Tether Gravity: The New Force of Certainty in Key Control
GRAVITY® from Tether Technologies is a digital tethering device that prevents master key loss.
In the U.S. today, nearly 15 million master key sets are in use with millions spent annually on key rings and cabinet systems to account for keys before and after a shift.
GRAVITY® from Tether Technologies is an industrial-grade, digital tethering device that eliminates human error from master key loss. Gravity tethers the keys and surrounds workers with a protective force field. When keys breach its five step perimeter, GRAVITY® lets you know.
GRAVITY® is user-friendly and easy to set up. Simply remove it from the box, select and install a belt clip, attach it to your key ring and clip GRAVITY® to your belt. When you need to use your keys, use your thumb to press the key release button and pull keys up and away from your body (dual action release). As the units separate, the strobe light on the key unit will flash one time indicating that the electronic tether has been set. As long as the belt unit and key unit remain within range, no alarms will sound.
Should the key unit separate from the belt unit by more than 5-7 steps (15-20 feet), alarms will sound. The belt unit emits a strong vibration and has a low frequency chirp alarm. The key unit also has two distinct alarms: its strobe light will flash repeatedly and it emits a much louder 85 decibel chirp alert. All warning alarms continue until the key unit is reattached to the belt unit. To join the units back together, fit the top hole of the key unit onto the hook on the inside of the belt unit. Move the key unit downward until it clicks and locks securely in place.
GRAVITY® runs on two standard AAA batteries that are pre-installed. When 80% of battery power has been used, GRAVITY® chirps to alert you that the batteries need replacing. It is recommended that you replace the batteries in both the belt and key units at the same time to ensure continuity.
If you store off-shift keys inside of a key control cabinet, GRAVITY® comes with an un-pairing station for cabinet storage. The un-pairing station allows you to store the key unit only while the belt unit powers off, so as not to take up space in the cabinet. Once removed from the cabinet, the user has 10 seconds to dock the key unit to an un-paired belt unit, otherwise the key unit goes into alarm.
GRAVITY® uses Bluetooth® radio technology to tether your keys to your belt. A decrease in the radio signal strength is what causes GRAVITY® to alarm. Normally, that threshold occurs within 5-7 steps (15-20 feet) but that range is greatly influenced by one’s surroundings (objects in the way vs direct line of sight). If you want to test the distance to alarm, be sure to leave the key unit stationary and walk away holding the belt unit. The key unit contains an accelerometer that is used in the separation algorithm. If the key unit is moving (under normal operation, in the hand of the user), the radio signal strength threshold to alarm is lowered. This is how GRAVITY® has such a short separation distance to alarm and still keeps the number of false alarms to a minimum. If you walk away holding the key unit, the distance to alarm more than doubles, to 12-15+ steps.
GRAVITY® comes with two belt clip sizes. The small clip has a 1 ¾” opening that provides a good fit for those workers who wear a standard uniform-type belt. The large clip has a 2 ¼” opening that fits standard “Sam Brown” type utility belts. The large clip also comes in a more secure, closed loop version that must be threaded through the wearer’s belt. An installed belt clip can be removed using a small flat head screwdriver or pen knife.
If you appreciated this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!
Related Content
Leading in Turbulent Times: Effective Campus Public Safety Leadership for the 21st Century
This new webcast will discuss how campus public safety leaders can effectively incorporate Clery Act, Title IX, customer service, “helicopter” parents, emergency notification, town-gown relationships, brand management, Greek Life, student recruitment, faculty, and more into their roles and develop the necessary skills to successfully lead their departments. Register today to attend this free webcast!
Fine way of describing, and good article to obtain information about my presentation subject matter, which i am going
to deliver in university.