20 Ways Smart Lockers Improve Campus Security and Make Life Better

1. Secure laptop sharing 

AssetTracer lockers allow secure, self-service access to laptops and other electronic devices. Their durable design stands up to use on high-traffic campuses and against brute force attempts to steal their contents. 

Thanks to digital access control, students can sign out or return a laptop any time of day without an equipment manager needing to be on hand. Instead, students can access the devices they need to study, complete assignments, take tests, or conduct research when it works for their schedule. And when they’re done, they simply return the device on their schedule, and the locker will charge and ready it for the next user. 

2. Automating manual processes

Many older colleges and universities are tied unnecessarily to pen-and-paper management processes through force of habit. Automating device transactions and tracking with a smart locker system improves students' quality of life and streamlines the management processes that take up your staff’s time. 

Smart library lockers get users the devices they need in seconds, charge and monitor them for technical problems, and keep an error-free log of who has which devices. So your equipment managers can see at a glance where every device is, who has it signed out, and when they’re due to return that device. 

3. Non-contact transactions

For health and campus safety-minded organizations, smart college lockers provide a way to distribute electronic devices that minimizes physical contact. In our post-Covid world, colleges with high-density campuses are looking for ways to distribute college computers without unnecessary infection risks that might lead to outbreaks and closures. 

Covid has disrupted too many semesters, harming educational outcomes and revenues. Finding ways to mitigate unnecessary infection risks can help your institution stay open through the next variant or the next major infectious disease outbreak that will sweep through your wider community. 

4. Modular design for easy placement  

AssetTracer cabinets are modular, meaning you can stack and combine them in different configurations based on what you need to store and how much space you have to work with. You can mix and match different cabinets and install them anywhere on campus. So you can get university computers distributed where they’re needed in safe, convenient locations instead of in the one spot you have to fit a one-size-fits-all locker. 

5. New insights into stored asset use 

Manual tracking processes can’t tell you much about how students use your devices. Manual processes are also prone to human error. Smart lockers give you detailed, error-free reporting on everything about laptop use. 

You get up-to-the-second insights into who has devices, where they’re using them, and how they’re using them. You’ll also be able to analyze usage to reveal trends easily. For example, is one laptop model responsible for more than half of your student hardware failure reports? Is a small set of students responsible for multiple reported hardware failures? 

6. Reduce losses and theft 

Busy equipment managers may not notice loss or theft until it is too late to recover a device. University smart lockers make it much easier to identify missing devices, allowing you to respond faster and increase the chance of device recovery. 

Advanced lockers, like AssetTracer systems, offer wired USB connections in each compartment that can verify the identity of each laptop returned, so a student can’t log a deposit of the wrong device. They also offer signout curfews. Suppose a student doesn’t return a laptop in a given amount of time to university storage. In that case, the system sends an email alert to a designated staff member with details about the device and laptop in question, allowing them to investigate right away. 

7. Improve business operations 

You can also provision AssetTracer smart lockers with touchscreen access terminals. These allow you to collect a range of data whenever a user interacts with the system. For example, you can present students with checklists when they want to sign out or return a device. Prompt them for any meaningful data you want to collect, like the expected length of use or any hardware or software problems they encountered. 

If they report a problem, you can configure the locker system to unlock a designated troubleshooting locker. The student deposits the device there, and the system alerts your technicians. That compartment then only unlocks for someone authenticating as a member of the service team to pull the device for troubleshooting. 

8. Improve fleet vehicle performance 

Along with smart asset lockers, Real Time Networks also offers smart key lockers—KeyTracer systems. These offer the same level of advanced workflow support that lockers offer. They’re especially useful for managing fleet keys for your staff. 

Use access checklists for drivers to report any damage or mechanical problems. Lockout keys to specialized vehicles if a driver hasn’t verified they have the proper license. Get alerts if a driver hasn’t returned a key at the end of their shift so you can stop them from accidentally taking it home with them.

9. Declutter your buildings 

The efficient, modular design of AssetTracer systems allows you to fit lockers into any available space. So you can set up large lending hubs in your main library as well as smaller satellite laptop lockers tucked into corners of crowded dorms.