A set of keys that is not on the hook
An alarm activates at a dental surgery at 11pm. The controller dispatches the mobile unit, whose officer drives to the office to collect the keys. The hook for key tag 147 is empty. The signing-out book shows it was taken on Tuesday for a lock-up check, and there is no return entry. The officer who signed it out is off tonight and not answering. After twenty minutes, the keys are found in the glovebox of another patrol vehicle.
The client is not told about the delay, but if they had been, the conversation would not have gone well. Losing track of a client's keys, even for twenty minutes, is the kind of thing that ends keyholding contracts.
Why key control drifts
Keyholding depends on something very physical: bunches of keys moving between a key safe, vehicles, officers and client premises, often at night and in a hurry. The record is a book filled in by hand at the key safe, which only works if everyone fills it in every time, including at 3am.
| Moment | What should be recorded | What often happens |
|---|---|---|
| Keys received from a new client | Key count, description, tag code | Counted, sometimes described |
| Keys signed out for a callout | Who, when, why | Signed if the officer remembers |
| Keys returned | Who, when, all keys present | Hung back on the hook |
| Keys moved between vehicles | Who has them now | Not recorded |
| Client changes locks or adds a key | Updated description | Old description stays |
Tags are coded, not labelled with the client's address, for good reason. But that means the code-to-client list is itself a sensitive record that has to be protected and kept current.
What weak key control costs
Delayed response to alarms when keys cannot be found. Keys missing altogether, which may mean changing a client's locks at your company's expense, and a very awkward phone call. Clients who ask for a key audit get a photocopy of a book. And if keys are ever misused, you need a reliable record of every movement to show what happened, which a paper book with gaps cannot provide.
What your contracts and any standards you follow require for key control is for your company and its advisers. We build the record.
A key register with scan-in and scan-out
- Each key set gets a coded tag with a QR code or NFC chip. The register holds the tag code, client, site, number of keys, description and any access codes stored separately under tighter permissions.
- When keys are received from a client, they are logged with a count and a photo, and the client's signed receipt is stored.
- Signing keys out means scanning the tag with a phone and choosing the reason, such as alarm response, lock-up, unlock or client request. The officer's name, time and vehicle are recorded.
- Returning keys means scanning again and confirming the count. Keys out longer than the period you set raise an alert.
- Transfers between officers or vehicles are recorded with a scan by the receiving officer.
- The controller can see, for any client, where the keys are right now: in the safe, with which officer or in which vehicle.
- Each key set has a full history, exportable for a client audit.
- The code-to-client list is visible only to people who need it.
- Access codes and alarm codes are stored under separate permissions.
- Key sets due to be returned to a client at contract end are listed.
The same alarm call with the register
The alarm at the dental surgery comes in. The controller opens the client's record and sees at once that key set 147 is in patrol vehicle 3, signed out on Tuesday and not returned. The controller directs vehicle 3, or has its officer meet the responding officer. The overdue key alert that should have fired on Wednesday is followed up the next morning, and the officer is reminded about the return scan.
When a client asks for proof of who has handled their keys this year, the account manager sends the history.
Is your key control like this?
- Keys are signed out in a paper book.
- Returns are not always recorded.
- Keys move between vehicles without a record.
- The code-to-client list is on a sheet in the office.
- Client key audits take a day to prepare.