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Setting up a keyholding service for your property is a great way to increase not only response time but security in general, too.
While systems such as security locks, alarm systems, CCTV cameras, and access control systems are some of the most effective ways to keep your premises safe and secure during the day, keyholding is an excellent way to protect your property after dark.
As the name suggests, keyholding is where a security specialist “holds” a pair of keys to your premises and can intervene in times of emergencies to ensure the safety of the property, its assets, and the occupants.
Read on to learn more about keyholding services and why keyholding improves security response times for your property:
KEYHOLDING SERVICES BASICS
Keyholding is a third-party service where a security professional has possession of a pair of keys to your property. This service is crucial for times when the premises are empty and more vulnerable to safety and security threats.
For residential properties, this can be when you and the family are away on a holiday. Keyholding is also highly popular in the commercial space because many shop owners want a professional to be on standby if they need someone to check over the property outside of business hours.
Keyholding can be seen as an alternative to monitoring services. In monitored systems, an ARC watches over your property remotely through alarm systems and CCTV cameras. If you do not want ARC services, then keyholding is your best bet.
Professional services offered by companies like Calder Security guarantee a quick response time for your property. It is important to keep in mind that while many companies offer this service, you should only go with accredited and certified companies that specialise in dealing with any potential threats.
A trained keyholder has the following responsibilities:
- Keeping your keys safe and secure,
- Rapidly responding to any alarm activations and safety and security threats,
- Checking the property for any signs of entry,
- Informing the police and emergency services in case of a security or safety incident,
- Filing a detailed report of the incident,
- Ensuring that the property is secure before leaving.
WHY KEYHOLDING IMPROVES SECURITY RESPONSE TIMES
Here are some of the ways keyholding can greatly improve response times for your property:
Faster Access to the Premises
Keyholders are assigned to various “zones” in an area. This means that they are always on standby and within a few minutes’ reach of your property.
Since they also possess the keys to your property at hand, they can easily zoom over to your premises and access it without wasting time.
If you don’t have keyholding services, then a staff member would have to first leave everything that they are doing and travel to the site. This can waste time and cause delays, and worse yet, it can allow the perpetrators to escape.
Going with this method is risky since you can never confirm the availability of the staff members. They could be on holiday, away from home, or asleep late at night!
With a professional keyholding service, trained security personnel:
- Already have secure access to your keys
- Can attend immediately when alerted by an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) or by you
- Avoid waiting for owners or managers to arrive
24/7 Availability Without Delays
The entire point of keyholding is to have a dedicated person who is always available for one job and one job only: to check out your premises at a moment’s notice.
Keyholding companies operate around the clock, ensuring immediate dispatch regardless of time or day. Since they do not rely on a single individual, they can quickly mobilise personnel during weekends, nights, or bank holidays. This service is particularly valuable during the UK winter months when travel conditions can slow response times.
Direct Coordination with Emergency Services
Keyholders don’t just visit the premises; they are also highly trained and know when to escalate things and call in reinforcements.
They can quickly visit the property and verify whether an alarm is genuine or false. They can provide real-time updates to police or fire services and can grant access to emergency responders without delay.
Reduced False Alarm Delays
Verification is crucial for confirming threats. False alarms are common in the UK, and police response can be downgraded if they happen three or more times in a year.
This makes keyholding teams vital since they can quickly assess the situation on-site, reset alarms if needed, and prevent unnecessary escalation.
TYPICAL KEYHOLDING PROCESS DURING THREATS
Keyholders operate by following a strict protocol.
First, when the alarm is triggered on site, the signal is sent to the Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC). The ARC assesses the validity of the alarm by confirming the signal from multiple sensors, such as door sensors, pressure sensors, motion sensors, and even CCTV footage.
Once validated, the ARC dispatches the keyholder who arrives quickly. This response time is often highlighted and agreed upon during the initial contract or Service Level Agreement (SLA).
The keyholder arrives and checks the site for threats. If the threat is minimal, the site is quickly secured. However, if the keyholder detects multiple threats, fire, or armed people, then they escalate the issue as needed.
SITUATIONS WHERE KEYHOLDING IS ESSENTIAL
While you have the option of opting for monitored service where an ARC will look out for your property 24/7 using CCTV and security systems, you can also go with just keyholding services.
Since keyholding involves a trained third party for handling situations safely and professionally, it can be essential for properties in several scenarios, such as:
- Break-ins
- Intrusions
- Burglaries
- Fire
- Smoke
- Gas leak
- Flooding
Keyholders can respond to threats depending on their nature. An alarm activated due to an intrusion can be assessed and investigated by a professional keyholder, and action can be taken to address the threat.
A fire alarm triggered on the property can allow keyholders to assess the threat and help emergency responders gain access to the property quickly. Keep in mind that threats like fires require quick action since every second counts!
If a fire breaks out when the property is unoccupied, a professional keyholder can guarantee instant response and access to the property for emergency services to prevent the fire from spreading.
Keyholders can also be of immense benefit to families who frequently go away on vacation. In this case, you don’t have to risk the lives of your family members, neighbours, or friends, and just let the professionals take care of everything.
Other situations where keyholding services can prove beneficial for businesses are properties that hold valuable inventory, such as warehouses and retail stores that are susceptible to break-ins and burglaries, and businesses that are in high-risk areas.
BENEFITS OF PROFESSIONAL KEYHOLDING VS OPTING FOR FRIENDS/STAFF
When it comes to security threats, it’s best that you always leave it to the professionals.
By opting for non-professional keyholding, such as when you give the keys to your friends or family, you can add an unnecessary level of burden and responsibility on them. Since these people are also not trained to handle threats and may not be available when needed, you can put their lives and your assets at risk.
For businesses, some companies may opt to nominate a staff member, such as a general manager, as an emergency responder to be in charge of the property’s keys and act as a keyholder.
While this scenario may work in very limited and low-level circumstances, it will certainly fail during high-stakes threats such as intrusions or fires.
Keep in mind that most alerts are typically triggered after dark or outside of business hours, and the appointed people are required to attend to them, regardless of the time and situation. As mentioned above, if the threat happens at 4 in the morning, then you can’t expect untrained people to act on time.
There is also the risk of putting their life in danger. Untrained keyholders may walk into the middle of a criminal activity upon reaching the site and be held hostage.
This can not only jeopardise safety but can also put undue pressure and strain on casual keyholders, often with lasting repercussions.
This is why professional keyholding services are the only way to go for both commercial and residential properties. When professionals are allowed to handle threats, they can do it with efficiency and help you protect your property without additional risk.
Here is how professional keyholding triumphs over casual keyholders:
Trained Professionals
As highlighted throughout this guide, outsourcing keyholding services means hiring an accredited and certified professional to take over the keyholding responsibilities.
These experts know what they are doing and follow protocols that not only ensure their safety but also allow them to check the property effectively.
Their knowledge and experience give them an upper hand over the business’s employees when it comes to handling such situations.
Escalation Ladder
Keyholders are trained to know what they can and cannot handle when assessing threats. If it is a simple or often failed intrusion, then the keyholder can simply visit the property, assess damage, fix issues, and secure the premises.
If they notice armed personnel, then they can call in backup and contain the threat by coordinating with emergency responders.
Keyholders don’t want to be heroes; instead, they focus on being practical saviours that follow a strict escalation protocol. They can de-escalate or climb the escalation ladder as needed without you having to worry about anything.
Technical Knowledge
Keyholders have the technical knowledge required to fix any issues with the alarm system. This enables them to not only visit but also rearm the alarm to maintain the safety of your property without waiting for other professionals.
If a false alarm is triggered due to a technical issue in the system, the professional keyholder will have the skill and expertise to fix the issue and reset the system. If there is a significant issue in the system, then the keyholder may call in technical teams to address the issue. The keyholder will not leave the property until the issue is resolved.
Reliability
Access is a privilege that needs to be protected. When you choose a keyholder, you are essentially putting the life of your assets in their hands. While this responsibility may frighten ordinary people, keyholders take it head-on.
Additionally, leaving the keys with an untrained person is risky because there’s no guarantee that they won’t be lost or stolen. A professional keyholder will leave no stone unturned to not only keep your property safe but also safeguard the keys and keep them away from the wrong hands.
Keyholders will also always guarantee a response. Professional keyholding service offers 24/7 availability, regardless of the time. The professional keyholder will always be available and make sure to go to the property when needed without wasting any time.
Accountability
Accountability is extremely important when giving keys to someone. The entire point of opting for professional keyholders is to hold them accountable for the safety and, in rare cases, damage to your property.
If there is a confirmed threat that goes out of hand and causes damage, then the keyholders will be responsible. The SLA (or initial contract) will highlight various terms and conditions and policies that outline the liability of the security company.
This service also comes in handy when you want to claim damages from your insurance company. Insurers often want detailed information regarding security incidents. Professional keyholders are also tasked with creating a detailed report of all visits.
This report acts as a paper trail that can help you make your case stronger. In most cases, keyholders may also be required to communicate and exchange information with insurance providers to make claims easier.
However, if you opt for non-professional or casual keyholding, then you can be sure that you will face a very tough time when it comes to claiming damages.
HOW CALDER SECURITY CAN HELP?
Calder Security has been working in the security industry since 1976 and provides a comprehensive range of security solutions that include not just professional installation but also monitoring, maintenance, and repair services, as well as key holding and police response.
If your alarm gets triggered at night, it may be a false alarm, a fault in the system, or a genuine break-in, and there’s no way of knowing the reason behind it until you go there to check it out. Not only can this be highly inconvenient to do in the middle of the night, but at worst, you could be caught in the middle of a safety or security threat.
If this isn’t something you wish to put yourself or your staff up for, then professional keyholding could be a great solution, and Calder Security is here to help.
In the event of an alarm activation, SIA-approved guards are dispatched to your premises to check it out, where they conduct a thorough survey of the site, both inside and outside. They are trained to deal with securing the site following an intrusion, including basic building repairs, changing locks, and resetting the alarm.
All aspects of our service conform to the relevant regulations and standards set by the professional bodies of the industry, including the SSAIB, SIA, and the police service. We only use a reliable SIA guard service with whom we have a long-standing relationship, and we oversee all monitoring and guard response services.
Contact us here or call us at 0800 612 9799 for more information on keyholding services and why it improves security response times in the event of a safety or security incident.
Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash