In response to some concerns we have received about the battery life of the ActiveKEY, HAR has worked with Supra to deliver a firmware upgrade that extends the battery life beyond the previous battery life. The upgrade was placed into service on March 10 and your ActiveKEY should have been automatically updated via the ActiveKEY’s cellular network. To be certain your ActiveKey is updated to the current version you can scroll to the “about” field on your key’s display and click “Enter.” The firmware version should read “2.16.”
Changing your ActiveKEY’s preferences to “Showing Notification – OFF” can also extend your ActiveKEY’s battery life. Showing Notifications alert you when another agent opens a lockbox placed on your listing; however, you can still receive showing notifications via e-mail in real-time even with notifications set to “off.”
To turn OFF Showing Notifications on your ActiveKEY:
- Press the on/off button on the ActiveKEY
- Scroll to “Preferences” and press Enter
- Press 1 to select “Notifications”
- Press 2 to turn notifications to “OFF” and then press Enter
The Active KEY has been in use since 2007 and is currently used by more than 400,000 agents in more than 300 associations. During the course of 2009 as HAR’s prior Supra service agreement was nearing the end of its term, a lockbox task force comprised of local agents and brokers reviewed available lockbox products and systems. The recommendation from the task force was based on a number of relevant factors including ease of use, proven track record of vendor, security and a transition that would not require all 70,000 lockboxes to be exchanged.
Additionally, agents and association staff from other areas of the country that have been using the ActiveKEY were surveyed. Interestingly, the shorter battery life was not an issue for those agents surveyed. Prior to moving to the ActiveKEY, HAR was the only Supra customer in the country where keys only required weekly updates and unlimited update codes could be obtained via phone. All other agents in the country have always been required to cradle and update their key each night so the transition to the ActiveKEY was not an inconvenience because they were already used to cradling/charging their key nightly. While weekly updates provided a level of convenience for HAR members not enjoyed by others, it also left the system less secure and the showing information less valuable because agents did not regularly sync their keys on the cradle. A lost or stolen key can now be disabled in a matter of minutes as opposed to up to a week with the previous system and showing information is transmitted in real-time.
Additional ActiveKEY Firmware Update Features Include:
New Battery Conservation Feature
If “Showing Notifications” are set to “On,” the ActiveKEY will continue to receive showing notifications in real-time from agents showing your listings from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. (9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Daylight Saving Time). From 8 p.m – 8 a.m., the ActiveKEY will still transmit showing activity when you access a lockbox, but it will not receive showing notifications from other agents entering your listings until 8 a.m. Note that e-mail notifications will still be sent to the listing agent in real-time.
New Safe Mode
If the ActiveKEY reaches a temperature over 131°F (55°C), the key will automatically go into safe mode. If you see the following message on your ActiveKEY: MAXTEMP EXCEEDED SAFE MODE ON, your key has reached a high temperature and cannot be used until it cools down.
The ActiveKEY should NOT be left in a hot environment, such as a vehicle on a hot day. The ActiveKEY is designed to operate between -4° and 131°F (-20° and 55°C). Low- or high-temperature conditions can shorten battery life or cause the ActiveKEY to malfunction.
