Business continuity is an important concept that is trending across the globe. It is generally defined as planned actions that will help ensure the stability of an organization and often pertains to physical security technology and activities.

Among the many technology solutions available to help ensure business continuity, key management systems should always be considered. Proper management and security of facility keys is a highly functional component of an integrated physical security strategy and helps protect the organization from internal vulnerabilities. From keys for the communications closet to keys for company vehicles, keys secured in a key management system can be accounted for and tracked at all times.

Advanced key management systems provide real-time information to authorized personnel for monitoring key usage activity. Systems are designed so that every time a key cabinet is accessed to either remove or return a key, the activity is automatically recorded. The time, date and identity of the individual accessing the cabinet are all automatically logged and the data is available with a few key strokes using data management software. Additional information including when a key is scheduled to be returned or the location of a stored key (e.g. which key cabinet in the system) is also available and the knowledge could be critical in assuring business continuity.

In the event of an incident, management can query the system for specific details such as listing all transactions between certain times and when doing a follow up investigation, request a report for the hour preceding the incident. Or, immediately following an incident, a report can be generated showing which keys are back in the system and which keys are still outstanding and who last accessed them. Together with the audit data from an access control system, a key control system’s reporting system provides critical information that can help maintain business continuity.