The management and control of electronic locking systems is undertaken at a central point within your organization – or your customer’s. This includes full control of the access rights assigned to each particular employee or contractor. Typically, these access rights are saved on the proximity card or other device when this is issued.

Never again need the security of your application be compromised following lost or stolen keys. Electronic locking systems put the management and control of your organization’s security firmly in your hands. This includes instant restoration of full security following lost, stolen or compromised keys.

Strictly speaking, electronic locking systems do not use ‘keys’ in the common meaning of the word, rather 'identifiers'. These can be:

• a proximity card
• a swipe card
• an iButton®
• a keypad
• a biometric identification device.

However, for simplicity, we refer to all these options as electronic keys.

Importantly, there is no need to call out a locksmith to change locks if an electronic key is lost or stolen. An authorized person in your business can delete – and, where appropriate, replace – the electronic key, easily and quickly.

Electronic keys can be removed and issued without any changes to the lock so the re-keying of lock cylinders becomes a thing of the past.

An electronic locking system does away with the need for key cabinets/drawers, key-rings, key hooks and key tags. Put another way, it provides greater convenience than a conventional set or suite of mechanical locks and keys.

There is no requirement to call-out locksmiths or order keys from the lock manufacturer every time a change has to be made to the locking system.

Electronic key types include:

• Proximity card/tag (using RFID technology - radio frequency identification - such as 13.56 MHz Mifare, 125KHz HID, DESfire, DESfire EV1, Mifare plus, Ultralight C, Inside Picopass, SKIDATA, etc)
• iButton®
• Swipe card
• Fingerprint reader
• Keypad
• Face recognition
• Vein recognition
• Retina scan
• Voice recognition
• Palm reader
• Key switch.

A major benefit of an electronic locking system is a full audit trail of all locking events. The system records the access rights of every electronic key-holder and the date & time of every lock and unlock activity. For security reasons, unsuccessful access attempts are also recorded, for example when an employee or agent attempts to access an area that he or she is not authorized to enter.

With some of our electronic locking systems the locks can be programmed to limit access to specified times only.

When an employee or contract worker leaves an organization, good practice requires that any mechanical locks or barrel assemblies are changed to prevent the former employee gaining access, using either a key that he/she walked away with or a copy of the key that he/she had made without your knowledge. This is especially important where the employee has been dismissed or bears a grudge against the company. Electronic locks can be easily and quickly reprogrammed.

When a new employee joins your organization, electronic locking will allow him or her to have access on Day 1 to designated areas, machines, cupboards, desk drawers, etc.

Most of our electronic locks can be installed in such a way that there is no indication of where the lock is positioned inside the application, ie. there is no visible ‘attack point’. In contrast, key-operated mechanical locks provide a thief with a visible indication of the vulnerable area.

All our electronic locks have a very large number of lock combinations, measured in millions. This gives you the reassurance that it is virtually impossible that anyone else has the same combination.

All communications between the electronic key and the electronic lock are encrypted to minimise the possibility that a communication is intercepted in an attempt to replicate it.

To resist physical attacks on the locks, each system is designed to provide a high ‘pull load resistance’, ie. the force needed to open a lock using brute strength.

The expansion of an electronic locking system is relatively easy and problem-free. The system can be updated and expanded while in active use so there is no lapse in your security while changes are made.

We aim to make the software used in our electronic locking systems upgradable, to reduce the possibility of a system becoming obsolete through new developments in electronic locking technology.

An electronic lock can be retrofitted to existing applications or incorporated into new product designs. Where an access control system already exists or is planned, it is usually possible to integrate an electronic locking system into this.

Electronic locking can be used to great effect as additional or complimentary security. For example, an application fitted with a heavy duty mechanical lock to provide very strong resistance to physical attack can be fitted with an electronic lock to provide an audit trail.

Generally, electronic locking offers far greater flexibility in setting access permissions than mechanical locking systems.

Systems are available for both independent (or ‘standalone’) and networked applications. The latter can be configured for central or multiple lock control, if required, so a single electronic key operates multi-point locking.

You can choose either a ‘fail locked’ or ‘fail unlocked’ type. With fail locked, if the power source is interrupted or fails, the lock remains closed and with fail unlocked the lock will open if power is unavailable, which makes it suitable for applications where safety must be paramount.

Our electronic locks are purpose-designed for ease and speed of installation, including retrofitting on existing applications. The units are small enough for most types of enclosure and compatible with many standard door and drawer arrangements.

Most of our electronic locking ranges offer the convenience of a ‘push-to-close’ lock operation, saving the time taken to secure a mechanical lock.

The availability or absence of mains power need not influence the adoption of electronic locking. We offer both mains and battery-operated types. The latter use extremely low power to enable in excess of 30,000 lock operations from a single battery.

On many applications, fitting an electronic lock takes less time than fitting a conventional mechanical lock. Where possible, concealed fixing screws are used for greater security and improved aesthetics.

Electronic locks can be mounted easily on right hand or left hand opening doors, also top or bottom mounted.

Our electronic locking systems use solid state construction to provide you with highly reliable service for many years.