Morse Watchmans has been the world leader in key control solutions for more than a quarter of a century, and they will once again be exhibiting at GSX in Dallas, September 11-13.
Campus Safety caught up with Morse Watchmans Global Vice President of Sales and Marketing Tim Purpura to find out what visitors to his company’s booth can expect to see.
Campus Safety: What is the top product or offering your company is showing off at GSX this year, and what makes it special? How does it apply to healthcare facilities, schools and/or higher education security, public safety and/or emergency management?
Tim Purpura: We are showcasing our award-winning KeyWatcher Touch system with the latest Gen3 software. Our KeyWatcher Touch is a scalable and expandable security technology solution that tracks usage of keys or personal assets, so they do not become lost or missing. The KeyWatcher Touch operates with our patented SmartKey technology and has features such as KeyAnywhere, which makes it easy to withdraw and return a key securely to any key cabinet located within an enterprise. The powerful Generation 3 CPU offers speedy performance, interface, and synchronization times as well.
The KeyWatcher Touch system is designed to ensure the safety and security of keys and physical assets to reduce liability for organizations, making it an ideal physical security solution for healthcare facilities and educational campuses. KeyWatchers also improve emergency management response times by providing immediate access to all facility master keys.
CS: What other products or offerings would you like to highlight, and what are some of their qualities and benefits?
Purpura: Besides our signature KeyWatcher systems, we have SmartKey Lockers for managing important assets such as laptops, mobile phones, hand-held radios, and even small weapons and firearms. There are multiple locker options available.
We are also pleased to introduce our new “Emergency Key Grab (EKG) Kit” that we just rolled out for K-12 Schools. The EKG Kit is designed to provide easy access to all master keys for first responders in the event of a lockdown or emergency. The EKG Kit includes a one module or greater KeyWatcher Touch system, red color-coded SmartKeys and KeyRing hubs, system identification labels, educational materials including a tip sheet, playbook, and a template and guidelines for writing a K-12 school district key control policy, and our signature one-on-one educational training. In addition to facilitating emergency response, a key control system in K-12 schools improves general security protocols. Centralized key control ensures that keys are always properly secured and accounted for by authorized personnel only.
The EKG Kit is ideal for not only K-12 schools, but for any enterprise seeking to improve emergency response security protocol for access to facility master keys.
CS: How do your company and its offerings address the needs of hospitals, schools and/or universities?
Purpura: Educational and healthcare campuses have a large physical footprint, and that means there are hundreds to thousands of keys that need to be accounted for and secured. These facilities have always used traditional security methods and security technology systems to make their environments safer and more secure.
One of the biggest pain points is emergency response time to natural disasters, fires, active intruders, or even a suspected bomb locked in a supply closet. Campus facilities and security managers seek solutions that help prevent risk and fallout from such episodes. When disaster strikes, a key control solution with a key ring containing all master keys for first responders ensures that critical keys are available when needed so emergency response times are significantly improved.
CS: What else is new or noteworthy about your company for 2023?
Purpura: We are excited to be celebrating 30 years of our KeyWatcher systems in 2023. Morse Watchmans is the original developer of electronic key control technology. Our brand name and solid reputation as a world leader in key control and asset management physical security solutions is recognized globally.
CS: What is your company’s overall value proposition to schools, universities and/or hospitals? Why should they do business with you?
Purpura: Morse Watchmans is a legacy company that was founded in 1882. Physical keys are a legacy solution for securing important items and assets and are here for the long term. Morse Watchmans’ legacy in helping schools, universities, hospitals, and other industries manage their physical keys began 30 years ago when we invented the first electronic key control security technology solution. Through the years we have learned a lot from our customers’ key control and asset management pain points. We are passionate about resolving those pain points to ensure that our customers receive customized and robust key control and asset management solutions with accountability and audit trails. That means no more lost or missing keys, and no more expensive re-keying costs.
We are here to help campus enterprise facility and security managers resolve campus key control issues and encourage them to have a solid key control policy in place. We strive to educate and inform our customers about creating safe and secure business environments to reduce the risk of security incidents and fallout from liability or compliance issues.
Visit Morse Watchmans at GSX Booth No. 3409 or online at morsewatchmans.com.