What to Consider When Choosing a Key Holding Service

August 31, 2017

Adopting a key holding service is a natural progression from an alarm response team. Finding a reliable security contractor that provides both services is ideal, ensuring a 24-hour team is ready to respond to any situation, at any time of day. When using this type of service, it’s essential that you employ a security team you trust and that provides an end-to-end service.

The Benefits of a Key Holding Service

Employing the right key holding service provides you and your business with three main benefits.

  1. Protecting your physical property: A key holding service provides a rapid response to an alarm, locating problems and securing your site in minutes.
  2. Protecting you and your staff: By leaving security issues in the hands of pros, you reduce the risk of harm to your team. This leads to improved staff morale and complete peace of mind when you leave the premises.
  3. Protecting your insurance: By having a professional security team on call, your health and safety certificates and insurance are secure.

Trust

Key holding is a service that requires 100% trust. Take the time to research companies and request references, but don’t forget to arrange a face-to-face meeting so you can get to know one another personally. During your initial meeting, establish a thorough service agreement so the response officer knows the exact procedures in the event of a call-out.

The layout of your premises should be discussed and entry/exit points identified, so there’s no hesitation in the event of an emergency. The keys to be used by the security team should be tested on site, in the presence of both parties. If any of the keys doesn’t work, you may need to contact emergency locksmith services and have a locksmith do the repairs or even install a new lock. Be sure to hire a licensed commercial locksmith to ensure that your locks are properly installed.

Operational Guidelines

It’s important to have operational guidelines in place from the outset so the responding officer can follow the correct procedures. In most cases, our Hallmark Security response officers will survey the site, check all entry/exit points for break-in or damage, and stay on site until it’s secure. Should law enforcement be required, they’ll make the call. If specified in your operational guidelines, the officer may be able to contact trusted tradesmen to complete repair work immediately, unless you prefer to take care of this yourself.

Keeping Your Key

The thought of entrusting your business keys to a third party can be nerve-wracking, so ensure the security team you employ is SIA accredited, licensed, and insured.

At Hallmark, we store your keys in a sealed key holding facility at our 24-hour control room. The seal is only broken should we need to attend a call-out or as part of our regular key audits. Each time the seal is broken, it’s recorded in our key log, providing a complete record of use.

Reporting

As the business owner, you want to know what happens on your premises, so ensure the team you choose provides a full report each time they’re called out.

We always send a report within 24 hours of attending a premises, noting the time of arrival, any checks carried out, any damage or signs of tampering, when the site was secured, and whether any law enforcement or third parties were called.

Our Response

Based in the northwest of England, Hallmark’s key holding service operates in our local area, meaning we’re on site within minutes. For more information, contact Hallmark today.