Page 22 - Security Today, May/June 2025

K E Y M A N A G E M E N T
Facing Facts for Facilities
By Craig Newell
security solutions, there remains a troubling
Despite the proliferation of constantly evolving
trend among many facility operators who often
neglect the most important security assets within
their organization. Keys and shared devices like
radios, laptops and tablets are crucial to successful operations,
yet many operators are managing them haphazardly through out-
dated storage systems like pegboards and notebooks.
Not only does this represent a security threat if a key or de-
vice goes missing or ends up in the wrong person’s hands, but a
fi nancial risk as well, should that device need to be replaced, or a
facility needs to be re-keyed. Fortunately, solutions exist to pro-
actively address these risks and help facility operators safeguard
their buildings.
Regardless of the size of a facility, there are inevitably differ-
ing access levels required for various staff. This is especially the
case in shared space facilities that have multiple tenants.
Building operators, therefore, must institute some measure of
intelligent key management, which includes modern key cabinets
that integrate into the building’s access control system and are
programmed so that only certain staff can access designated keys.
The cabinet safely stores shared keys to a variety of areas like
server rooms, maintenance closets, security headquarters, food
and beverage.
By keeping keys in a strategic location that is monitored through
an integrated system, operators have comprehensive insight into
who has access to which key and when it was last checked out.
Keys are assigned curfews so that if they’re not returned by a spe-
cifi c time, an operator is notifi ed, which helps identify when a key
may be lost and cuts down on the time spent looking for it.
For larger facilities, multiple cabinets are implemented at stra-
tegic locations, thereby eliminating the need for users to travel
from one part of the facility to the other for a key. Managers can
remotely monitor key usage from a central location, which allows
them to reassign staff who were previously assigned to check out
keys to another task within the facility. Key cabinets are also criti-
cal to producing audit reports for compliance purposes, as they
prove who had access to which area and when.
Many of the same principles that apply to key cabinets are
seen in intelligent asset management lockers, which store vital
shared devices. These modular lockers are important to opera-
tions as they ensure radios, tablets and laptops are safe and ac-
counted for, which extends their usage. Modern lockers include
charging capabilities so that when a user checks out a device, the
system will prioritize the most charged asset, which cuts down on
the possibility of mistakenly taking a dead device.
If there is an issue with the device, a user notes it in the locker
interface, which removes it from circulation until it has been cor-
rected. Just like with keys, if an asset is not returned by a certain
time, an operator is notifi ed and can check the system to see who
had the asset last.
While modular asset management lockers are typically for
more permanent assets, there has been a growing interest among
facility operators for temporary deposit lockers, particularly in
“By keeping keys in a strategic
location that is monitored through an
integrated system, operators have
comprehensive insight into who has
access to which key and when it was
last checked out.”
shared environments. For instance, if a tenant or vendor needs
to use a piece of equipment like a hard drive and the building
operator wants to store it separately from internally used shared
devices, it can be kept in a temporary storage locker.
Operators can assign access to a user for a certain time, which
safeguards unauthorized access to that shared piece of equip-
ment and maintains a clear audit trail of usage.
Despite the clear advantages of key cabinets and asset manage-
ment lockers, many facility operators are hesitant to shift to more
modern solutions in defense of standard operating procedures
that they perceive to be failproof. Because security threats are con-
stantly changing, it is important that solutions — and subsequent
processes — advance in parallel to protect facilities and staff.
Moreover, it is critical that solutions integrate with existing
access control platforms so that onboarding employees to them is
seamless and access is activated or deactivated comprehensively
through a single credential.
It is worth noting that implementing these smart solutions
should be foundational for new facility construction, which is
only expected to increase in the United States. By incorporating
smart solutions from day one, operators send a
clear message to staff that they are taking secu-
rity and operations seriously and that they have
invested in the people who conduct meaningful
business inside their walls every day.
2 2 T O D A Y
Craig Newell is the vice president of Sales and
Business Development at Traka Americas.
M A Y / J U N E 2 0 2 5 | S E C U R I T Y Grispb/stock.adobe.com