Each of Denmark’s 550 individual Free Schools shares a common ethos: parents and students participate together in activities outside school hours, including weekends.
It’s excellent for building a school community. Not so easy for managing security, when issuing and tracking keys becomes a 7-day task every week. The Vejle Friskole turned to SMARTair® wireless access control for a solution.
Previously, key management ate up “a very long time, approximately five hours a week,” explains Henrik Kækel, Technical Service Officer at Vejle Friskole.
Secure wireless electronic locks, already proven in schools across Europe, were the answer. Vejle Friskole’s mechanical keys have been replaced by a SMARTair® access control system.
“We had big problems with keys that were lost.” Henrik Kækel, Vejle Friskole
Over 80 doors and cabinets around the school are secured with SMARTair® wireless devices. Even at a historic property like Vejle Friskole, battery-powered SMARTair® devices are easy and unobtrusive to retrofit.
Now approximately 250 students, teachers and parents each carry their own key fob, programmed with individual access permissions.
Because the SMARTair® system portfolio has locking devices tailored to different kinds of openings, everyone at the Friskole opens the right doors and cabinets with a single fob. There’s no more need for the school to distribute separate keys for student or staff lockers, for example.
Time-saving key management
“It was really bad because we had big problems with keys that were lost,” says Henrik Kækel. “There was a lot of work in key administration.”
SMARTair® is easy for the school to manage. Today, Vejle Friskole staff spend around five minutes a week managing their access system. “It’s incredibly easy to figure out… it takes 1 minute to code a student,” he adds. Even managing the leasing of school buildings for non-school events is simple and secure.
“School facilities staff issue fobs for the duration of the event, then cancel them immediately afterwards – with no concerns someone may have copied a physical key.”
In addition to making everyday life easier and saving staff time and admin costs, SMARTair® has increased security. Using the intuitive SMARTair® software, they always have an overview of who has been at the school, and when. Audit trails are generated and monitored in real time using their SMARTair® system. And it’s no disaster if a credential gets lost. Henrik adds: “Then we cancel the credential and issue a new one.”
Vejle Friskole’s SMARTair® system is easy, fast and cost-effective to extend to new doors, cabinets and users — at the beginning of a new school year, or any time they choose.
Learn more about how SMARTair® can make your school safer — and save you time and expense.
About ASSA ABLOY
The ASSA ABLOY Group is the global leader in access solutions. The Group operates worldwide with 48,500 employees and sales of SEK 84 billion. The Group has leading positions in areas such as efficient door openings, trusted identities and entrance automation. ASSA ABLOY’s innovations enable safe, secure and convenient access to physical and digital places. Every day, we help billions of people experience a more open world.
About Vejle Friskole
Vejle Friskole was founded in 1893. The school has ten year-grades and around 210 students. See www.vejlefriskole.dk.
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