Wireless Access Control for Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities
Wireless access control in a hospital secures the openings a card reader never reaches: pharmacy and narcotics cabinets, medical records rooms, supply closets, crash carts, IT and equipment rooms, and gas storage. TEC does it by replacing the mechanical cylinder already in the door or cabinet with an electronic one that needs no wiring and no battery at the opening, because the power comes from the key. Every time a key touches a lock, the event is recorded with the lock ID, the date, the time, and whether access was authorized.
The distinction that matters: most systems described as wireless still put a battery in the lock and a radio in the door. A CyberLock cylinder has neither. That is why it works on a narcotics cabinet in the middle of a room, a gas cage in a basement, and a records room in a wing built in 1964, without an electrician and without a shutdown.
What wireless access control covers in a hospital
| Pharmacy and narcotics storage | Cabinets, safes, and carts holding controlled substances, with a full record of every opening. |
| Medical records and data rooms | Interior doors and IT closets where a wired reader was never budgeted. |
| Supply and equipment rooms | High value consumables, instrument storage, and biomedical equipment. |
| Crash carts and mobile units | Padlocks and cabinet locks on equipment that moves between floors. |
| Gas and hazardous storage | Cylinder cages and chemical stores, indoors or out. |
| Behavioral and restricted units | Doors where key control matters more than throughput. |
How many locks can one key open?
One CyberKey opens up to 3,300 locks, and up to 12,000 on a Generation 2 key with the Lock List Expansion module. A master key has no limit. Each key holds an audit trail of up to 3,900 access events, and up to 12,000 on Generation 2 keys. A single key can carry up to 49 different schedules, so a nurse, a biomed technician and a contractor can each hold one key with entirely different rules.
Can I require two people to open a controlled substance cabinet?
Yes. Standard CyberLock cylinders can be configured so that two or more keys must be presented in succession before the lock opens, and can require those keys to belong to different schedules so one person carrying two keys will not satisfy it. The same cylinder can hold an open delay of up to 17 minutes after the first key touches it.
Controlled substance records
Under 21 CFR 1304.04, DEA registrants must keep controlled substance records “for at least 2 years from the date of such inventory or record” and make them available for inspection. A CyberLock audit trail does not replace those records, but it answers the question those records cannot: who physically opened the cabinet, and at what minute.
Reports can be pulled on demand or emailed on a schedule. If controlled substances are the whole problem rather than one cabinet inside a larger facility, see NarcLock, built specifically for scheduled drug storage.
What happens when a nurse or contractor leaves?
You disable the key in software and it stops opening locks. Rolling expiration does it automatically: set a one day rule and a key that is not updated stops working at midnight. Someone who finishes a contract on Friday holds a dead key by Saturday whether or not anyone collected it. No cylinder is pulled and no cabinet is rekeyed. Travel nurses, agency staff, calibration vendors and cleaning crews are the reason this matters in a hospital more than almost anywhere else.
How long does installation take?
Most cylinder swaps take as little as 30 seconds. The tougher formats run 10 to 15 minutes. The electronic cylinder is built to the exact dimensions of the mechanical cylinder it replaces, so nothing is drilled and no door is out of service. CyberLock builds over 450 cylinder designs, covering interior and exterior doors, padlocks, containers and cabinets.
Hosted on secure AWS, or on your own server
CyberAudit Web runs in a browser either way, and the locks, keys and audit trail are identical between the two. Most facilities run the hosted version on secure AWS infrastructure. Health systems whose security policy will not allow a hosted platform install the same software on a server they own, where it can sit on a private network with no exposure to the internet. See CyberAudit Web for how the software side works.
Common questions from healthcare facilities
Does wireless access control need power or wiring at the door?
No. A CyberLock cylinder has no wiring and no battery at the opening. Power comes from the battery inside the CyberKey when the key makes contact. That is what allows a cabinet in the middle of a room or a cage in a basement to be secured without an electrician.
Can I require two people to open a narcotics cabinet?
Yes. Standard CyberLock cylinders can require two or more keys presented in succession, and can require those keys to belong to different schedules so one person holding two keys will not satisfy it. An open delay can hold the lock shut for up to 17 minutes. This is not available on the CyberLock Blue line.
How many locks can one CyberKey open?
Up to 3,300 locks on a Generation 1 key, and up to 12,000 lock list entries on a Generation 2 key with the Lock List Expansion module. A master key has no limit. Each key stores an audit trail of up to 3,900 events, or 12,000 on Generation 2 keys.
Does it help with DEA recordkeeping?
It supports it. 21 CFR 1304.04 requires registrants to keep controlled substance records for at least two years and produce them on inspection. The audit trail adds the physical layer those records lack: which key opened which cabinet, on what date, at what time, and whether access was authorized.
Do we have to replace our doors or cabinets?
No. The electronic cylinder is built to the exact dimensions of the mechanical cylinder it replaces, so it drops into the hardware you already own. Over 450 cylinder designs cover interior and exterior doors, padlocks, containers and cabinets.
What happens when a travel nurse or contractor finishes?
You disable the key and it stops working. With a rolling expiration rule the key expires on its own if it is not updated, so a person who leaves on Friday holds a dead key by Saturday. Locks can also be programmed to refuse one specific lost key.
Can the software run on our own servers?
Yes. CyberAudit Web is offered hosted on secure AWS infrastructure, or installed on a server your IT department owns and controls. On premises it can run on a private network with no exposure to the internet. The hardware and audit trail behave identically either way.
Can we start with one department?
Yes, and most health systems do. Fit the openings that actually worry you, usually pharmacy or a records room, read the audit trail after a month, then expand. The system is the same at 20 locks or 20,000.