Container Lock Alerts: Open, Zone, Battery, Signal Recipes

Short answer

ENTEK Smart Lock has four built-in lock alerts: open too long, left the assigned zone, low battery (under 30%, weakest lock unit) and no signal. Set each one as a recipe: a threshold, a short hold time, named recipients on email, SMS or WhatsApp, and a first action. Rules are checked every 30 seconds; messages arrive within about a minute.

Key takeaways

ENTEK Smart Lock lists four built-in lock alerts: open too long, left the assigned zone, low battery and no signal. Tamper and unauthorized unlock attempts are logged as events on top of these.
Low battery means under 30%, measured on the weakest lock unit of the asset, and battery and open-too-long limits can be set per device on the Settings screen.
A device counts as online if it reported in the last 60 minutes; the no-signal alert protects every other recipe, because a silent lock sends nothing.
Rules are checked every 30 seconds and messages go out by email, SMS or WhatsApp within about a minute; any hold time you add comes on top.
Other recipes, such as a missing proof photo or a long wait outside a stop, are not standard alerts: ENTEK sets them up as a project configuration.

01Four quiet failures a container lock should report

Most talk about container locks is about tampering, and that matters: ENTEK Smart Lock logs tamper events and unauthorized unlock attempts, and our article on tamper alerts covers them in depth. But many cargo problems are quieter. A door is opened at the right stop and nobody closes it. A loaded container leaves the yard at night. A lock battery runs down in summer heat in the middle of a route. A master lock stops reporting, and every other alert goes silent with it. The ENTEK Smart Lock book lists four alerts for exactly these cases: open too long, left the assigned zone, low battery and no signal. This article turns each one into a recipe card: the trigger, a starting threshold, a hold time, who receives it, and the first action. The thresholds in the cards are our suggested starting points, not fixed product defaults, unless the text says the platform sets them.

02Recipe 1: open too long

The open-too-long alert fires when a lock stays unlocked longer than the limit you set for that device. In ENTEK Smart Lock the limit is set per device on the Settings screen, so a tanker lock and a dry-cargo container can have different limits. Start from the longest normal unloading time on that route and add a margin. If a customer delivery usually takes 35 minutes with the door open, a limit of 50 or 60 minutes catches a real problem without sending a message at every stop. You do not need a long hold time here, because the limit itself already filters normal use. Send it to the dispatcher by WhatsApp and to the operations supervisor by email as a record. The first action is a call to the driver, then a look at the trip detail screen, which shows the stop, the arrival time and any proof photo already taken. If someone locks the door remotely, that command is logged with who sent it.

03Recipe 2: left the zone

A zone-exit alert fires when an asset leaves a zone drawn on the map. The platform refuses a zone with fewer than 3 points, and in Smart Lock settings you pick the zone for the master lock, the gateway that carries the GPS. The best use is for parked assets: a loaded container in a yard, a trailer at a port waiting for a slot, a tanker kept overnight at a depot. Position is never perfect. GPS.gov says GPS-enabled smartphones are typically accurate to within 4.9 metres under open sky, and that accuracy worsens near buildings, bridges and trees. Cranes, steel sheds and stacked containers cause the same kind of drift. So draw the zone a few metres wider than the yard fence and add a hold time of one or two minutes, so a single jumpy position does not wake anyone. Outside working hours this is a critical alert: SMS and WhatsApp to the person on duty and to security.

04Recipe 3: low battery, planned before the route

ENTEK Smart Lock treats an asset as low on battery when it falls under 30%, and it takes the weakest lock unit on that asset, because one weak door lock is enough to break the chain. You can also set a battery threshold per device in Settings. Heat makes this recipe more important in Saudi Arabia. Battery University’s storage table shows that lithium-ion cells kept at full charge recover about 80% of their capacity after a year at 25 °C, but only about 65% after a year at 40 °C. A lock that sits in a container yard through the summer can age faster than its spec sheet suggests. So treat low battery as a planning alert, not an emergency: info or warning severity, an email to the maintenance planner, and a weekly review of the device list. The rule we suggest is simple: no lock starts a long route below the threshold. Charge or swap it before dispatch, not after an alert in the middle of a trip.

05Recipe 4: no signal, the alert behind all the others

When a lock stops reporting, every other recipe stops with it, so the no-signal alert protects the rest. In ENTEK a device counts as online if it reported in the last 60 minutes, and the alert engine has an offline-timeout rule that fires when a device stays silent longer than the window you set. For a parked container, a window close to the 60-minute online rule is enough. For a high-value trip on the road, a shorter window, such as 20 to 30 minutes, tells the dispatcher sooner, at the cost of more messages on routes with weak coverage. Before you blame the device, check three things: whether the route crosses an area where coverage is known to drop, the battery level in the last report, and whether the master lock was moved or covered. Send this alert by SMS to the dispatcher, then acknowledge it on the Security Alerts screen once you know the cause, so the next shift does not chase it again.

06Timing, recipients, and what is a project

Every recipe runs on the same engine. Rules are checked every 30 seconds and messages go out by email, SMS or WhatsApp, usually within about a minute, in each recipient’s language, Arabic or English. Any hold time you add comes on top of that, and the timing table below shows how long each recipe takes to reach a person. Each lock has its own recipients per channel, and you can add company-wide recipients, so match the list to the card rather than sending everything to everyone. A rule can also carry a severity (info, warning or critical) and a cooldown, so one event does not send ten messages. Recipes outside these four, for example a missing proof photo after a stop, or a truck that waits too long outside any stop zone, are not standard alerts. ENTEK can set them up as a project configuration, scoped with you. Review all the cards every quarter with the Smart Lock reports, which export as PDF, Excel or CSV.

Container lock alert recipe cards (thresholds are suggested starting points unless marked as the platform rule)
Recipe	On ENTEK	Trigger	Starting threshold	Hold time and severity	Who gets it, channel	First action
Open too long	Built in	Lock stays unlocked past the limit set for that device	Longest normal unloading time plus 15 to 25 minutes	No hold time; warning	Dispatcher on WhatsApp, supervisor by email	Call the driver, check trip detail and proof photos
Left the zone	Built in	Master lock leaves a drawn zone (3 or more points)	Zone drawn a few metres wider than the yard fence	1 to 2 minutes; critical outside working hours	Person on duty and security, SMS and WhatsApp	Check the map and last position, call the yard or the driver
Low battery	Built in	Weakest lock unit under 30%, or your own per-device threshold	30% (platform rule); higher before long summer routes	No hold time; info or warning	Maintenance planner by email	Charge or swap the lock before the next dispatch
No signal	Built in	Device silent longer than the window you set	About 60 minutes when parked; 20 to 30 minutes on high-value trips	The window is the hold; warning, critical on high-value trips	Dispatcher by SMS	Check route coverage, last battery reading and master lock position
Tamper or unauthorized attempt	Built in (event)	Lock reports tamper, or an unlock request is refused	Reported by the lock	Critical	Security and dispatcher	Follow your tamper procedure (see our tamper alerts article)
Missing proof photo, long wait outside a stop	Project configuration	Agreed with ENTEK at setup	Agreed at setup	Agreed at setup	As agreed	Scoped with ENTEK as a project

Worked example: how long each recipe takes to reach a person (30 s checks, delivery within about a minute)
Recipe	Your setting	Hold time	Check and delivery	A person knows after
Open too long	Limit 50 minutes	None	Up to 30 s, then about 1 minute	About 51 to 52 minutes after the unlock
Left the zone	Zone around the yard	2 minutes	Up to 30 s, then about 1 minute	About 3 to 4 minutes after the exit
Low battery	30%	None	Up to 30 s, then about 1 minute	About 1 to 2 minutes after the reading under 30%
No signal	Window 60 minutes	The window itself	Up to 30 s, then about 1 minute	About 61 to 62 minutes after the last report

Lithium-ion capacity left after one year stored at full charge

0 °C94 %

25 °C80 %

40 °C65 %

Estimated recoverable capacity, Battery University (Cadex), BU-808.

Figures and sources

Typical accuracy of GPS-enabled smartphones under open sky: within a 4.9 m (16 ft) radius (Source: GPS.gov, GPS Accuracy (archived official page), as of 2026-10-19)
GPS civil service commitment for daily global average user range error: 2.0 m or less, with 95% probability (Source: GPS.gov, GPS Accuracy (archived official page), as of 2026-10-19)
Estimated recoverable capacity of lithium-ion cells stored one year at full charge, 0 °C: 94% after 1 year (Source: Battery University (Cadex), BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries, as of 2026-10-19)
Estimated recoverable capacity of lithium-ion cells stored one year at full charge, 25 °C: 80% after 1 year (Source: Battery University (Cadex), BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries, as of 2026-10-19)
Estimated recoverable capacity of lithium-ion cells stored one year at full charge, 40 °C: 65% after 1 year (Source: Battery University (Cadex), BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries, as of 2026-10-19)
Estimated recoverable capacity of lithium-ion cells stored one year at 40% charge, 40 °C: 85% after 1 year (Source: Battery University (Cadex), BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries, as of 2026-10-19)

Questions

What alerts does a smart container lock send on ENTEK?

Four built-in alerts: open too long, left the assigned zone, low battery and no signal. Tamper events and refused unlock attempts are also logged. Other recipes, such as a missing proof photo, are set up as a project configuration.

How long should a container door stay open before I get an alert?

There is no single right number. Take the longest normal unloading time on that route and add 15 to 25 minutes. The limit is set per device in Smart Lock settings, so each lock can have its own.

When is a lock battery considered low?

ENTEK Smart Lock marks it low under 30%, using the weakest lock unit on the asset. You can set a higher threshold per device, which helps before long summer routes, because heat shortens lithium battery life.

Why did I get a zone exit alert when the truck did not move?

GPS drifts, especially near buildings, cranes and stacked containers. GPS.gov puts typical smartphone accuracy at about 4.9 metres under open sky, and worse near obstacles. Draw the zone a little wider than the fence and add a hold time of one or two minutes.

Will I get a push notification on my phone?

No. ENTEK sends alerts by email, SMS and WhatsApp, in Arabic or English, usually within about a minute of the rule firing. You can also see and acknowledge them on the Security Alerts screen.

How should I store spare locks in summer?

Keep them cool and partly charged. Battery University estimates lithium-ion cells stored a year at 40 °C keep about 85% of capacity at 40% charge, against about 65% at full charge. Charge them fully just before dispatch.

Container Lock Alert Recipes: Open Too Long, Left the Zone, Low Battery, No Signal