If you walked over to your key cabinet, lockbox or pegboard right now, could you account for every key you manage?
As a business owner or manager, you have to make sure you keys are accounted for at all times to keep your assets safe. Without proper key control, you could be liable for theft, break-ins or worse. Any of the following scenarios could potentially disrupt your business. Here are three ways an
electronic key management system can help.
Your Keys Have Been Stolen
Pegboards are still a common way for some businesses to store their keys. Unfortunately, this method offers little protection from potential thieves. If a burglar were to break into a business that kept keys on a pegboard, it would be extremely easy for them to steal keys and gain access to the assets those keys unlock.
On the other hand, an electronic key management system that stores keys in a tamper-proof steel drawer provides the necessary security to prevent keys from falling into the wrong hands. Users can only access keys by entering a password,
scanning a fingerprint or swiping a proximity card.
Your Keys Haven't Been Returned
With less secure key storage methods, there's no accurate way to determine how long someone has had a key. Sometimes employees check out a key and forget to return it. Other times keys turn up missing and there's no documentation on who checked them out.
An electronic key management system that provides
overdue key alerts via text or email eliminates the need to hunt down keys that haven't been returned. Anytime a key has been checked out for too long, system administrators are alerted as to which keys need to be returned and who checked them out.
Unauthorized Users Have Taken Your Keys
A lockbox or pegboard offers no way to prevent employees from accessing keys to which they don't have access. If certain assets or areas in your business should only be accessed by managers or high-level employees, your key control method should provide a way for only those employees to have access to high-security keys.
With an electronic key management system, you can set up user profiles with unique access levels. You can even set up dual authentication, which requires a user and a manager both to enter their credentials before someone can remove certain keys.
Do you know where your keys are? With electronic key control, you'll be better equipped to answer that question.