match; it isn't sold, and it isn't used to train any AI model, because no AI model is involved in the decision at all. Access to property lock codes and backup key locations is limited to what's needed to operate the verification system.

In progress: we're finalizing formal security and privacy documentation, including our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, ahead of public launch.

Frequently asked questions

Is my guests' information safe with GrantKey?

Yes. GrantKey only ever collects what it needs to do one job: verify that a guest is supposed to be at a property, and tell them where their backup key is. That's a name, a phone number, and the reservation window it's checking against — nothing more. We don't sell guest data, we don't use it for marketing, and we don't hand it to anyone outside the operator whose property is involved.

Is GrantKey an AI chatbot? Could someone talk it into giving them a key?

No, and that's the point. GrantKey runs on straightforward, rule-based logic — it checks a name and a time window against the reservation already on file, the same way a front desk would check a guest list. There's no language model making judgment calls about who gets access, which means there's nothing to talk it into, trick, or hallucinate its way past. If the details don't match, a human — you — steps in. Access decisions are too important to leave to a system that can be persuaded.

Do you store our smart lock codes or property details securely?

Property access details are only ever used to answer a verified guest's request — they're not shared, published, or accessible to anyone outside your GrantKey setup. As GrantKey grows, we're continuing to tighten how that information is stored and who can reach it.

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