- Managing many keys simply and flexibly
- Documenting location of keys reliably
- 24/7 availability
Investing in Safety and Efficiency - NWSG / VSU
Case Study
Project goal
Challenge
- Highly varied usage times
- Compliance with strict guidelines
- Connection to thrid-party alarm management control centre software
Solution
- Intelligent key management system (proxSafe)
- Data acquisition with time stamp (dataLog)
Benefits
- High-level security without expensive refits
- Flexible protection against misuse
- Virtually maintenance free hardware and software
Project summary
Setting the points towards the future: As Europe’s first security company and one of the largest security service providers in Germany with roughly 5,400 employees, Niedersächsische Wach- und Schliessgesellschaft/VSU has made significant investments.
Investment in security and efficiency
In 2014, the company built a modern, highly functional company headquarters spanning over 5,000 m² at their head office in Hanover. The group’s new Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) and Emergency and Service Call Centre (ESCC), built to comply with DIN EN 50518, also operates from there. This allows the traditional company to have technological standards that even exceed the demanding requirements for the VdS-approved emergency call and service control centre. This also applies for managing customer keys. In order to meet the particularly strict requirements for storage and handling, the Hanover-based company turned to a specialist for help: Since 2007, it has been using proxSafe intelligent key management system by RFID specialist deister electronic.
Customer-focused, powerful and flexible
“Our cooperation with deister electronic began in 1984,” recalls Andreas Segler, Managing Partner of Niedersächsische Wach- und Schliessgesellschaft Eggeling & Schorling KG / VSU Vereinigte Sicherheitsunternehmen GmbH Group. “Back then, we wanted to replace the time clocks we had been using for our employees’ patrol rounds with a modern, computer-based documentation system. We were looking for a local provider with the technical portfolio and a high level of specialist expertise, and who also was a good match in terms of corporate philosophy. That is how we found deister electronic, whose guard control system we are still using today.”
The innovative management system
Roughly 80 people work in the Hanover corporate headquarters, providing operational management for roughly 900 employees. Its heart is the Alarm Receiving Centre. Alarm and intervention service are operated from here around the clock, 365 days a year. Customers include industrial and commercial enterprises, banks and insurance companies, operators of chemical plants nuclear plants and airports as well as private households. In order to store the customer keys even more securely and comprehensively document their location, they chose a powerful key management system tailored precisely for their everyday work and, as a result, for the customer’s needs. The proxSafe systems flexx 36 HE and locker were installed. Today, the system manages several thousand key slots for both alarm and radio patrol management.
Over 2,000 customer keys for alarm interventions alone are stored in customdesigned key cabinets, and there are also special cabinets for the items required by the radio patrol. Each customer key and each keyring is attached to a keyTag with a RFID chip, and secured through coding and sealing. That allows every key movement – i.e. removal and return – to be documented contactlessly. Users must identify themselves at the key cabinets by using transponders at one of the total of four proxSafe terminals. Access to the key storage room is also granted only with a personal ID. A custom-developed interface connects the deister electronic system to the alarm management control centre software by ATS Elektronik GmbH from Wunstorf. This powerful combination of deister electronic and ATS is what supports a sustainable process optimisation. The keys are managed fully automatically, incorporating the ARC/ESCC with simultaneous end-to-end electronic recording.
Removal and return of keys is person-specific and is automatically documented for transparent auditing. In the event of nonremoval and/or non-return, an alarm is triggered together with stored emergency measures after defined periods. A standardised, user-friendly interface is also critical. In addition, proxSafe features a modular structure and is compatible to other reader technologies, which makes it future-proof. The almost maintenance-free hardware and software result in minimal follow-up costs – ensuring sustainable security and cost efficiency.
Intelligent technology for the future
“Previously, customer keys were often placed in safe bags, scanned and stored in depots, which was relatively timeconsuming,” explains Andreas Segler. “Only key removals and returns could be monitored and documented that way. One of the main problems was that a bunch of keys in particular was checked as a whole. However, in accordance with VdS DIN 2172 for intervention centres, all keys must be checked for completeness to precise requirements; DIN EN 50518 sets even stricter standards. As a result, to avoid having to count all keys regularly, we needed an intelligent and integratable key management system like proxSafe.”
This also reduces response time by speeding up the process of issuing keys to security staff. As a result, it is no surprise that Niedersächsische Wach- und Schliessgesellschaft/ VSU wants to continue investing in new, forward-looking technologies to offer both elevated security and better efficiency – to the benefit of all.