Security is a serious matter. The decisions regarding the strategy, the procedures, and as importantly, the products and partners selected, all have a bearing on the integrity of security you offer to your customers. These decisions can have a profound effect on how property, assets, and lives are protected. As a security professional, your customers rely on you to properly vet out all of the above and make appropriate recommendations in order to ensure their security objectives are met.
Not too many years ago, simply putting a mechanical masterkey system on a facility was an upgrade to the existing security. This allowed security administrators to gain better control over access rights by virtue of the masterkey design. To further enhance security, many customers opted to upgrade to a U.L. listed or ANSI rated key system for greater physical protection as well as patent protection covering key duplication.
Over the past 20 years there has been an explosion of products that provide greater accountability by virtue of access schedules and audit information. This allowed astute security administrators the ability not only to control access in a more flexible manner, but also the ability to review access activities as needed to verify something either did, or did not, occur. However these traditional access control products are expensive, can require door or frame modifications, and are not suitable for all types of openings.
Perhaps representing the “best of both worlds,” and what may emerge as one of the most pivotal introductions to our industry in decades, intelligent key systems emerged on the market over the past 10 years. These are electronic keys and cylinders that are as easy to retrofit into existing mechanical hardware as their mechanical counterparts, can offer patented key security, and provide much needed scheduling and audit to openings that were nearly impossible to upgrade previously. Moreover, many of our customers are realizing that the audit data available from these “intelligent key systems” is as valuable as the enhanced security and accountability provided by the product itself.
In Medeco XT Intelligent Key systems, by using the award-winning Data Analytics feature, customers are able to very quickly analyze employee trends and anomalies in order to either quickly intervene to avoid a loss or incident, or to utilize the data to understand and improve the efficiency of both the locking system or employee behavior. This allows you the opportunity to provide value to your customers far beyond the traditional revenue model for a security provider. However, this requires embracing change….
Medeco has led the market in terms of offering patented high security locking systems for nearly 50 years. To many, Medeco has been the “gold standard” to which other keying systems are compared. It is the shadow of this responsibility of leadership that forges many of Medeco’s product decisions. The deep-rooted history in the security industry provides the critical perspective necessary to provide products that fit customers’ needs for security, accountability, and convenience. However, these needs change over time, which is why Medeco developed its first electronic cylinder in 1991 in order to meet the evolving needs. These early electronic products lacked some of the software sophistication found in the current Medeco CLIQ, XT, or Nexgen solutions, but became the foundation to combine decades of masterkeying experience with contemporary needs.
Medeco’s current Intelligent Key products cover nearly any customer preference. For customers who wish to depart from traditional masterkeying, Medeco XT is an ideal solution with a balanced blend of security and accountability, paired with vandalism-resistant form factor and the absence of a traditional keyway. For others who desire a combined model with the intelligent and mechanical keys paired, Medeco CLIQ offers the best of both worlds with a combination mechanical keyway and electronic control and audit, and it is available in your current Medeco keyway.
Both XT and CLIQ keys allow access right changes and audit record retrieval through more traditional online devices, or can be linked directly to a mobile phone via Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) in order to get audits or provide access updates. Finally, both platforms offer keys, cylinders, and industry understanding, that all leverage Medeco’s expansive history in this industry to provide you with a product that is secure, is reliable, and represents the next generation of locking cylinders.
But don’t ponder too long as relevance is fleeting… Security products (all products) are evolving faster than ever, which puts you at risk of falling behind more quickly than ever before. To navigate, rely on a company with deep rooted history in the industry to best understand the appropriate mix of old and new features. This can only occur through time, experience, and relationships. If you haven’t taken the time to review the latest Medeco products, you should. If you have, get a refresh. Simply invite your sales representative in to demonstrate the exciting recent changes to the products, the BLE key functionality, the Data Analytics, and more importantly, to discuss how you can leverage your local reputation along with Medeco and ASSA ABLOY’s global reputation to grow your business.
