The Danish school Vejle Friskole is now using Assa Abloy’s Smartair wireless access control system for easier key management and more secure premises. In all of Denmark’s 550 individual Free Schools parents and students participate together in activities outside school hours. For a community with this many participants, a wireless key system is exactly the right choice.

Previously, key management took ‘a very long time, approximately 5 hours a week,’ Henrik Kækel, Technical Service Officer at Vejle Friskole, explained.

Secure wireless electronic locks, already proven in other schools across Europe, were the answer for the school. Vejle Friskole’s mechanical keys were replaced with a Smartair access control system.
Over 80 doors and cabinets around the school are secured with the 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 school can open the right doors and cabinets with a single fob.

Saving time and simplifying key management
"It was really bad because we had big problems with keys that were lost,” said Henrik Kækel and added: “There was a lot of work in key administration.”

Smartair is much easier for the school to manage. Today, Vejle Friskole staff spend around 5 minutes a week managing their access system.

“It's incredibly easy to figure out... it takes 1 minute to code a student,” Kækel added.
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, saving the staff precious time and reducing admin costs, Smartair has increased security. Using the intuitive software, the school always has an overview of who has been at the school, and when.

Audit trails are generated and monitored in real time using the Smartair system.
And it's no disaster if a credential gets lost. Kækel explained: "Then we cancel the credential and issue a new one."
On Assa Abloy’s homepage, users can learn more about how Smartair can make schools safer and key management easier.