
Your tenants have an expectation of security in exchange for their monthly rent. If they return to their rented space to find their stuff has been rummaged through they will lose their sense of security.
As your locksmith, it has been our duty to hold your trust and keep your tenants reasonably secure. Part of that security has been keeping information private. Key codes can be used to make new door keys and master keys. We lock the documents with your codes away, securely. Techniques of lock manipulation have been taught only in registered classes to students with photo identification. Even when we are working and need to open a door quickly we will often ask the customer to get us a screwdriver or a glass of water so that he or she will not learn how easy it can be to unlock a door without a key.
Our biggest problem now is information leaking into the wrong hands.
Locksmiths have long kept the secrets of opening locks from the general public. Now the internet is training the next generation of burglars in picking, bumping and bypassing the locks we depend on to keep our doors closed. This training is happening indescriminatly and annonomusly.
Why does your locksmiths take such pains to protect information? Think of the new crime of Identity theft. The theif steals your social insurance number, birth certificate or other identification and applies for photo ID from the government with their photo. Then the theif pretends to be you and sells your house. You find out when the new owners try to move in. Sometimes keeping a secret is like locking the door. Information is power.
How big a concern is this information leak to locksmiths, property managers and other security professionals? HUGE.
Locksmiths have been recommending High Security Locks for years, partly because even a locksmith cannot open one without a key, and even your locksmith will not make you a key without the key control card.
Lock manufacturers are releasing new types of locks to be “bump resistant” and offer more control over the coping of keys.
There is a lot of work that goes with the job of property management and maintenance. High security locks are designed with features to make your work easier. First, high security locks make your dream of less keys come true. Imagine one key for all your buildings. One key that is 100% secure and if lost can be deactivated both electronically and mechanically without the need for your tenants keys to change and without the need to spend thousands, or even hundreds of dollars on rekeying locks.
Mul-T-Lock products offer the 3-in-1 feature where you can rekey your own locks, twice each. This is set up when we design the system for you. The master key can change while the tenants key stays the same -or- the Tenants key can change while the master key stays the same -or- both the master key and the tenants key can change. This is done with the turn of a key. The lock is not removed from the door.
If you are concerned about loosing a master key then the first option is for you. If you don’t want to call out a locksmith everytime you change a tenant then the second option is for you. The third option is ideal for small master key systems where you hand out lots of keys and need to rekey often.
This is all done mechanically with special master pins. The robust pinning options of Mul-T-Lock’s ten pins allow thousands of possible tenants on one master key. The ability to lockout a master key quickly when it is stolen or lost (without having to even tell your tenant) protects you from liability when something goes wrong with your staff.
A master key system of this sort would have sub-masters. Only the landlord and the top property manager would have the single grandmaster key to open every lock. Supers will be given a sub-master key that only opens their property. Cleaners can be given a key that only opens the doors they are allowed access to on their property - or with the advanced software we use the cleaner’s key can open all the cleaner’s rooms in every building you own or manage. This makes sense if you have one cleaning company taking care of all your buildings.
These keys cannot be copied. We track how many of each key is cut and only we can cut these keys. If you change cleaning companies ask for the keys back - each and every one. If they fail to return the keys then your old cleaning company can pay to rekey these locks. Infact, deduct the cost of rekeying the locks from their final payment cheque.
Second, Mul-T-Lock offers Cliq for another level of security and access control on your most sensitive locks.
Cliq is an electronic lock added to the Mul-T-Lock cylinder. It works with any Mul-T-Lock cylinder even on a filing cabinet or padlock. Think of it as an 11th pin that is only retracted (inside the cylinder) when the correct key is inserted. The key contains a battery that supplies the power for this pin to unlock.
Once we add electricity to locks we can store and transfer information. Cliq does all the advanced access control functions of your card access system.
1. Audit Trail -You now have a log of who used that lock, or attempted to use that lock and when.
2. Timed Acces Schedule - You can program a schedule so that office users cannot enter the building at night or cleaners can only enter on the weekends while your master key works 24 hours a day.
3. Individual Dual Credential - Keys contain a code. Mechanical keys all contain the same code. When one mechanica key is lost or stolen all the keys must be changed. With electronic keys each contains a different code. When one electronic key is lost or stolen it is deprogrammed from the lock - other keys are unaffected. This gives you even more control over your master keys. If you electrician does not return his master key after you fire him for not installing that pot light in the right place you can just turn off the electronic part of his key - locking your electrician out of your most secure areas.
The Cliq key is a dual credential. Meaning it has a mechanical key component and an electronic key component. It will work on your mechanical locks as a master key but your mechanical master keys will not work on your Cliq locks. In the above situation the electrician can still enter a tenant’s suite that does not have a Cliq cylinder but a standard Mul-T-Lock cylinder on the same master key.
4. No wires. Each cylinder is a stand alone access control system. It is programmed by inserting a key. Information is downloaded by inserting a key. The power supply is a battery in the key. That’s right, access control with the turn of a key.
Now this makes sense for the property manager. When a new tenant arrives at your office with their deposit cheque and signed lease you can just go to your small key cabinet, hand the new tenant a new key and when they unlock the door the will also be rekeying their suite. Even better if the old tenant returns all of their keys (we know how many there are) you don’t have to rekey the suite at all. And your master key, your ONE master key for all your buildings will always get you into the doors you need to enter, quickly, easily and professionally.
Please contact Spadina Security for more information, demonstrations and to design a system that makes sense for you. See our website for more detailed information on Cliq, Mul-T-Lock and master key systems. www.SpadinSecurity.com