Erasmus University

The homework regarding updating the locking system paid off

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With a background in the security business that spans more than 30 years, Security Expert, Jelle Jager, made the crucial decision to upgrade the university’s mechanical locking system to the efficient and cost-effective iLOQ S10 digital locking solution.

Erasmus University Rotterdam is a huge site consisting of seven faculties, two institutes and a university college. On the lively, modern campus, 27,000 students of more than 100 nationalities are encouraged to develop their talents and fulfill their ambitions.

With a background in the security business that spans more than 30 years, Security Expert, Jelle Jager, has been responsible for the security of the campus for the last 12 years. About 3 years ago, he made the decision to upgrade the mechanical locking system to the iLOQ S10 digital locking solution.

“We faced many challenges with the old locking system. It was very key intensive, and administration of access rights was complicated and time consuming. I had been looking to replace it with an electronic system but didn’t want the extra costs of cabling or the increased maintenance related to a battery-operated system. I had been impressed with iLOQ’s self-powered solution as far back as 2014. But being a government organization, we had to go through the tendering process before finally getting the go-ahead to install the iLOQ S10 about 3 years ago. iLOQ was the only system that could do everything we wanted it to do,” explains Mr Jager.

Recently, one of the faculties moved from one building to another. In the past, with the mechanical locking system, this would have been an administrative nightmare with weeks of work setting up the new locks and a great deal of expense involved. Thanks to iLOQ S10, the keys could be reprogrammed with one day’s work and updated remotely using the key programming hotspot installed on the property.

“Every faculty has their own idea who should have access rights to the building and rooms inside. Sometimes these change on a weekly basis. With iLOQ, no locks have to be changed and we have the versatility to reprogram keys quickly and simply,” continues Mr Jager.

The digital locking system uses a combination of readers and locks. It was important to Mr Jager that the system had this flexibility so that readers could be used under normal circumstances. But, in the case of a power outage or in an emergency situation such as a fire, keys could always be used as a backup.

Another important feature of the iLOQ S10 is the access log. It is easy to see which key has been used in which lock. And, thanks to the real-time clock, it is also possible to see when it was used. This helps track and prevent misuse and keep security levels high.

About 50% of the campus is currently covered by the iLOQ S10 digital locking system with 1,878 cylinders installed and 2,331 keys in circulation. The goal is to double that amount in the next two years and implement iLOQ S10 throughout the entire campus.

“The loss of a key is no longer a million-dollar affair. The key’s access rights can be instantly removed from the system and a new key programmed and reissued. I no longer dread the beginning of the school year. We can program the keys quickly and easily in good time before the students arrive on campus. And, in every building where we have iLOQ installed, we are driving down costs,” concludes Mr Jager.

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