Putting intelligent keys to work in our public services

London, June 2020 – Resilience and efficiency have become watchwords for our public institutions, before, during and after the ongoing health crisis. In delivering services fit for the modern world, these institutions need more than just innovation and accountability. They require flexibility and agility, too, including in how they approach security.

The lock and key have enjoyed public trust for a long time. Keys
were used in Ancient Egypt and Assyria, and warrant a mention in the Christian
Old Testament. As a technology the key is familiar and proven, user-friendly
and dependable. It can also be inflexible and time-consuming to manage.

The security challenges of delivering public services do not stand
still, but standard mechanical keys cannot move with you. Filtering access
intelligently and dynamically has become part of security’s job description.

Yet there is no need to dispose of the key altogether. We can
adapt it, rather than throw it out.Intelligent, programmable keys
combine the powerful features of electronic access control with the convenience
of a mechanical key. They are keys, familiar and user-friendly… but evolved.

When your key has a brain, you can do more with less. These
efficiencies are critical in a world where demands on our public institutions
are at levels not seen in generations.

Cut workload and solve the problem of lost keys

Lost keys present mechanical security with its most
intractable problem. When a key goes missing, time and budget are expended to
remedy the situation. Extensive rekeying and reissuing to relevant keyholders
are complex and expensive. Programmable keys, however, solve the problem
quickly.

The French town of Villiers-le-Bel, north of Paris, faced these familiar key management challenges. Each person in their Municipal Technical Centre carried approximately 40 physical keys. If one was lost or stolen, all compromised cylinders had to be changed. To prevent unauthorized access, all the keys had to be replaced, too – at great expense. Key duplication costs were mounting.

“One [lost] key cost from €3,000 to €4,000 for changing
cylinders and replacing the keys,” explains Fabrice Girard, Territorial
Technician at the town’s Municipal Technical Centre.

To fix this expensive lost key problem, Villiers-le-Bel city
administrators chose to combine trusted mechanical security with new
electromechanical key-operated locking, all managed within the same flexible,
wireless access control system. Now lost or stolen electronic keys are
cancelled instantly using secure cloud software which works inside a standard
browser, no software installation required. Administrators can program access
rights for any key, padlock or cylinder. They filter access to specific sites
and doors according to the precise requirements of every municipal employee.

Keep residents safe in their own homes

In Aalborg, Denmark, around 3,000 citizens in home care now have programmable locking cylinders installed at their front door. This replaces a cumbersome mechanical master-key system. Aalborg’s installation was tailored to meet the needs of this vulnerable group of city residents. If a home care resident loses their key, its access rights can be deleted from the system without the need for a lock replacement – keeping the keyholder’s home safe and saving the city time and money on rekeying.

Managing Aalborg’s system is straightforward. Lock installation was quick and easy: certified technicians simply replaced each old cylinder with a programmable cylinder – with no wiring and no major alterations to the door. Aalborg’s fire brigade quickly took over the maintenance process. Brigade staff now grant or revoke access, and tailor permissions for different users or locations according to defined needs.

In Skellefteå, Sweden, electromechanical locking has given
local firefighters faster, safer access to any building. To speed up emergency
response times and improve firefighter safety, the local service fitted houses
with secure façade key cabinets. Property keys are stored inside the cabinets,
so authorized firefighters get rapid building access if there is a fire.

When the emergency call comes, firefighters update their
individual, programmable key at the station or while on the move, using a remote
key updater kept in the fire engine. There’s no longer any need for fire
stations to hold multiple sets of keys or for off-site firefighters to divert to
the station to collect the right key.

More rapid response means a better chance to prevent a fire
spreading. Safety is improved for everyone, Skellefteå residents at home and
firefighters at work.

Clear workflow bottlenecks in public housing

With crime
against empty properties on the rise, public authorities in the English city of
Rotherham aimed to minimise the time a council house stands vacant. However,
workers from multiple departments require access to prepare a property for a
new tenant. Passing keys securely between all relevant staff members was a
major cause of delay.

At Rotherham
Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC), intelligent key technology helped
streamline these workflows, upgrading security and saving money at the same
time. RMBC identified physical key handover as
a major bottleneck in their workflow. They needed a solution to speed up the
process.

Now, each relevant RMBC staff member is issued with their
own programmable key. Using simple online software, security managers issue the
precise permissions which every staff member needs. The access rights of any
key can be amended or revoked at any time.

Physical handover of mechanical keys – and the time and money spent coordinating this process – has been eliminated.

Preserve the fabric of historic buildings – and the design integrity of new spaces

Building type can make a big difference to the access
control you choose. Public spaces inside protected heritage buildings often
cannot opt for card- and reader-based access control. Here, wireless electronic
cylinders which simply replace existing mechanical locks solve the problem, preserving
doors which may be centuries old.

The issue of aesthetics also affects modern public
spaces, albeit differently. In Stuttgart, innovative design was a key
element of the city’s new library building. Door security should be discreet
and not disrupt the vision of Korean architect, Eun Young Yi. This was the
first public building in Stuttgart’s Europaviertel, a unique creation with a double
façade with glass bricks, a brightly lit atrium four storeys high, and public
entrances on all four sides.

Almost as
soon as it opened, the building was declared an architectural icon — “instantly
one of the world’s most beautiful libraries.”* Intelligent key security is
hardly noticeable for the library’s many visitors, yet critical for protecting
Stuttgart’s precious public heritage

Save time and money
managing keys for a mobile workforce

Many public services involve managing and directing
a mobile or contractor workforce. Mileage expense mounts up when workers must return
to base to collect keys or update their access rights. Mobile workers use more
fuel and increase a carbon footprint. You make a business more sustainable quickly if you reduce
the mileage they travel.

Reducing
miles while maintaining security is not easy, if you rely on mechanical keys to
secure remote or dispersed sites. Bluetooth-enabled intelligent keys eliminate
the need for workers to return to headquarters to collect or return a
mechanical key**.

With a
Bluetooth-powered solution, everyone carries their own programmable key and
keeps its access rights up to date on the move, simply by making an encrypted
connection to a secure smartphone app — meaning fewer miles driven and less
money wasted on unnecessary fuel.

One
technology powers all these solutions

All the
installations referenced above — and many, many more across the full spectrum
of public services — run on the same technology: CLIQ^® from ASSA
ABLOY.

CLIQ combines electronic and mechanical security in a range
of wireless cylinder applications, including a full range of mechatronic and
electronic cylinders and padlocks. CLIQ locks are installed without wires:
every cylinder’s power is supplied by a battery inside the CLIQ key. These keys
are physically identical and programmable by a system administrator using a
desktop updater; by keyholders with a portable programmer; or in the case of
CLIQ Connect Bluetooth-enabled keys, via an encrypted connection to a secure
smartphone app, minimizing both wasted journeys and unnecessary social contact
between workers and office staff. Intuitive software makes it simple to manage
access rights, enable and disable keys and customize access schedules, on site
or on the go.

To learn how you
can put CLIQ intelligent key technology to work in agile, flexible, secure
public services, download a free introductory guide at https://campaigns.assaabloyopeningsolutions.eu/eCLIQ