At corporate headquarters for insurance companies, a variety of methods are used to help protect assets and information. Whether it’s employee payroll data or personal identification information on policy holders, controlling access to areas where sensitive material is stored or used is mandatory, and one of the most effective solutions is a key control and key management system.

Key control can mean the difference between a relatively secure facility and one where the potential for extraordinary loss is magnified. Knowing who has which keys to which rooms or areas, when they had them and when they were returned, is a vitally important issue when dealing with confidential information. Failure to maintain this kind of control can result in opportunities for key mismanagement which can lead to mild annoyances such as the replacement and cost for lost keys or to more serious losses, such as theft or misuse of sensitive information.

A good key control system, including key security and key management, will maintain a strict accountability for keys. Where old-style key boxes could be easily jimmied open and keys removed, modern key management systems offer a variety of secure access options including PIN codes, biometrics and card access. And for durability and security, today’s secure lockers are constructed of stainless steel to better resist abuse as well as being wired with tamper-proof mechanisms. By comparison, even the tracking capabilities bear no resemblance to manual systems. And when network enabled, advanced key management and control systems can provide real-time information remotely to management for monitoring and recording of who has accessed keys. Control, in the form of configuring the system to allow access to certain individuals at certain times, and alarm notifications are additional functions enabled by network connectivity.

Whether it’s corporate headquarters for an insurance company, an automotive company or a beverage company, key control is always good insurance.