Australian shopping mall operator locks down back-of-house operations with high tech

At Westfield Shopping Centers throughout Australia, the organization has implemented a key control and management solution with fingerprint biometrics that allows pre-approved personnel streamlined access to and from authorized center locations with comprehensive monitoring and report functionality. The solution is based on Morse Watchmans' key control and management system integrated with the National Work Authorization and Induction Training (NoWAIT) fingerprint recognition system, and was rolled out in shopping centers throughout Australia since late 2012.

Developed for Westfield by Blue Glue, an Australian system integrator, and their technology partner Morse Australia, the biometric security system known as contractor and visitor validation system seamlessly integrates with existing key control and management system for secure issuance of keys to pre-authorized individuals while touchscreen video technology provides for safety messaging to staff.
 
"Key control and management is an essential element in administering the security aspects of a large retail property,” said Alan Jones, Director, Blue Glue. The integrated solution at Westfield puts together Morse's key control with biometric technology and real time, centralized remote monitoring for an optimized system to enhance the security of back-of-house and operational areas.
 
With the new system, contractors, consultants and others will no longer have to sign in and wait for a key to be issued. Emergencies that occur during off hours can be more readily acted upon because contractors can access keys without having to wait for property management to arrive on scene. Enrollment in the system is through fingerprint identification and a one-time registration allows access at any site in the program. The system additionally issues a durable identification wristband with the name, date and time stamp and all access activity is recorded for auditing purposes.
 
According to Jones, a range of Westfield properties had been using Morse key control cabinets for the past 10 years to store, release and track keys used throughout a property. With the Morse's key control and management system, each key is locked into place inside the key cabinet using a locking device which has an integrated chip, so a user can only remove a key which he or she has permission to use. The other keys stored in the cabinet remain locked in place when the user enters his or her access code or scans their card or fingerprint. In doing so, the Morse system automatically controls who is able to use which keys.
 
Because the key control and management system was designed for interoperability with other systems, Blue Glue was able to seamlessly integrate the NoWAIT biometric system and have control through their Blue Glue net enterprise. “Key control and management system is a quality product with an RS-232 communications port and the assistance provided by Morse Australia for the protocols made the integration process very easy,” Jones added.
 
Proof of concept trials were performed at four shopping centers in the Sydney area and, based on their success, the program was rolled out on a national basis in late 2012.