MaidBossPro Blog — Team App

Lockbox, Door Code and Alarm: Entry Notes in the Cleaning Team App

Most recurring cleaning customers are not home when the team arrives. That is the point: they come home to a clean house. It also means every one of those visits starts with a small puzzle at the door. Where is the key? What is the code? Is there an alarm, and how long before it goes off? Entry notes are how the team solves that puzzle in seconds instead of on the phone.

Where Entry Notes Sit

Under the cleaning details and the extras, covered in Extras on the Card: Inside the Oven, Baseboards and Linens in the Cleaning Team App, each job card has its entry and notes section.

It holds the practical facts of getting in: lockbox, key or door code, the alarm, and notes about rooms to skip and products to use. The team reads it in the driveway, walks to the right door, and gets in on the first try.

Lockboxes

A lockbox note should say where the box is and how it opens:

• “Lockbox on the hose bib behind the side gate. Code in notes. Key goes back in the box, spin the dials.”
• “Lockbox on the back porch railing, push-button type, press the code then pull down.”

The last line matters. A team that leaves the box open or forgets to scramble the dials has left a key to the house sitting on display. Make “key back, dials spun” part of how every lockbox note is written.

Keys and Door Codes

Some customers hand the company a key. Others have a keypad lock or a smart lock with a code just for the cleaning company.

• Company-held keys. Note which key ring or tag it is on, not the address on the key itself: “Key tag 14.” A key labeled with a street address is a risk if the ring is ever lost.
• Keypad codes. “Front door keypad. Code in notes. Lock it again on the way out by pressing the lock button.”
• Garage codes. “Garage keypad on the right of the door. Enter through the garage, close it behind you.”

When a code changes, the office updates it on the home once. Because MaidBossPro fills a new job at a home you have cleaned before from that home's last job, the new code carries forward to every visit after that, and the old code is no longer on anyone's card.

Alarms

Nothing ruins a cleaning morning like a siren and a call from the monitoring company. Alarm notes should be specific:

• Where the panel is: “Panel inside the garage door, on the left.”
• How long the team has: “About 30 seconds after the door opens.”
• What to press: “Enter code, then Off.”
• How to set it again on the way out, or whether the customer prefers it left off.
• What to do if it goes off anyway: “If alarm sounds, enter code twice, then text the office right away.”

If a customer has a cleaner-specific alarm code, write that down rather than the household's main code. Many systems support that, and customers often prefer it.

When Entry Fails

Codes get changed without telling anyone. Lockboxes come back empty. A customer forgets it is cleaning day and leaves the deadbolt on. When the team cannot get in, they should:

1. Check the note one more time, and try any other door it mentions.
2. Text the office, which can reach the customer through two-way texting without using a cleaner's personal number.
3. Wait a reasonable time your company sets, then tap Skip with a clear note: “Lockbox empty, no answer, waited 15 min.”

A photo of the empty lockbox or the locked door helps if the customer later asks why the home was not cleaned. Skips are covered fully in Start, Skip, Complete: The Three Buttons That Run a Cleaning Team's Day.

Off the Group Chat, Onto the Job

Many cleaning companies keep door codes in a group text or on a printed sheet in the car. Group texts never forget, so old codes and former employees live there forever. Printed sheets get left on seats. Entry notes on the job, shown only to cleaners signed in with their own PIN, are the better home for that information. When a cleaner leaves, turning off their PIN removes their access to every code at once.

For the rest of what shows on the team's phone, visit the MaidBossPro maid service app page.