Security at its most basic starts with locks and keys. Locking doors is one of the oldest, yet most proven ways to protect your business, people and assets. It’s pretty simple. Only authorized employees get a key and only people with a key can open the doors. But it can get complicated when you have many doors and/or employees. Add in manager and employee turnover and you have the potential for an unruly key control situation. Some organizations solve this problem through the use of electronic key lockers, which are great if you have a ton of time and resources to manage this type of system. There is an alternative that requires much less time and money to manage, without sacrificing control over keys and door security.
The old school way of handling key control systems was to keep a list of each key, who it was assigned to and which doors it opened. Businesses would try, often in vain, to make sure all keys were returned as departing employees left the organization. But employees often forgot or didn’t bother to return keys when they left. Even if they did return one there was no way of telling if it had been duplicated. For any company this could become a security nightmare.
It’s a bad situation when you no longer have certainty about who can access your facility; and that’s when it’s time to rekey your locks. That means calling a locksmith, handing out a whole new set of keys and starting the record-keeping process all over again. It’s expensive. Repeating this over and over again takes resources away from other business priorities.
Fortunately, there have been major developments in key control systems over the years. Advanced cloud-based software makes it much easier to know who controls each key. The Instakey key control program follows a set of best practices proven to be effective and economical. Here are some of the essential elements of the successful Instakey key control program.
Restricted Keys – Eliminating even the potential of duplicates is vital to ensuring the integrity of your door security. You need individually serialized keys that cannot be duplicated by anyone but Instakey or your authorized security dealer. You can’t stop someone from making a copy by simply stamping “Do Not Duplicate” on the back. Instakey blanks are not available to locksmiths or hardware stores. And Instakey’s use of unique serial numbers makes it easy to link a key to an employee and keys to locks.
Rekeying and relocking policy – As part of those security best practices, your business should have a formal policy for rekeying or changing locks. This maximizes security while also saving money, because hardware will only be replaced when it’s absolutely necessary. Defining when that is can make all the difference.
Web-accessible records management platform – A customized software program that maintains all key control data is the most effective way to manage keys. The InstaKey SecurityRecords.com® software provides authorized employees a 24/7/365 real-time view of key and lock information on the web. It takes only seconds to see which employee has what key to open how many doors.
Dedicated program administration support – A good key control program doesn’t stop at providing you with door hardware and computer software. You need continuing education and maybe occasional assistance. Instakey is readily available to help you set up your system and make sure it continues to provide the level of confidence you expect, while continuously finding new ways to save money. We’ll even manage your system for you.
Key control systems don’t have to be complicated or expensive. The Instakey key control program has been proven by thousands of businesses from single-door retail storefronts to large enterprise organizations. Contact us to learn how you can start saving time and money with Key Control by InstaKey.