Universities around the world are leveraging smart contactless lockers and the student ID card to safeguard student valuables, and this contactless locker case study illustrates some of the benefits. Spearheading the smart locker trend is Gantner Technologies, with its comprehensive system that includes locking mechanisms, locker banks and backend software.

Already on campuses here in the States, including a high profile implementation at Boston's Northeastern University, Gantner has also seen significant success abroad. There is, perhaps, no better evidence of this than the company’s installation at Denmark Technical University. Situated just north of Copenhagen, DTU plays home to roughly 11,500 students, and the Gantner contactless lockers have been deployed in two of the university’s on-campus auditoriums.

Since their installation, Gantner’s contactless lockers have reshaped on-campus storage at DTU.

“Prior to the contactless lockers we had a standard key system, and there was no organization with regards to who held those keys or when they returned them,” says Kristian Mikkelsen, Project Manager at Denmark Technical University. “This created logistical issues because in the event we needed to search a locker, we had no way of knowing who rented it.”

“Today, the locker rental process is quick and easy for students, taking no longer than five minutes to complete,” adds Mikkelsen. “Students simply use the web portal to reserve and pay for their locker.”

Contactless lockers and the student ID

The hallmark feature of a contactless locker is the ability to leave behind the old brass key and lock formula, in favor of more convenient, secure and advanced access control options. So an important consideration for many universities will be whether they can leverage their existing student ID cards.

Gantner lockers support a range of campus card technologies, and it’s typically just a matter of integration work on the part of the installer to make it work.

In DTU’s case, the answer was ‘yes’. “Gantner lockers support a range of campus card technologies, and it’s typically just a matter of integration work on the part of the installer to make it work,” says Brandon Ciaccio, sales manager at Gantner Technolgoies.

Assisting with the locker deployment at DTU was local installer Torring A/S, who specializes in the programming of locker solutions and similar products.

“Denmark Technical University is using their existing MIFARE chipcards for access to the contactless lockers,” says Jens Jensen, product manager, Torring A/S. “This was very important for the campus in large part due to the sheer number of cards that have already been issued.”

“With the Gantner locker system we have the ability to import the local database to the locker administration system,” adds Jensen. “This allows us to work with existing chips and give each chip specific options.”