A simpler way to manage remote site access

Many utility companies have remote sites geographically spread throughout Australia. Permanent staff and contractors require access to these sites. Permanent staff can be issued conventional keys as their compliance, safety and training is managed in house.

Contractors present many more challenges:

1. Are their insurance and trade licence current?
2. Have they completed site induction?
3. Are they qualified to access the site?
4. Do they have reason to be at that specific site?
5. Did they actually go to the site?
6. Are there lost keys and have they been returned?

One solution would be to hard wire the sites with conventional access control. This in itself presents implementation challenges such as getting data to the site, the cost to cable and the fact that many of these sites are secured by padlocks. This exact challenge has been presented to EKA CyberLock on many occasions. EKA CyberLock is an electronic master key system where keys and cylinders are managed by a centralised administration software (CyberAudit-Web management software). The power is supplied by the CyberKey powering the locks, padlocks and cylinders in the field, meaning no batteries need replacing in the locks themselves.

Access rights are allocated to each individual user and uploaded to the CyberKeys, granting access that is customised to each user’s requirements. Most importantly, lost keys can be deactivated, the access rights of rogue users can be removed and to keep things simple, users can update their CyberKeys on the fly with an app on their smartphone.

To further aid management and compliance there are two main functions.

1. When a user does update their CyberKey, a two-way communication is initiated so the CyberKey is not only updated, but an audit trail of where they have used their CyberKey is relayed back to the CyberAudit-Web management software.
2. The CyberAudit-Web management software can be integrated with the compliance management software to ensure access is only granted to those contractors and staff who meet the company’s access policies.

This exact solution is of interest to many EKA CyberLock customers and has been implemented by BAI Communications Australia, securing and controlling access to more than 395 sites that are scattered throughout Australia including many remote sites. To find out more about this application go to www.ekacyberlock.com.au or contact us on sales@ekacyberlock.com.au or 1300 722 311.