In Japan, it is customary to remove one’s shoes when entering a home, temple or shrine. Italians usually only drink cappuccino in the mornings. Don’t expect to go shopping on Sundays in Vienna because all the stores are closed. In Costa Rica, one is not expected to tip the wait staff as a service charge is already included in the bill.

While each country has its own cultural customs that make it unique, one practice that is universally seen is the use of physical security technology. All around the world, sophisticated and simple devices help protect commercial and public facilities from fire, natural disasters, burglary, theft, vandalism and terrorism. Solutions in place may include surveillance and monitoring, intrusion detection and alarms, access control and key control and asset management systems.

Key control and management systems are typically found in hotels, hospitals, museums, sporting and entertainment facilities, educational campuses, housing developments, retail centers, correctional facilities and so on. These systems provide management with a solution for securing and storing facility keys (mechanical and plastic card keys), controlling access to keys and tracking key usage. The systems are generally cost effective and affordable and, because they are network capable, it’s easy to seamlessly integrate them into a physical security solution for a more cohesive and function-rich system.

In use, only authorized users can access keys for which they have been pre-approved. Once the user has entered their PIN or biometric information and the identification is confirmed, the key cabinet can be opened and keys removed or returned. The system automatically records all access activity so that management has a record of who took which keys and when. Other popular features of key control systems include online monitoring, key reservations, mobile capability and updating and reporting capabilities including automatic email notifications.

For organizations around the world, safeguarding a building, its people and assets is a critical objective. Today’s advanced key control and asset management systems provide the solution in a multitude of ways and languages.