Pupils and teachers, maintenance teams and cleaning contractors, visitors, parents and many others… All kinds of people move into and around a school, all day, every day. By digitalizing access, instead of using mechanical keys, schools can control who comes and goes more efficiently and effectively.
In a sector where budgets are often under pressure – and buildings have many doors and other openings where access must be controlled – traditional mechanical security can be expensive and time-consuming to manage. Keys go missing, locks need changing. It can be hard to know exactly who has access to sensitive areas around the school.
A digital access solution helps school managers feel confident about security – and reassures pupils and parents. When doors and other openings are locked with digital devices, opened with digital credentials, no one has to worry about unauthorized key copies in circulation. If someone loses their keycard or phone, a couple of clicks in the software restores school security. It’s fast and hassle-free.
Digital management also helps schools get more out of their premises. Local clubs or sports teams may be granted one-time or time-limited access to rent school halls or sports pitches when the teaching day is over. When the session ends, their access rights automatically expire. A quick integration between access and booking software puts this valuable revenue stream and community-building activity within easy reach.
The SMARTair® access management system, a wireless solution from the digital access experts at ASSA ABLOY, helps schools do all this and more – to digitalize with confidence and make their access ready for what’s ahead.
SMARTair: security you can trust
Digital access offers efficiencies that are near-impossible to find with mechanical security. As well as eliminating lost-key worries, a SMARTair digital access system logs every door interaction, making incident investigation quicker and simpler. Authorized staff consult the software interface for an overview of building access anytime, and in real time.
“The main benefit is the ease of real-time key management — from any place and at any time — via the wireless online management system,” explains Francisco Fernández Soriano, IT Manager at the Colegio Diocesano Santo Domingo in Orihuela, Spain. “This increases security for children and for staff, because no unauthorized people can enter the school.”
A SMARTair digital system can help facility managers respond quickly by remotely locking some or all doors in an emergency, from wherever they happen to be. Lockdown may be initiated from SMARTair’s software interface or the Web Manager. A school manager can pre-define more than 250 different zones and choose whether to lock down a whole zone or specific doors. Schools can be confident that staff and pupils have the highest level of protection against the unexpected.
Similarly, every SMARTair device can be set to Emergency Open, which unlocks them all. This could provide fire services with instant access to a whole building, for example. SMARTair makes this type of intelligent, responsive security much easier for schools to implement.
Convenience you and your building users will notice
SMARTair makes it easy for schools to upgrade existing premises to digital access. Doors require minimal alterations when SMARTair devices are fitted, because there’s no wiring around the locking device. It instantly brings daily convenience, with no more keys to manage or track.
Every authorized user may be issued with a card, bracelet, fob or mobile key stored securely on their own smartphone, loaded with the precise permissions they need – no more or less – because not everyone should have access to the school office or server room. Cleaners may be admitted at same time on specific days of the week, for example. They do not have the unlimited access that copying mechanical keys entails.
Everything is managed from simple web-based software. It’s equally easy to run more than one installation from a single interface — for example, if an administrator manages multiple sites or federated schools.
In Denmark, Vejle Friskole saved a huge amount of time switching to SMARTair. Key management was eating up “a very long time, approximately 5 hours a week,” explains Henrik Kækel, the school’s Technical Service Officer. Now mechanical keys have been replaced, and more than 80 doors and cabinets are secured by SMARTair devices.
“It was really bad before because we had big problems with keys that were lost,” he adds. “There was a lot of work in key administration.” Today, Vejle Friskole staff spend around 5 minutes a week managing their access system. “It’s incredibly easy to figure out… it takes 1 minute to code a student.”
Reliability for greater cost- and time-efficiency
The SMARTair range has multiple robust, reliable devices built to withstand toddlers and teenagers. SMARTair can secure almost any opening around a school – from escutcheons for classrooms and cylinders for offices, to padlocks on gates and fences, even outdoors. The new SMARTair i-reader secures and filters access at any electrically operated opening, including high-traffic exterior doors, alarmed doors such as a science lab, or a parking area with an automatic barrier.
SMARTair integrates all access around the school into one digital system with one control panel. A credential can open a locker in communal areas or changing rooms, locked with a SMARTair e-motion Cabinet Lock, and an outdoor gate secured with a SMARTair i-gate Electronic Padlock.
“Having a SMARTair system in place has given us peace of mind,” says Joanna Brunton, Executive Officer at Westbridge School in New Zealand. “It’s quicker, it’s safer and it’s simple.”
To learn more about the benefits of SMARTair® digital access, download a free Solution Guide for Schools at https://www.assaabloy.com/group/emeia/campaigns/smartair-for-schools
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Editor, Security Portfolio
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