Early this year, a new application software was introduced in Uganda and the whole of East Africa as part of the technological innovations.

The programme by Traka Intelligent Access Management, a UK-based firm, ensures that access to keys at office or home, is only possible to authorised individuals whose particulars are computer- programmed.

Ifob KEYS, gives access to office facilities such as cabinets, drawers and vehicles to only authorised people, making it one of the best vital assets that any organisation can have.

Mr Hassan Ssali Bakale, a lawyer with a Kampala firm, is one of the few Ugandans who have ventured into the new Ifob technology. "I have 20 keys in the cabinet and whenever any staff member picks a key, I get to know from my office," he says.

The key cabinet can have as many keys as a company or individual may wish. The list starts from 20 to 500. These keys are attached to ifobs, which hold them like a key holder in the cabinet.

"Traka ifobs are clever devices that have a unique electronic ID, which plays a vital role in controlling and monitoring asset access, and compiling audit trails," explains Mr Isaac Barugahare, the managing director of Hitech Detective Systems, a local private security company and sole distributor of the equipment in the region.

He says the system enables organisations and individual families to control, monitor and record access to the use of almost any physical assets; including premises, facilities, equipment and vehicles. The operational mechanism transmits information to the authorities that an unauthorised person is tampering with the keys to a particular entry point. Therefore, Mr Bakale says he does not only get to know who tampers with the keys, but the system automatically records the time a person spends with the key.

Who can access the cabinet?

The flash disk like device dubbed Ifob has a chip, which holds information regarding a particular person who possesses a security code. "When one enters their code on the cabinet holding the intelligent key and access management solutions, the cabinet opens automatically and displays all the keys held inside the system," says Mr Barugahare.

With business entities involving more than one person, Traka solutions can significantly reduce on the cost of losses incurred through accidental damage, theft and personal injury.

They can even assist in encouraging employees to take greater personal responsibility for the resources they use. "Members used to pick keys at the firm and incase of misplacement, they would simply walk away," he says.

Today, he does not regret having installed the system for it saves him money that he would previously use to replace locks. The security system is not limited to buildings, equipment, offices or cabinets but to vehicles as well.

Mr Barugahare says the system can also be integrated into other door access control systems that may be in place, meaning that the doors to different facilities may not open if an individual is not authorised to use a given facility at a particular time.

However, he adds, "despite the display of the keys, an individual is limited to a number of keys that they are registered with." "They will be highlighted with a green light as soon as one enters their codes. If an individual tries to pick the keys that he is not registered for, the system produces a warning sound with a red light. This information is reflected on the manager's computer and the individual can be called to explain why he tried to tamper with other keys," he explains.

"It can also be set to restrict selected keys from being accessed that when requested for they give a warning," he says. He says the 20 key holder cabinet portable device, is the cheapest at Shs18 million and occupies a small space.

Though new in East Africa, in the United Kingdom many institutions have already embraced it. More so the system can be set as a reminder especially for machines or vehicles.