8 things your smart garage door opener does to help you out

If you’re like us, you love what smart objects and connected homes can do to simplify our lives. That’s why we’re so thrilled by the brand-new generation of LiftMaster by Chamberlain garage door openers. They are not your father’s door opener!

Connecting their garage door openers to the Wi-Fi was the first step LiftMaster made a few years ago. In fact, most of their models now offer the MyQ technology, which allows you to monitor and operate your garage door opener safely using your smartphone or your iPad.

WAIT! Say what? Let’s rewind this! You can open your garage door from anywhere on Earth using your smartphone. Yes. YOU CAN.

And this is just the tip of this iceberg of what you can do with a LiftMaster 85503, the first garage door opener with:

• Built-in camera
• 2-way audio
• Built-in Wi-Fi
• Smartphone or tablet control

See what’s happening in your garage in real time

The built-in camera is equipped with

• Motion detection
• Night vision
• Manual 360-degree rotation
• Live-streaming 1080p HD video

But what does it mean concretely???

It means you can see people as they come in through your garage door.

Your kids coming from school

Your neighbor you agreed to lend your ladder to. And then forgot.

The plumber you hired to fix the bathroom.

Here’s what you can see from your smartphone device when somebody activates your garage door opener as they get through your garage door.

Basically, anybody you decided to give access to your garage.

In real time. When the garage door opener opens the door.

But How Did They Get in Your Garage First?

There are 2 different ways to give access to your garage with your smart LiftMaster garage door opener and the MyQ app

1. For a neighbor or someone you want to give access just this one time:

• You could tell them to send you an SMS text once they’re waiting in front of your garage door.
• And then open your garage door for them.
• Once you’ve watched them enter with all their tools and stuff, for repairmen, let’s say.
• You close your garage door with your smartphone.
• You repeat these steps as people are ready to leave your home.

That’s OK but what if you are in an important meeting or driving or at the dentist? What if you don’t want to have to think about it each time or be ready to answer your mobile all the time?

2. You can give access to the users easily with the MyQ app

There are 3 different easy-to-use access methods:

1. A recurring weekly access to someone who comes to your home every week at a specific time.
2. A temporary access for someone who comes to do work in your house, for example, by choosing the day and time slot they want for access to be granted.
3. The traditional one, always giving access to a trustworthy person.

Look closely at these 6 images and see how easy giving access is

How it looks on your smartphone? LiftMaster MyQ app first lets you choose your relationship with the user you add. Then you either choose if it's a temporary, reccuring or always access.

What about selecting a recurring or temporary access? It is pretty intuitive. You select a day or many days, then you select at what time each guest gets access and at what time this access ends. If you have a smart garage door opener on each of your garage doors, you can choose which one you give access to.

Your guest user receives the invitation by email, downloads the application and creates his or her own MyQ account. And you can keep an eye on what’s happening at home.

With this MyQ feature, homeowners can also set up notifications to see what each of the 5 users is doing with their devices in real time. These actions are also listed in the event history.

GOOD TO KNOW – Guest users won’t have access to:

• Event history
• Camera feed
• All configuration functions
• Commercial operators or gate openers

Here are a few examples to help you understand this feature’s possibilities

• Imagine the little girl next door walks your dog on weekdays from 3 to 4 pm. You could know the exact time she uses her access. Thus, you would know for sure if your pet had a 1-hour walk every day.
• Does someone come to clean your house every Friday morning? You can allow recurring access and know exactly what time this person arrives and leaves.
• You will receive your brand-new stove between 8 and 9 am next Wednesday? No need for you to wait at home. You can give access for only 1 hour and let the delivery team know that there will be a record in the event history of the time they spent at your home.

That’s insane, right? We bet you didn’t know a smart garage door opener could that!

Here’s something else that will blow your mind!

You can hear and talk with people – or your favorite pets – in your garage!!!

The 2-way audio built in the LiftMaster 85503 offers:

• Live 2-way communication
• Adjustable volume
• Enable / disable the microphone

So, depending on the alert notifications you’ve set up, you will be informed of the users entering your garage in real time and then you can have a little chit chat with them if you want.

As Rachel is entering your garage door, you get notified and you can say

"Hi, Rachel."

And give her special instructions for this week tidying if she is your housekeeper.

Or say how much you love her if she's your mom getting in to watch the kids because you’ll be late from work. Aaaawh! Moms are the best!

Your home: your oasis of peace and security

Since the LiftMaster 85503 is the most advanced garage door opener in terms of technology and connectivity, they also add all the safety features people love to this model:

• Battery Backup > What does it mean? It means you can open and close your garage door, from a distance or right at home, even when the power is out. So, your car will never ever get stuck in the garage.
• Electronically Protects against forced openings > What does mean? If a burglar tries to get in your garage, forcing open your garage door with a crowbar, your door opener will detect it and push back!
• SECURITY+ 2.0 safeguards garage access by sending a new code with every click > What does it mean? It means burglars who wander your neighborhood with a remote, clicking in front of every garage door, hoping for an old door opener to open, won’t get lucky at your home.
• Alert-2-Close flashes the light and makes a bip sound > Why should you care? If you close your garage door with your smartphone when you’re not there but other people are, they will know the door’s about to close.

• Safety Sensors > What are those? Also called photo-cell safety beams, they protect you and your loved ones by stopping the door from closing on obstructions.

  
• Motion-detection lighting so you will never have to walk into a dark garage again.

Other cool thing you can do with the smart LiftMaster 85503 and your smartphone?

Now, we’ve already mentioned the first 4, but they are soooo cool! We want to make sure you’ve noticed

1. Open and close the garage door from your phone, no matter where you are.
2. Give access to the users you want: No longer do you have to share your password, lend keys or be there.
3. See what’s going on in your garage in real time.
4. React to what’s happening in your garage. Answer people when they have questions and share information.

Here are the other cool features we’ve experienced with our LiftMaster 85503 smart garage door opener

5. Customize your alerts. When do you want to get notifications? All the time? For some users only. You’re in charge. You decide!
6. Check the status of your garage door. You left in hurry. Like almost every morning. You did so many things you didn’t even have time to eat breakfast. And now you cannot remember if you closed the garage door. Right now, you should be focussing on your customer or your boss (aren’t they the same person anyhow 😉). But your mind keeps wondering if the garage door was left open... With a smart door opener, this story would be a tale from ancient times, not Tuesday at the office.
7. Get in-garage deliveries when you order online. Since stealing packages is a thing and weather is uncertain, in‑garage deliveries is a great little helper for peace‑of‑mind.
8. View past activity with either a 7‑day or 30‑day video storage option, available via a monthly subscription.

You think it might be time to change your garage door opener?

You don’t even know when your garage door opener was installed? Well, those installed before 1993 didn’t have the safety sensors that are now mandatory by the law. Plus, older garage door openers tend to open with many remotes too. Did you know 9% of burglars enter home through the garage door. So, YES, you should definitely think about upgrading your model.

You’re not sure you want a garage door opener with a built-in camera? It seems quite large and you are not sure it’s going to fit on your garage ceiling?

That’s ok. There are other great door opener models you could consider.

But then, Oh boy! You look at the models a bit and had to close the web page quick because you felt sick to your stomach. I know. Not everybody understands the mechanical and the electrical sides and chain drives and belt drives and jackshafts and so on! Here is a helpful Infographic.

Something simpler? Contact a Garaga Expert today.

They are indeed experts in garage door openers and garage doors. They have extensive experience and they love helping you find the perfect garage door system at the right plus for you. You find the perfect garage door opener already? Ask us a quotation by email.

You’d like to shop online a bit first?

You can browse our residential photo gallery. Do you like interactive design apps? If so, grab your smart phone and try our Design Centre. You’ll have fun building your dream door.