The keys to your business give people access to more than your building - it provides them access to your equipment, supplies, inventory, electronics and customer information.

In the wrong hands your keys can be a serious security issue, providing criminals with dangerous access to your assets, put your business and employees in danger, and cost you financially. 

As a business owner in Canada, you have more to worry about than securing your premises against burglars in the middle of the night. You need to protect personal and identifiable information on the people you work with and work for.

Security, and keeping possessions under lock and key, goes back thousands of years. A lock found in ancient ruins near Nineveh, is thought to be 4,000 years old. The Romans kept valuables in chests locked by a key worn as a ring. And about 500 years after the Roman empire collapsed, locksmiths in England were making all-metal lock and key systems. Double-acting pin tumbler locks used today, were patented in 1848, so have been used commonly since, for over 160 years.

With security becoming a more complex environment and criminals becoming smarter, more and more businesses are turning away from conventional methods of security and looking for more integrated and customizable options.

As a business owner, it’s your job to ensure the safety and security of your business and your employees at all times. So how can you best protect your property and everyone working for you?

One of the most popular security trends is using keyless entry via a Managed Access Control Security System. Managed Access Control allows you to permit entry to certain employees at certain times of day. For example, if you have rotating shifts, day staff will only have access between the hours they work. It can be that specific. The ID cards or fobs issued to the employees for their keyless entry are unique to the assigned owner, so you can identify who was there and when.

When an employee misplaces their key to your business, it should never be taken lightly. A lost key not only puts your business at greater risk for trespassing, vandalism, and theft, it can also put your employees at risk if they are at the office when a criminal gains access. 

That's why it's critical that misplaced keys are reported immediately and that access to the affected areas be changed - the longer you wait, the longer you risk that someone will use the key.

Inventory shrinkage is a huge problem for retailers. In fact, Canadian retailers lose about $4 billion a year to theft, errors and damage. Retailers are constantly looking for ways to reduce their losses - from eliminating shoplifting, to reducing internal errors in shipping and accounting.

Sometimes the risk of inventory loss can outweigh a retailer’s resources for managing it.

That's where we can help. I'd like to share with you 5 tips that will help you better manage your inventory and prevent loss.