Tips for Rolling Out a New Keyless System to Your Employees

Transitioning from traditional locks and keys to a keyless system is one of the wisest choices a business can make. The convenience and increased security that keyless entry locks afford will reduce management headaches and streamline your operational efficiency. But this change will obviously have an impact on your employees, which means that communication and training will be necessary in order to make the transition as smooth as possible. Below are some tips to keep in mind to help you roll out your new keyless system to your employees.

1. Communicate the change well before the launch date.

Human beings are creatures of habit, and any time our daily routines get changed or interrupted, there’s a potential for confusion or even resistance to arise in response to the change. In order to pull off your roll-out with minimal hiccups, make sure to clearly communicate the change in writing to all of your employees. If it’s practical for you to do so, hold an in-person meeting with your employees to thoroughly explain the change, and to provide them with the date(s) that the new locks will be installed and go live. The larger your organization is, the more attention should be given to communication. Although it can be tempting to view these preliminary efforts as a hassle, keep in mind the old military adage that states “There’s no such thing as over-communicating.”

2. Determine if the locks will need to be installed in phases, or all at once.

This will obviously depend upon how many locks you’ll be installing. If you’re installing several locks, prioritize the areas of critical need first, and then take care of the second-tier areas once the first series of locks are operational. The most likely candidates for your top priority locks are areas that receive the heaviest amounts of traffic, areas that are considered the most vulnerable to security breaches or areas in which sensitive assets can be accessed (e.g., server rooms). Take note of any areas where past security problems may have occurred as well, and include them on your priority list. If you run a small business and only one or two locks need to be installed, you can install all locks simultaneously.

3. Assign access codes based on lock locations, security privileges and employee roles.

This will definitely require some careful thought and planning, but you want to make sure to be precise where access control is concerned; otherwise, you could have a security breach (or other serious liability) on your hands. Print out a list of your employees and sit down with your management team to thoroughly discuss the various roles and security privileges that each employee should have. If only a select few employees are allowed access to certain parts of the building, be sure to allocate an exclusive access code for their use. Employees who routinely access general areas where no serious security concerns are present can use the same access code without a problem. After thorough discussion and planning, begin assigning access codes to each employee, keeping both a digital and a printed copy of the list for your own records. If you ever need to change or revise the list, be sure to update the digital and print copies accordingly.

4. Have the locks installed before or after business hours.

To minimize security risks and alleviate employee foot traffic bottlenecks, have the locks installed either before business opens on the day that the changes will go live, or immediately after the close of business on the day before.

5. Provide hands-on training for each employee.

Depending upon the size of your organization, this may need to be done in phases as well. Each employee should be trained on how to use the keyless lock, which shouldn’t take any more than a couple of minutes per person. Keyless locks such as the Trilogy DL2800 are remarkably robust, yet simple for the average person to operate. You can set up a test access code just to show your employees how the lock works, but let them know that they will be receiving a different access code after the training has taken place.

Although transitioning to keyless locks is not typically a highly disruptive process, it still helps to approach the change with a solid game plan. The steps listed above will help you complete your keyless lock rollout with minimal stress and maximum efficiency.

Trilogy T2 DL2800 Electronic Lock – Timed Access, Audit Trail