Imagine this scenario. It’s late in the evening on a holiday weekend. A security officer is making his rounds of the multi-building campus and sees a light in a window where there shouldn’t be one. He calls in the report and is requested to investigate the situation. His access card allows him entry to the building, where he again uses his card and his personal identification number (PIN) to access the building’s key control cabinet. The particular key he needs is not in the cabinet and the message screen tells him that the key is currently located in the key cabinet in the adjacent building. The security officer retrieves the key and is able to confirm that a light was left on and everything appears normal. He returns the key to the key cabinet in the building and resumes his rounds.

With the recent advancements in key control and management technology, the functionality of the key control system described in this scenario is now possible. Using enterprise-level key control systems with state-of-the-art security technology, keys can be returned to any key cabinet located anywhere on the system. The system will automatically send the transaction information back to a central server, enabling users to view the location of the key in real time. Additional available information includes keys available for access, which keys have not been returned, when a key will become overdue and the location of a specified key. Reservations for use of a particular key can also be entered at the site as well as any comments (i.e. dog in apartment 103).

Key control and asset management systems can help improve the physical security and safeguarding of a facility or campus. Now, with these advanced features, key control systems are more powerful and offer even more value.