Article Updated: 14th August, 2024
This comprehensive guide explores Amazon Key for Business – a version of the Amazon Key building access system for Amazon deliveries that is designed for multi-unit residential buildings and offices. We examine how it works and its installation process, and compare it to other Amazon Key products. Explore the general pros and cons, learn what users say about the product, and consider alternative access solutions such as video intercoms.
Table of Contents
- What is Amazon Key for Business?
- How Amazon Key for Business Works
- Amazon Key for Business vs. Amazon Key In-Garage and In-Gate
- Benefits of Amazon Key for Business
- Potential Drawbacks
- How to Contact Amazon for Amazon Key
- How We Researched Amazon Key for Business
- Comprehensive Alternatives to Amazon Key for Business
What is Amazon Key for Business?
Amazon Key for Business is an access solution that allows Amazon delivery drivers to enter multi-unit residential buildings or offices to drop off packages. Drivers gain entry using an app on their handheld devices. When the delivery is verified, Amazon signals a communications box installed at each building entry point. This triggers a door unlock. This negates the need for residents or building staff to handle or screen each delivery.
Amazon installs these systems for free at eligible buildings, connecting them to the building’s existing electronic access control system. Building management can also program the system to permit access to other third-party delivery companies. But, this feature is only for Amazon-enrolled parties.
What’s In It For Amazon?
Amazon first piloted the product in 2018 as a solution for “high-defect-rate” buildings, which are those where deliveries can’t be completed on the first attempt because no one answers the door. They found that using Amazon Key cut the defect rate by two-thirds, from 2.4% to 0.8%.
Amazon Key for Business is already installed in thousands of residential buildings across the U.S. You can integrate the system with controlled access elevators too, according to Amazon’s product video.
How Amazon Key for Business Works
When drivers arrive at a building, they request one-time access via an app, which is time-limited. Multi-factor authentication validates the driver’s ID, route, GPS location, and time of the request before allowing access. Therefore, a driver can’t enter buildings while off duty or without having a delivery to that address. An encryption chip built into the device prevents hacking. The device contains no universal keys like the type used by the U.S. Postal Service.
You can also install the mechanism on pedestrian and driveway gates. For Amazon deliveries, you can grant access to larger property complexes or neighborhoods without needing full-time gate staff. Amazon affixes a sticker on call boxes and intercoms where Amazon Key for Business has been installed.
The author found this Amazon Key for Business sticker affixed to a call box at a multiunit residential building in Brooklyn.
System Components
The physical device is a small standalone proprietary smart fob installed behind the scenes that plugs into a standard electric outlet. The box has an antenna to communicate with the Internet via local cellular networks. You can also hardwire the system into the building Internet via ethernet. Its only other cable is a wire that integrates with the building’s existing electronic door release mechanism. When Amazon verifies the delivery, the door release is triggered.
The delivery people can log in to the Amazon Delivery app or Amazon Flex app to request building access. From the app they can request a door unlock or elevator release as well as see any special delivery instructions.
What About Third-Party Deliveries?
Property managers have a cloud-based control portal to add or remove third-party delivery providers to use Amazon Key. They do not require assistance from staff or residents in the same manner as Amazon drivers. However, this feature is only available at certain “eligible properties” and only for Amazon-enrolled third parties. According to Amazon, examples of approved third-party providers include package, restaurant, and grocery delivery companies. Amazon can limit the participation of third parties.
Wait. Isn’t Amazon Key “for Business” Primarily for Residential Buildings?
Yes, the name can be misleading. The product is used mostly in residential buildings since many office buildings have reception staff or a mail room to handle deliveries. The product might be more aptly called Amazon Key for Residential or Amazon Key for Condo. You can use it for apartments, multifamily buildings, condos, HOAs, and CO-OP buildings.
Amazon Key for Business vs. Amazon Key In-Garage and In-Gate
The name Amazon Key for Business does distinguish it from products in the same family designed for individual single-family homes, such as Amazon Key In-Garage and Amazon Key In-Gate. Homeowners must cover the equipment and installation costs and may experience $1.99 fees for each In-Garage or In-Gate delivery. Meanwhile, there is no particular delivery charge for using Amazon Key for Business, and Amazon handles the installation.
Features Comparison of Amazon Key for Business with Amazon Key In-Gate and In-Garage
Benefits of Amazon Key for Business
Reduce Tenant Frustration
Unlike other delivery services such as UPS, Amazon drivers can’t leave a “we missed you” note on the door. Amazon drivers have complained on forums like Reddit that they are penalized for a high defect rate. This motivates them to ring multiple apartments until someone grants entry, even when those units aren’t package recipients. Thereby, tenants are forced to act like unpaid doormen to screen the delivery driver for their neighbors.
By installing Amazon Key, neither the delivery recipient nor other tenants need to be rung, reducing resident frustration. This is helpful for buildings with older intercoms that don’t provide a visual way to confirm if the person ringing is actually a delivery driver.
Reduce Stolen Packages
As we have experienced first-hand, some drivers will simply leave a package outside rather than increase their defect rate. This can happen even in a busy urban environment such as your author’s Brooklyn (NY) residence. This can lead to stolen packages, which annoys residents, creates delays, and costs Amazon.
Differentiate Your Building With Modern Convenience
These days, multifamily tenants, especially Millennial and Gen Z households, frequently use delivery services. They may use them for takeout meals, Amazon purchases, and groceries like Amazon Fresh. Having Amazon Key for Business helps streamline deliveries and reduce interruptions from work-at-home schedules. It could also be a marketing tool for property managers during the leasing process.
It’s Free
Amazon Key for Business is free. Because Amazon benefits from reducing repeat delivery attempts and theft, Amazon covers the costs of installing Amazon Key for multiunit buildings with at least ten units. They send a professional services company to your building to open your existing access control system and install the fob. However, Amazon doesn’t provide the electronic access system or door strike mechanism, only the fob and its installation.
Amazon Key for Business Is Easy to Install
Amazon takes care of installation using a network of third-party professional installers at no cost to the building owners. This makes installing Amazon Key relatively painless for building managers. Some building managers report in various video reviews that installation was relatively fast and easy.
It Works With Most Access Control Systems
Amazon claims that Amazon Key works with 95% of existing electric residential entry systems such as intercoms, call boxes, and key fob systems. At the most basic level, the door must have an electronic release mechanism to work with Amazon Key, but it can be integrated with call boxes that are even decades old and lack any Internet connectivity.
Potential Drawbacks to Amazon Key for Business
Property Managers Complain It Goes Unused
Reviews and discussion forums indicate that Amazon Key for Business doesn’t always work as designed. On Amazon’s own user review page for the product, users give it an average of just 2.3 out of 5 stars as of the time of writing. Many of those reviews complain that in spite of having Amazon Key, delivery drivers occasionally still leave packages unguarded outside, without offering any clear explanation. In a forum for multifamily buildings, some building managers have complained that not enough Amazon drivers are aware of the function or know how to use it.
We spoke with a major San Francisco based property manager with over 100 Amazon Key for Business installations, who shared both pros and cons. “It helps us to minimize management interruptions and to help with rampant package theft in the city and accomplished that main goal of making sure packages make it inside the building. Two downsides are that it only worked for Amazon drivers and, due to the large number of drivers Amazon employs, many were not trained on the device which resulted in a lot of access confusion and calls to our management team.”
Fears About Building Access and Liability
Some building managers have expressed concern about allowing an outside party such as Amazon to potentially have unlimited access to a residential building. For liability reasons, such managers may prefer residents to screen each entry. For access control systems that create a record of who authorized each entry and the time of entry, the use of Amazon Key may sidestep this digital paper trail.
Privacy Concerns
According to Amazon’s Terms of Service for Key, the company can collect data about who uses the system, which the company says will be handled by the general privacy terms for Amazon.com. This may make some building managers or tenants nervous about giving more data to the world’s largest retailer.
It’s Not a Universal Access System
Amazon controls which third-party providers can use its solution. While Amazon can make deals with third parties to use the technology, it can also block access or charge hefty fees for usage.
Small delivery companies, such as local restaurants, may never have the size or know-how to integrate with Amazon. In these situations, a universal access system may offer a much more comprehensive solution for residential buildings.
Residents Lack Control and Information
Amazon Key requires building managers rather than individual residents to set up and control access for third-party users besides Amazon drivers. Even when Amazon drivers use the system, Amazon Key for Business lacks a notification system that lets residents know that their front door has been opened or that they have a package.
It’s Not for Buildings Without Existing Access Control Systems
If your building doesn’t already have an electronic access control system, you would have to install one before adding Amazon Key. In that case, it might make more sense to install a more comprehensive access solution that gives each resident control of the door and the ability to visually and remotely screen rings from any service provider, not just those from Amazon.
It’s Not for All Building Sizes
After initially offering Amazon Key to buildings with as few as four units, Amazon increased the minimum to ten, which has annoyed some building managers. Smaller residential buildings will need to seek another access solution.
How to Contact Amazon for Amazon Key
If you have been approached by someone to install an Amazon Key at your property, you can verify that they are a legitimate Amazon Key representative by contacting Amazon at 1-844-589-6855. You can receive maintenance for an already-installed Amazon Key by emailing kfbcx-us@amazon.com or calling 1-877-728-1504 to connect with an Amazon representative.
To inquire about getting installation, Amazon offers an initial contact form for residents or property owners/managers.
How We Researched Amazon Key for Business
To offer the most comprehensive guide available for Amazon Key for Business, we conducted six hours of Internet research, spoke with a large property management group about their experience, and scoured Internet message boards, YouTube videos, and Amazon’s own product review page to see what people said about the products. Amazon’s brochures, demonstration videos, and their engineers’ blog post about the development of the product all provided crucial information.
Comprehensive Alternatives to Amazon Key for Business
More universal alternatives for Amazon Key for Business include video intercom entry systems that allow residents to visually screen each entry request, even when they aren’t home. Such systems can provide access to anyone, including delivery drivers for any company, friends and houseguests, pet walkers, cleaning personnel, etc. Some of the latest equipment even includes capabilities like facial recognition-based access for building residents to quickly gain entry without fumbling for keys, fobs, or smartphone apps.
Swiftlane and other companies offer comprehensive video intercom and access control systems for apartments, condos, and other multi-unit residential buildings. What’s more, our video intercoms can integrate with Amazon Key for Business if you want to layer on that service as part of a comprehensive building entry solution. Learn more about Swiftlane’s solutions for multi tenant buildings and book a demonstration with us.
About the Author
Writing for Swiftlane, Michael Hines works at the intersection of real estate and technology. During 15 years at a research firm, he wrote extensively about changing U.S. demographics, consumer finances, and social change and their effects on the U.S. housing market and commercial real estate. He also wrote extensively about developments in the tech, telecom, and media space for institutional investors. Hines resides in a multi-family building in Brooklyn, NY.
