In Sweden, programmable CLIQ^® keys help a local fire service to respond faster

Challenge

The Skellefteå Fire Service looks after fire safety for a large municipality in northeast Sweden. To enable a fast, efficient response in case of emergency, the service sought to install secure façade key cabinets at every property equipped with the municipality’s automatic alarm system. Property keys would be stored inside the cabinets, so authorized fire fighters would have rapid building access if there was a fire.

Requirements for a new cabinet locking system included:

• A secure, insurance-approved solution for automatic alarm customers that incorporated both trusted mechanical security and the convenience and flexibility of electronic access control
• Easy and secure access to key cabinets only for authorized members of the fire brigade
• A system that would end the need for fire stations to keep and manage large numbers of duplicate keys
• The ability to trace exactly which key was used, when and by whom
• Cost-effective, wire-free installation

Solution

Local ASSA ABLOY partner Valters Lås has now equipped every Skellefteå building using the municipality’s automatic alarm system with a facade cabinet locked with programmable mechatronic CLIQ cylinders. Keys to the premises are stored inside.

In the event of a fire, fire fighters can update their individual, programmable CLIQ key while on the move, using a CLIQ Remote key updater kept in the fire engine. There’s no longer any need for off-site fire fighters to first go to the station to collect the right key. With CLIQ , security administrators can transfer temporary access rights to any CLIQ key in an instant, from anywhere, using the CLIQ Web Manager software. Key management is now streamlined.

“Previously, we had a key safe at every fire station,” says Johan Marklund. “At the main station alone there were about 100 keys. We had to take inventory regularly and sometimes we found that certain keys no longer worked. In a serious situation, we wouldn’t have been able to enter the premises without breaking down the door. Now I recommend that emergency services in other locations choose the same CLIQ solution.”