Industry Vertical
Key Management
Benefits include improvements to cost, productivity, efficiency, security and convenience
- By Fernando Pires
- Nov 01, 2016
More than ever, the incidents of theft and property crime as well
as information security are of greater concern for corporations,
universities, hospitals and other large organizations. A
comprehensive security plan is first and foremost in addressing
many of these concerns. There are, however, a number of factors
that go into creating and implementing a security plan that will provide the
level of safety and security these facilities need.
Meeting the Challenges
One potential challenge is the tendency for organizations to have multiple systems
such as payroll, access control, human resources and key control that rely on some
of the same data and information. Managed separately, they create unnecessary
extra work for staff and leave open the potential for security vulnerabilities.
Increasingly, end users are demanding greater levels of connectivity between
systems and manufacturers are responding with open architecture solutions and
partner certifications that allow integration. It only makes sense to incorporate
key control, as physical keys continue to play a major role in most organizations’
security programs.
Today’s key control solutions feature open protocols to allow the system to
be networked and integrated with other technologies to streamline processes and
eliminate redundancies across common points. Employees can be entered into one
system and have their credentials, profile information, access group, etc. instantly
transferred to other systems. The system can also pass data about transactions and
alarms among integrated systems.
These and other benefits demonstrate the intrinsic value of a comprehensive
security system that includes an integrated key control and management system.
Following are five more specific benefits: cost, productivity, efficiency, security
and convenience.
Cost. The costs in terms of labor and effort in maintaining separate system
databases can quickly add up. Expenses such as training for each system, administration,
information redundancies and the potential for costly errors can all be
more efficiently addressed with an integrated system. For example, when a new
employee comes on board, he or she must be added to all of these systems, which
is often done with time-consuming and error-prone manual processes.
The degree of complication can be even higher when a person leaves and
an organization must remove him or her from all systems and ensure the individual has returned any keys or other
items that enable access to a building
or areas within them. An integrated
system manages all of these activities
across the enterprise with a centralized
approach.
Productivity. Every time the key
cabinet is accessed and a key removed
or returned, the activity is recorded including
time, date and user name. The
recorded data can be assembled in a
tailored format to let authorized users
more easily determine who has keys
out and when they are scheduled to be
returned versus poring through manual
logs or reams of printouts. This operational
intelligence, combined with data
from various other security and surveillance
systems, can lead to improved response
times and improved allocation
of resources.
Efficiency. Today’s advanced key
management systems include functionality
that lets them integrate with broader
security systems, including identity
management, access control, and visitor
control. The centralized management
platform allows management to
more quickly locate staff or equipment
in the event of an emergency situation,
including facility visitors. Separate facilities
throughout a campus can also
be included on a single platform for
more efficient control. In effect, a centralized
system enables greater flexibility
to add security components needed
in the various buildings, keeping the
cost of expenditures lower and requiring
little additional training.
Security. With integrated procedures
or alerts, if an individual leaves
the premises with a key still in their
possession, the access control system
can communicate with the key management
system of the individual’s departure
from the area. Or, if a high value
key is returned by an individual other
than the one who originally accessed it,
an integrated key management system
allows an administrator to be notified
of the event by text message or email.
In these and other instances, an integrated
system allows relationship information
from the various systems to
be analyzed and conclusions drawn so
that necessary actions can be taken to
prevent future occurrences.
Convenience. Key control systems
with open protocols can be securely
managed through an access control
system enabling administrators to access
the many rich features of the key
control system. The tamper-proof key
control systems are designed so that
only authorized users, using pre-programmed
PIN codes, access cards or
biometrics, can access keys; on-board
advanced technology automatically
records all access activity. Also, a sophisticated
interface can allow users
to quickly and efficiently configure
several user authorization parameters
including add/modify/delete cardholders
and badge data; associate key
control site profiles to access system
levels; configure which key control
system alarms and transactions get
passed to the access control system
via alarms, and allow the configuration
of an anti-egress feature, to name
just a few.
Through integration, the security
system becomes greater than the
sum of its parts and it becomes more
streamlined and effective. Key control
systems are integral to the operation
and a pre-requisite for ensuring a safer
and more secure environment.
This article originally appeared in the November 2016 issue of Security Today.