The big game is over for another year and the new champions have been crowned. Except for the cleanup, life at the facility goes back to normal – if running a major multi-purpose venue can be considered normal.

Key control systems are commonly used across the country in municipal buildings such as police stations, administrative offices, museums, libraries and more. The systems are designed to safely store keys when not in use and, when accessed, provide a data trail for auditing purposes. These features have also made key control systems the ideal solution for fire stations where safety and security are critical issues.

One of the biggest and potentially most alarming news stories during the recent holiday season was the security breach at a national retailer. Data from thousands of credit cards was stolen, leaving card holders vulnerable to identity theft and retailers subject to huge losses.

The holiday season from Thanksgiving through to the end of the year is a particularly active time for most industries. Retailers are geared up for shoppers, airports have all hands on deck to handle the additional holiday traffic and hotels and restaurants are overbooked with holiday parties.

The open architecture of physical security technology has made it easier and more convenient to integrate various security elements for operational ease and improved safety and security of employees, visitors, premises and material/intellectual property. With increasing frequency, key control and asset management systems are playing strategic roles in these integrated systems.