Crown Property Management

The Client

Crown Property Management, a subsidiary of Crown Realty Partners, manages commercial real estate assets throughout the GTA. The company actively seeks out opportunities that will grow into long-lasting relationships with the best and brightest organizations. So it’s no surprise that Crown takes the security and comfort of its tenants seriously.

The Challenge

Our client manages a corporate tower in downtown Toronto. The building’s parking facility is located underground and is staffed by a full-time attendant. As with many downtown properties, this building provides limited parking options.

Most parking spots are equipped with a hydraulic lift system, which maximizes storage by allowing vehicles to be stacked in vertical tandem. Keeping things well organized and providing tenants with timely service means that the parking attendant must have access to the keys of all vehicles at all times.

But those keys also must be securely stored and managed, with limits to access.

When we first worked with the property management team on its challenges, we suggested Traka T21 standalone key management systems. Initially the T21 cabinets solved the client’s requirement of improving key management and accountability. (Prior to this solution, storing and managing access to keys functioned as an honour system; there was no means of tracking the use or distribution of keys.)

Unfortunately the T21 has its limitations in size and key capacity, as well as technology.

Our client and its tenants were beginning to experience some frustrations with the internal size restrictions of the T21 cabinet, which became an issue when it was used to store larger transponder keys and rings with multiple keys.

It was often difficult to secure the front panel of the cabinet when keys were placed on their corresponding ifob (locking pin), and in some cases keys could not be properly accommodated inside the cabinet. This meant that tenants and staff had to adjust or remove extra keys to ensure the front panel closed securely.

Additionally, the credential to access the cabinet and corresponding tenant ifob (locking pin) was limited to PIN code only via the touch interface.

Although the T21 is a good solution it has its limitations. A few years after installation it was time for us to devise a new, more advanced solution for our client’s application.

The Solution

Following close consultation with the property management team at Crown, we recommended the Traka S-Touch Series key cabinets as a natural upgrade from the old system.

The Traka S-Touch can operate as a standalone key management system or be networked with Traka’s enterprise solution

The Traka S-Touch Series is an enterprise-level key management solution that offers larger key capacities and stand-alone or networked web-based software management options, complete with optional card reader interface.

In the event that a key is compromised or vehicle activity comes into question, authorized staff have the ability to generate history reports via the touchscreen interface. This tells them exactly who accessed a key and when—setting up accountability across the entire system while providing tenants with peace of mind.

With the Traka S-Touch solution we were also able to overcome the key capacity and size issues of the previous system.

And by configuring the card-reader interface we added an extra layer of security—building staff and tenants can now use their existing proximity card for the building to unlock and access their specific key locations.

Products Used on This Project

Traka S-Touch Key Cabinet with Card Reader: A sophisticated standalone or networked key management system featuring a user-friendly touchscreen interface and full audit trail of all users and key transactions VIEW PRODUCT DETAILS

Additional custom features with this project include:

• Optional solid steel main panel door
• Customized ifob security seals complete with a custom patch file enabled to allow compatibility with the exclusive access card format specific to this building

Feedback from the Client

The client is extremely happy with this solution and they can now focus on other building management priorities knowing that their parking facility key management needs have been well served.