Munsterbekken housing association
One key replaces a huge bunch
Manager, Roy Pettersen, is looking forward to a simpler life for himself and a safer life for the residents of the Munsterbekken housing association in Bergen. The old mechanical locking system has been replaced with a state-of-the-art iLOQ S5 digital locking system.
The Munsterbekken housing association in Bergen has 274 housing units. With the old mechanical locking system, that had been in use for more than 40 years, no-one knew how many keys (including master keys had gone missing). It was estimated that almost 100 new keys were being ordered every year which was a major security risk and created high costs and an administrative nightmare.
Mr Pettersen no longer needs to carry around a big bunch of keys; just one iLOQ digital key gives him access to all relevant areas. Similarly, residents only need one key to unlock the main entrance door, the door to their apartment, the warehouse, the garage, the letterbox, the rubbish chute and bicycle storage room. The key also works with the lock on an external, free-standing waste container.
Minimal training needs
iLOQ’s cloud-based SaaS platform is extremely easy to use and requires a minimal amount of training. Today, 689 cylinders have been programmed to the system and just over 900 keys are in circulation. If a key is lost or stolen, it can be immediately blocked by a simple keystroke on the PC in the manager’s office. The system can also be operated remotely, for example, from Mr Pettersen’s home or by the locksmith if he is on holiday.
Munsterbekken considered other electro-mechanical locking solutions. But iLOQ was the only battery-free solution. This has eliminated the need to purchase and annually replace batteries and removed the need to have a service agreement to get the job done.
The administration software conveniently gives a clear overview of all the keys in the system and their access rights. And if residents have an urgent requirement for a spare key, for example, for friends, family or 3rd-party service providers, the locksmith has provided a box which is mounted on the wall outside the manager’s office. It contains unprogrammed keys that can be remotely programmed by Mr Pettersen or the locksmith with the relevant access rights. These can be removed at any time by the administrator.
Another important feature of iLOQ S5 is iLOQ HOME. This solution enables residents to, for example, remotely unlock the main entrance door, manage reservations for and access shared spaces and update their keys’ access rights using an NFC-enabled smartphone.
The transition to the new locking solution was seamless with no disruption to the lives of residents. iLOQ’s cylinders can be quickly and easily retrofitted with no need to make any changes to the door or existing infrastructure and no additional maintenance. Mr Pettersen and René Rivli, Project Manager from locksmith Låssenteret, believe that the investment in the iLOQ solution will be recovered within two years with no need to increase rents.
