Campus ID News
Card, mobile credential, payment and security
FEATURED
PARTNERS
Corbin Indicator Gif1 1

Assa Abloy's mortise lock indicators add visible layer of safety

Andrew Hudson   ||   Jan 31, 2020  ||   

Door locks are a common point of discussion when considering campus security and the personal safety of students and staff. Whether for basic, everyday security, or for more serious scenarios like campus lockdowns, the hardware on the door is vital.

But aside from physically locking an entryway, what else could the hardware on the door offer in terms of physical security and safety?

Among its many security-focused efforts, Assa Abloy has recently refreshed the status indicator if offers for some of its mortise lock solutions to better safeguard classrooms, high-traffic campus facilities, residence halls and single-occupant restrooms.

The status indicator is a simple enough premise – a small screen on the lock that lights up green when the door is unlocked, and red when the deadbolt has been thrown. But the impact that this simple feature can have in both everyday use and in moments of crisis, in particular, can be quite impactful.

“When we talk about campus security, we break things down into the areas like prevention, protection, mitigation, and then response and recover,” says Lori Brown, Product Manager, Mechanical Locks, ASSA ABLOY. “What we’ve done with our door lock indicators and classroom security really hones in on the protect and mitigate areas.”

Mortise lock with Assa Abloy's lock indicator.

You’d be hard pressed to find a university that isn’t leveraging mortise locks somewhere on campus. These locks are routinely deployed in high-traffic, high-usage locations because they’re more robust than the average lockset.

Lock indicators, meanwhile, are available from a number of access control providers, but Assa Abloy has made a point to refresh its offering. Specifically, Assa Abloy’s Corbin Russwin ML2000 series and Sargent 8200 series mortise locks benefit from the newly upgraded lock indicators.

“We’ve added new features to our indicators because we’re seeing new applications on campuses in classroom security and safety,” says Brown. “We’ve made the indicators larger and more prominent, and we’re using new materials that make the indicator window clearly visible from a broader range of angles.”

Among the upgrades applied to the new lock indicators is a screen that's 25% larger than the industry average for more clearly visible verbiage and colors, as well as a new curved design that enables the occupants of a room to view the indicator window from up to a 180-degree angle.

The indicators themselves are strictly mechanical, consisting of a window that will change color, as well as display a lock symbol and the words “Unlocked” or “Locked” when the deadbolt is thrown. The mortise locks can also be configured to have either a thumb-turn deadbolt lock or key-turn lock on the interior.

“We can customize the indicator window with different colors and verbiage depending on the client’s request,” explains Brown. “But we’re primarily seeing campuses opt for the standard, recognizable configuration of red for locked and green for unlocked.”

The indicators are also ideal for privacy applications on campus like single occupancy or gender-neutral restrooms. For these applications the indicators can be installed on both the outside and the inside of the door to denote when the room is in use or vacant.

"In moments when you may have an active assailant, having a lock indicator on the inside of the door can go a long way. There’s a valuable human element to preventing someone potentially putting themselves in harm’s way to see if a door is locked or not."

“In total, we have up to thirty different functions for the mortise lock where our indicators can be applied, including classrooms, dorm rooms, restrooms, mother’s nursing rooms, quiet rooms, library and study rooms, and a full range of high-traffic entries,” says Brown.

While the majority of use cases for lock indicators will be for privacy or basic physical security, there are still those scenarios that are more vital.

“In moments of crisis when you may have an active assailant – high-stress, high-risk situations – having a lock indicator on the inside of the door can go a long way,” says Brown. “These are panic situations, and there’s a valuable human element to preventing someone from potentially putting themselves in harm’s way to get close to a door to see if it’s locked or not.”

When it comes to installing the mortise lock with indicators, campuses have two options. If starting from scratch, Assa Abloy offers a complete lockset kit, which includes the mortise lock body, the metal trim that fits over the lock, and the indicator offered as an optional add-on.

The second option is for campuses that may want to add indicators to existing compatible mortise locks. For this scenario, Assa Abloy offers lock indicators in an upgrade kit that contains only the indicator and can be easily fixed to existing hardware.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

RECENT ARTICLES

Apex OrderHQ Array modular lockers
Jul 02, 25 /

Modular locker solution streamlines campus order pickup

Apex Order Pickup Solutions launched a new modular system of automated order pickup lockers that can be stacked or setup in custom configurations. The OrderHQ Array Series lockers work in any floor plan without expensive remodeling. In an interview with Food On Demand, Kent Savage, founder and executive chairman of Apex Order Pickup Solutions, compares […]
Amy Surprenant, HID Global
Jun 26, 25 / ,

Effective project management key to GWU mobile credential launch

In a recent interview, HID Global’s Amy Surprenant discusses the project management component of the mobile credential launch at George Washington University (GWU). With 26,000 faculty, staff, and students, the project marked a significant milestone for the institution and its partners, including HID, CBORD, and various on-campus departments and vendors. The deployment of HID Mobile […]
replace allegion reader module
Jun 26, 25 / ,

FIT and Denison both go mobile, but with very different starting points

Denison University and Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) rolled out mobile credentials to students and staff across their campuses. The projects were very different, however, because of the existing reader infrastructure on the two campuses. Each partnered with Allegion and Transact + CBORD to deliver the new digital IDs – stored in Apple Wallet or […]
CIDN logo reversed
The only publication dedicated to the use of campus cards, mobile credentials, identity and security technology in the education market. CampusIDNews – formerly CR80News – has served more than 6,500 subscribers for more than two decades.
Twitter

Attn: friends in the biometrics space. Nominations close Friday for the annual Women in Biometrics Awards. Take five minutes to recognize a colleague or even yourself. http://WomenInBiometrics.com

Feb. 1 webinar explores how mobile ordering enhanced campus life, increased sales at UVA and Central Washington @Grubhub @CBORD

Load More...
Contact
CampusIDNews is published by AVISIAN Publishing
315 E. Georgia St.
Tallahassee, FL 32301
www.AVISIAN.com[email protected]
Use our contact form to submit tips, corrections, or questions to our team.
©2025 CampusIDNews. All rights reserved.