“After Hurricane Katrina wrecked New Orleans and the surrounding coastal area, Sprint PCS faced a problem. It needed to get into several stores to survey damage, but its employees — and their keys — were scattered around the region, and communications were difficult at best. Sprint called Denver-based InstaKey Lock Corp., which cut a new master key and sent it overnight to a Sprint employee in Baton Rouge, La. He drove to the New Orleans stores, checked for damage and changed InstaKey’s patented locks on the stores’ doors with a single twist of his wrist, using the new master key.”
“InstaKey, which provides the locks and keys that open them for 850 Sprint stores around the nation, was great, Roberts said. Sprint has used InstaKey for its locks and keys for about four years. A manager can re-key, or change, the locks InstaKey makes for Sprint — without calling a locksmith — up to 10 times before a new lock must be installed. The cost to change a lock using InstaKey is about $25 to $30 — much cheaper than calling a locksmith, Roberts said.”