Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Keys or Cards? What's the Problem?

  • 02/01/15

Near field communication (or NFC) may well be the future of access control on college campuses — because NFC solves the major problems associated with key and card access systems.

What are those problems? Ingersoll Rand interviewed more than 1,000 key influencers at U.S. colleges and universities to find out.

Key problems: Eighty percent of the survey participants complained about the number of lost and stolen keys. Sixty-three percent identified the failure of key-users to return keys as a problem. Forty percent pointed to the problem of damaged or broken keys. In each incident of lost keys, keys not returned and damaged keys, the school would need to issue a new key and send someone to re-key the lock to fit the new key. Costs include materials and labor.

Card problems: In the Ingersoll Rand interviews about cards, 70 percent identified lost or stolen cards as a major problem. Fifty-six percent cited damaged or broken cards as problematic. Twenty-two percent pointed to the time required to manage the cards.

NFC solves each problem. As you probably know, students, faculty and everyone else, for that matter — rarely lose smartphones. Sure, it happens now and then. When it does, all the credential administrator must do is turn off the permissions. The student or faculty member replaces the phone and reloads the credentials.

The same goes for damaged phones. The administrator turns off the permissions on the damaged phone. The owner replaces the damaged phone and reloads.

Since the user owns the phone, there is nothing to return at the end of the year.

When only a handful of phones get lost, stolen or damaged, the time required to manage the system plummets.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • South Carolina District Starts Construction on $50M Middle School Renovation

    The Aiken County Public School District in North Augusta, S.C., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $50-million renovation and expansion of North Augusta Middle School, according to a news release. The project’s funding comes from the 2024 renewal of a one-cent sales tax approved by local voters.

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Education Design Showcase Awards

    Spaces4Learning has opened submissions for the 2026 Education Design Showcase! The awards program launched in 1999 with the goal of celebrating innovative, practical solutions in the planning, design, and construction of K–12 and higher-education facilities. EDS recognizes new developments that help achieve optimal learning environments, as well as the architecture firms that brought the ideas to life.