"We are using the locks mostly on entrance doors, but we do have a couple inside the buildings that we are using to restrict access to high security areas," explained Larry Rennie, building maintenance supervisor for the city.
Schlage's PRO Series programmable locks are stand-alone, microprocessor-based, battery-powered locks that let building managers quickly add new codes and delete old ones via the keypad within seconds. Up to 120 unique, individual access codes can be programmed into the locksets. No external wiring is required.
The city's police department is using eight PRO Series locks. Employees use a PIN number to access those locks.
Over 20 CM locks are used in City Hall and at the city's various fire stations, on the front doors and in some higher security areas within the fire stations. The fire department employs about 250 people in four major divisions.
Rennie uses a laptop computer to program the locks. He has also taught his counterpart at the fire department how to program them and that person has trained two other people.
"We can lock down all our operations in a heartbeat," said Rennie. "We're a municipal government, so the public has access to all of our buildings. In just a matter of minutes, though, we can lock down a building so that only employees have access to it."
