10)  Can I turn in my old lockboxes for a discount on the new ones?
SMAR sold the new lockboxes at a lower cost for a period of time rather than go through the turmoil of a box exchange. The prices were gradually raised as the July 2006 distribution date approached. Now boxes are sold at a price deemed suitable by SMAR's leadership based upon the cost of purchasing the boxes from Sentrilock.

11)  Can I reserve the discounted boxes now and pay for them later?
No. Discounts only apply when full payment is received with the order.

12)  What is the Card Reader? Do I need to buy one?
The card reader performs two functions. First, it reads information about all the boxes your card has been used to access and transmits this information to the Sentrilock website. The information is compiled into access reports so each box owner will know what cards have been used to access their lock boxes. The second function of the reader is to renew the card so it will not expire.

Any card reader in the Sentrilock system may be used to read and renew your card. Members may choose to use the readers in their offices, or may purchase their own readers as a convenience. Card reader drivers and utility software are available for download free on the Sentrilock website, under "support" and "downloads." Log in using the same user name and password used to renew your sentricard..

13)  Where can I get an order form and additional information?
Just click here for an order form and a list of some of the Sentrilock system's features.

14)What about the batteries? I hear the Sentrilock boxes wear down the batteries quickly and they are hard to replace.
The boxes use a camera battery that amounts to two "AA" batteries joined together by a tab soldered on the top. These batteries are readily available in stores or may be purchased from SMAR. Replacement requires removing two screws using a special hex key that can also be found in local hardware stores or obtained from SMAR. Some earlier boxes suffered from a firmware problem that made the keypad repeatedly refresh itself when they keypads were under constant pressure, such as when the boxes were stored in stacks. The weight of the upper boxes would press the keys on the boxes below, forcing the keypad to recylce and eventually run the battery down. A firmware upgrade was made available to resolve the issue.

15) I've seen different-looking Sentrilock boxes in other areas. Are the SMAR boxes obsolete? Will we need new keys to access these new boxes?
One of the attractive features that influenced SMAR to chose Sentilock was the fact that Sentrilock will not render "old" boxes obsolete even as they change the design of newer ones. Boxes distributed by some other jurisdictions after SMAR converted may appear different, but they all work using the same keybcards and function codes. You do not need special cards or hardware to access these boxes. The outer shells of the boxes may appear different, but they work the same as the ones in SMAR.

16) Can I access boxes in Virginia? Can Virginia agents access boxes in Maryland? Can I use a Maryland issued lockbox in Virginia and vice-versa?
The Virginia associations that handle the counties closest to Maryland have converted to Sentrilock as well. The lockbox and key cards are the same, however, a little extra work is required to permit use across licensing jurisdictions. In general, Maryland-issued cards only open Maryland-issued boxes by default. You must have access to other jurisdictions activated on your keycard by the SMAR staff. We will coordinate with the appropriate association and licensing authority to verify status and notify you when access is possible. Although it can be done faster, please allow 1-2 days for this process to be completed. SMAR does not have 100% control over when these requests are acted upon, so we cannot guarantee a speedy turnaround. A similar situation exists with lockboxes. They are coded to work with cards within a certain licensing jurisdiction. A Maryland lockbox placed on a Virginia listing can only be opened by someone with a Maryland-issued card or a Virginia-issued card with Maryland access as described above. Boxes can be "told" that they are to be placed on Virginia listings so that Virginia-issued cards may open them as well. The fastest way to get this done is to call Sentrilock support before you're ready to place th ebox on the listing. The process takes only a few minutes, but it is best to do it before you leave for the listing rather than when you're at the property.

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