One of the most common Supra-related questions we’ve received here at RMLS™ over the past few years has been, “When will I be able to use an iPhone as my lockbox key?” Well, we’re pleased to announce that as of today eKEY Basic service is available on the iPhone.

The eKEY software has been designed to update wirelessly, and allows you to not only use your phone as a key to open iBoxes, but also to manage your lockbox inventory right from your iPhone. Supra anticipates that the eKEY professional version, which will include the ability to view showing information and save listing data in the software, will also be available later this year.

A Supra iPhone adapter must also be purchased to add an IR (infrared) port to the iPhone, allowing it to communicate with iBoxes. The iPhone adapter is quite small, and connects via the docking port at the bottom of your phone when you want to open a lockbox. It runs off of your phone’s power, meaning nothing extra to keep charged, and comes with a cover that allows it to hang from a keychain when not in use.

Additional Devices

We ran a quick test in the office today and determined that both the eKEY software and adapter will work on an iPad, as well. However, we don’t recommend trying to use an iPod Touch – although the software will install and the adapter will work, without a data plan you would need to be certain that you’ll have a wireless connection available everywhere you may show a property, or commit to manually updating your key every day.

Check it out

Here are a couple of resources for further reading: eKEY for iPhone Product Page, Quick Start Guide, and User Manual. The eKEY software is available for free download through Apple’s App Store here, and comes complete with a demo mode so that you can try out the software without signing up for the eKEY service.

Ready to make the switch? The iPhone adapters sell for $55 at your local RMLS™ office, where we can also get you set up with an eKEY Basic account.

Other Supra Happenings

In other news, Supra has also recently made some improvements to SupraWEB, their key and lockbox management site. Along with a couple of security upgrades, they have also fixed an issue that caused boxes to sometimes disappear from an agent’s inventory when new boxes were added. And for those of you with Android-based phones who are interested in moving to the eKEY solution, they are currently planning to release eKEY for Android software in late September. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more, and you can also sign up for updates about Android directly from Supra here.