Many organizations have key systems in place, but unless they are setup and managed properly, they can become ineffective and/or cost the organization hundreds to thousands of dollars on unnecessary rekeys. There are many components to consider but the four that prove to be the most critical are:

1. What key system philosophy do you want to follow?

You need to determine if you want your keys to simply lock the doors, or if you want them to be restricted and/or serve as an audit trail.

 2. What is your rekey protocol?

Regardless of the type of key system you choose, rekeys will be necessary. We have seen rekey requests for reasons ranging from “I flushed my key down the toilet” to “someone stole my keys in the store.” The latter certainly necessitates an emergency rekey, while the former poses very little, if any, threat to the security of the facility. A clear policy and procedure needs to exist that dictates when and how rekeys are to happen.

3. How will your key records be managed?

Records management is essential to the success of any key system. Your records should be computerized, well maintained, and owned by your organization. Paper records can easily get lost, and believe it or not, there are still a lot of paper records out there. Lastly, you need to be the owner of your key system, as opposed to the vendor that manages the system for you.

4. What policies and procedures do you and your key system vendor need to have in place?

These policies include but are not limited to: rekey protocols as discussed above, the number of keys issued per store, who is allowed to carry what kind of key, and what kind of door requires what kind of key.

Taking the time to think through and implement the four areas above will result in a well maintained key system that works for your organization without costing you unnecessary money.