I don't know if your organization has issues with volunteers, "lost" or M.I.A. keys, or just not knowing who left the shop a mess after hours. We did, but after looking into all the options ( http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Keyless_Entry) we were able to get a smart card (RFID) reader donated for our shop door. This has worked out really well so far.

* A log is kept of who uses the shop and when for accountabilities sake.

* Smart cards (http://www.hidcorp.com/technology.php?tech_cat=1&subcat_id=9) can be purchased at any locksmith for the same cost of getting a traditional key cut, but they don't work until they are "registered" with software that controls the door.

* Smart cards cannot be copied.

* If a card is lost or there is a problem with a volunteer that can't be resolved in a civil manner -- the card can be denied future access. Luckily we haven't had that anything besides "lost" keys.

* Access to the shop can be limited to the hour, so if we wanted to we could incubate a volunteer by only giving them access to the shop at certain times.

* A magnetic contact on the door gives us a count of roughly how many people use our shop. We realize that some people hold the door for others and some go in and out more than once -- while those might cancel each other out, it is a rough estimate.

* We installed the smart card reader at "butt" level. So if it is in your wallet you can open the door without taking your hands off a bike with the "butt swipe."

* No personal information is stored on the smart (RFID) card, there is just a pre-programmed number that has to be an inch away for a card reader to detect.

--
Sincerely,

Jonathan Morrison
Executive Director
Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective
2312 S. West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
w: 801-328-2453
c: 801-688-0183
f: 801-466-3856
www.slcbikecollective.org

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