A Closer Look at Combined Mechanical and Electronic Locking Systems

The Evva company has been an ­innovator in mechanics for almost one hundred years. And the introduction around two years ago of the Xesar and Airkey locking systems marked the European start of Evva‘s own electronics division. Stefan Ehrlich-Adám, CEO of the Evva Group and Johann Notbauer, Divisional Head of Market Innovation and Technology, reported during a press conference at the Security event in Essen on news from both worlds.

Evva is increasingly moving to oil and water-free manufacture of its products – Clean Production – which brings a number of advantages as well as numerous prizes for sustainable innovations, among them the Environmental Prize of the City of Vienna. “Innovation is anchored in our DNA, so to speak“, says Ehrlich-Adám. As part of its corporate social responsibility, Evva also uses a lot of solar energy from its own photovoltaic system on the factory roof. This delivers around 150,000 kWh each year and meets about 6 percent of the total energy required.

Smart New Ways
“Under the motto of ‚Smart New Worlds‘, we are progressing the Evva product range that we started in 2014 with the launch of our Xesar and Airkey electronic lock systems“, says Ehrlich-Adám. “A world without mechanical locks is still a long way off. Both electronic and mechanical types still have their justification and meet individual requirements and needs.“ The solution is nowadays more often than not an individually chosen combination.

The Xesar range includes four products to fit every door installation, such as the closer, the cylinder, striker or wall-mounted reader. They blend into their environment both in function and design. Various types of identity media are available and authorization is assigned through the Xesar software. Information from this is transmitted to the identity media via a coding station or the online updater. Multiple systems can be administered within an installation and multiple time profiles created for each individual user.

The Smartphone is the Key
The Austrian-developed and manufactured Airkey system provides a flexible solution, above all for companies with multiple operational locations. It needs no separate IT infrastructure because a smartphone, the Internet and an Airkey cylinder are all that this locking system needs, as the smartphone becomes the key. The free Airkey app shows access authorizations and their validity and the phone can be used – if authorized – to program other identity media such as Evva cards or key fobs. Data transport is securely encrypted in all direction so the Airkey lock cylinder stores recent events and can report these back to the phone for further administration.

Now Available: the Airkey Padlock
An electronic padlock completes the current Airkey range. It is intended both for indoor and outdoor use and flouts bad weather conditions thanks to its IP65 rating. The robust padlock is ideal as a system extension for stationary external locking situations that should be locked at defined times and the events recorded, for example at self-storage compounds, lockers in public areas or equipment cupboards. Online administration defines who had access where and at what times.

The company‘s 4KS combikey is a reversible key system with asymmetrical left and right sides. The system is built to resist the hardest operating environment and has enormous encryption strength. Drilling protection has been improved and now meets EN-1303:2015. The key‘s Magnet Code System meets the highest security requirements of complex access hierarchies and the copy-protected system makes key copies virtually impossible because of the enormous number of variations. The combination of one permanent magnetism and two mechanical codes provides triple security.