Morse Watchmans solutions endorsed by Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University has selected the KeyWatcher from Morse Watchmans for control and management of keys

Wesleyan University has selected the KeyWatcher from Morse Watchmans for control and management of keys on their campus in Middletown, Connecticut. The initial deployment in the school's Public Safety department enabled the staff to maintain better control of master keys and the keys used for high value areas such as the President's office and the Art Gallery. The system, an upgrade from a manually-kept logging system, was installed in the briefing room rather than the dispatch area, reducing disruptions for the staff.

"We are only issued a single key for each of the high value areas and the KeyWatcher cabinet allows us to track that key, know who has it, where it's been, when they took it out and so on," said David Meyer, Director, Wesleyan Public Safety. "With the old manual system, it was a headache trying to keep track of keys. Now, when a key is accessed or returned, there are no questions and when people see the box at the end of the night they always remember to put back their keys."

Each individual key is secured to a Smart Key locking mechanism with built-in memory chip and the data from the chip is stored when a key is inserted into a key slot. Users can only access keys for which they have an authorized user code, and keys can be returned to any location in the box. The illuminated key slots make accessing and returning keys easier and the system cannot be manipulated or easily tampered with. The Public Safety department supervisor uses Morse Watchman KeyPro software to determine the status of the keys, running a report at the end of each shift to see who still has keys out.

The initial deployment in the school's Public Safety department enabled the staff to maintain better control of master keys and the keys used for high value areas

Based on the success of the KeyWatcher's use in the Public Safety department, three additional KeyWatcher systems were subsequently installed for use by the Residential Life department, which oversees student housing.

"The Residential Life staff uses different functionalities of the KeyWatcher system than does the Public Safety department," said Mr. Meyer. "Theirs is set up so that they are notified immediately if a key is kept out for more than a certain amount of time because individuals are not allowed to hold on to keys for any extended length of time. It could cost as much as ten thousand dollars to rekey a dorm if a key went missing."

A common practice at the University is to test a product in one or two departments and if all goes well, the product is standardised for use across the University. According to Mr. Meyer, based on the success of the Public Safety and Residential Life installations, they are looking at several additional installations for the KeyWatcher cabinets, including one specifically for student use and another for custodial staff.