In The Boardroom™ With...
Mr. Leonardo Sideri
President and CEO
KEYSURE
www.KeySure.net
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thank you for joining us today, Leonardo. Please give us an overview of your background and a brief company history.
Leonardo Sideri: The Keysure Company was founded in 1985. I have a degree in Industrial Design and have been an Interior Designer/architect for many years. As a result, I became well schooled in architectural hardware and physical security. I’ve always been a thinker and hands on builder and dabble in many mediums. In addition to my Keysure patent in 1982, I have two others.
I lived in New York City for 30 years and had a problem with a landlord. He wanted the key to my apartment and I wanted physical accountability for the use of the key. Wanting to comply with his request, I did some research only to discover no such key control product existed. Necessity became the mother of invention, I designed a product that would be a “win…win” product. Keysure physically protects the key and what’s more, it protected the building manager from false accusations. Of course this was all based on a simple security policy agreed to by both parties.
Keysure became part of the KEYSURE SYSTEM. We sold hundreds of systems in the New York metro area to different real estate management companies. We still have many original loyal users that use our system in spite of all the computer electronic key systems that have come to market.
Our success has been our simplicity…non electronic…no computer…analog vs digital. Our biggest problem was to explain a simple concept to a public that had nothing to compare it to.
Technically, Keysure is a pilfer-proof tamper evident container. A very simple concept, a key in a plastic box that has labels to identify/ID the contents and requires the user to sign their name on both outside front and back labels, endorsing a check. It’s a container in the form of a security seal and like all seals must be physically broken to access the key. It’s a product for keys that are not accessed on a regular basis but rather on an as needed basis. This is the only non electronic physical security product that will allow a single key to be audited. The term AUDIT applied to controlling keys is the ultimate security standard.
What started out as a tenant landlord problem solving product has grown into an industrial security product. We also have IT SECURITY users that use this product for computer passwords.This product will audit any kind of key whether it’s a key to a lock, alarm code, access card, safe combination, smart card or flash drive.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: One will read on www.Keysure.net that, "Using the Keysure KeyController is an excellent way to keep track of keys and other items not regularly accessed or being held for emergencies. Our patented device is a simply operated, non-electronic, water resistant, keyless lockbox. Once snapped shut, the box MUST BE PHYSICALLY BROKEN in order to get to the contents. Each box has large labels for signatures and other identifying information. It's the only confidential, keyless lockbox that forms a security seal." Please give us an overview of your product line.
Leonardo Sideri: We have a very simple product line. We generically refer to Keysure as a KeyController and we offer it in four colors, clear, red, yellow and blue. The suggested retail price is $ 6.60 each…anyone can afford this product. We also have storage containers for large quantities of product…the KEYSURE SYSTEM.
We have a wall cabinet and we have drawers. Our single modular drawer will hold 150 units. They can be stacked or installed side by side….with a foot print of 24 x 24 inches square.
Our plastic boxes are the main event and the different colors allow one to color code important keys. We can also custom color and custom imprint the labels
for any customer that thinks they need a special identity.
The physical size of our KeyController is 4.75”L x 3.00”W X 5/8”H
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: One of the features of the Keysure KeyController is that it provides an "audit" capability. Please give us an example of how that works.
Leonardo Sideri: The gold standard for physical security is the audit, that’s why organizations spend thousands for electronic key control systems. Since we are more like David, we do not compete with Goliath electronic systems that generate security reports and audit trails.
Once KeyController is deployed and the key is inside and the contents are identified and a signature is applied you can identify if the key has been used or not. We do it for $ 6.60.
If you use the clear KeyController you can visually see the key inside. Some chose our opaque boxes to create mystery about what’s inside. Some individuals are talented enough to read the bidding key pattern and can actually reproduce a key by visually studying it. KeyController also prevents keys from being impressioned or copied or used surreptitiously.
Large organizations have different needs than small intimate organizations, both require security. How one achieves it is left to the person in charge of security.
We consider KeyControllers to be the alternative to everything else when it comes to auditing a single key…code…or IT password.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: One usually associates a "key" with a hardware lock of some kind. However, your KeyController solution also has applicability for IT Security by physically protecting and preventing the surreptitious use of access cards, alarm codes, IT passwords, PIN numbers, memory cards, flash drives, credit cards or any confidential data contained within". To our knowledge, Leonardo, no other product can make this claim. Care to elaborate?
Leonardo Sideri: If you wanted to leave any one of the above mentioned security items with a third party or employee and be able to audit and have physical accountability….what would you use??? The answer of course is Keysure!
Keysure is an inexpensive security management “tool” with a distinctive appearance designed for a specific purpose. Nothing could be simpler or more secure as an audit tool. Any one in charge of security anywhere can use this product including the general public. Families have security issues too!
Machiavelli the screwed political scientist of the Renaissance coined the expression… ”the danger is always greatest from within” …it applies to governments, corporations, families, etc. Simple measures keep people honest!
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Rarely do we come across a product that seems to have such universal applicability. Anyone with a key is a potential customer. What are some of your key target markets and what is your perspective on the market drivers for Keysure solutions at this time?
Leonardo Sideri: Since I’ve been accused of running my business like a hobby, I can’t answer very specifically. I depend on internet sales and I’m clueless how we got any of our existing customers. This product should be in every locksmith shop but it’s not.
They don’t get it!
Over the years we’ve probably sold more than half a million. It makes money every month and that’s all I care about. Philosophically speaking…it’s a miracle the product exists and that I can send it to you. I’m not your typical business man! I’m just a guy that had an idea and I created a product. But…Keysure has great potential and is more viable today than it was when I invented it.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: What about the gun control market and crisis management situations - how does Keysure provide a solution in those situations?
Leonardo Sideri: Gun control is a very touchy subject but I believe responsible gun owners lock there guns up especially if there are kids in the family. Again Keysure can solve this problem of being able to leave the key to the gun cabinet/safe at home to be used on an as needed basis. It becomes a family security policy.
This is a great way to leave a key with a neighbor or family member. Senior citizens can also benefit by leaving a key with a neighbor/landlord with contact information enclosed with the key for medical emergencies.
Since Keysure will also accept a flash drive we recommend putting vital contact and banking information on a flash drive and secure it in a Keysure so one can reconstruct their life if they have to make a quick exit in the event of a disaster or fire.
There are many universal applications for Keysure…the best are yet to be discovered.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Keysure has a very impressive client list including:
Leonardo Sideri: The diversity of this microcosm of users listed below in my mind represents the future potential macrocosm of users….everyone!
Kohler Company / Kohler, WI
MAUI High Performance Computer Center/ U of Hawaii
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Getty Museum, San Diego, CA
Harley Davidson Corporation / Milwaukee, WI
Culinary Institute of America / Kingston, NY
Indianapolis Public Library, / Indiana
Jimmy Carter Library / Atlanta, GA
John F Kennedy Center, Wash, DC
Royal Canadian Mounted Police / Canada
Smith Barney / NY, NY
Community College of Phila./ PA
Tiffany & Company / NY, NY
Aiken County Detention Center/ Aiken, SC
US Naval Support Activity / Philadelphia, PA
Universal Ballet Company / Wash, DC
Resurrection Health Care Medical Center / Chicago, IL
S.C. Johnson Wax & Son Inc. / Racine, WI
Six Flags Great American / Burnee, IL
Bowden Institution… Prison / Canada
....among many others
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Are there any particular "wins", success stories or testimonials that you'd like to talk?
Leonardo Sideri: In 1994…Reed’s Security Reporter / a locksmith publication…peer reviewed Keysure and gave it the ULTIMATE rating in 5 categories: concept, ease of use, design, construction and tamper proof. “We found no way to surreptitiously defeat the KEYSURE.”
The MAUI High Performance Computer Center at the University of Hawaii is a US government facility that has been using Keysure for more than 10 years and to quote the security director…”we use them for everything”. It was this one customer that got me thinking about IT Physical Security.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Congratulations on being favorably mentioned in The New York Times, "...Tenants who feel uncomfortable about giving an apartment key to their landlord can use what is known as a Keysure Key Control System... The system uses a sealed plastic storage container that must be broken to remove the key, providing the tenant with an indication that the key to his apartment has been used."www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/realestate. Are there any other product reviews you care to mention?
Leonardo Sideri: The National Locksmith…a locksmith trade put Keysure on the cover years ago.
I also wrote the first key control article ever to appear in Security Management magazine…. March 1989 ”The Contentious Problem of Key Control”.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: What resources are available for end-users at www.Keysure.net ?
Leonardo Sideri: We’ve tried to put as much information as we can on our website to make the case for Keysure and we like to speak to new potential customers. Unlike most companies we have time to talk to interested parties….so give us a call.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: What's the Keysure product guarantee?
Leonardo Sideri: We offer a full refund for any unused product ….no questions asked.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Any particular strategic relationships you care to mention such as your distributors in the USA and Canada?
Leonardo Sideri: Yes…a sad fact is we have more distributors in Canada than I have in the US
which completely baffles me. I don’t waste my time with distributors anymore unless they call me. It’s a daunting task to try to penetrate that culture.
My best distributor is the McMASTER-CARR SUPPLY COMPANY / CATALOG. It’s
an industrial supply catalog with at least 600,000 items devoted to everything under the sun. Keysure is one of those items….they consistently send us orders
every month and their focus isn’t security. It’s a great company and indicative of how easy Keysure sells once it’s offered to the right audience.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com:Thanks again for joining us today, Leonardo. Are there any other subjects you'd like to discuss?
Leonardo Sideri: I’ve always described Keysure as the perfect product, the widget that’s always used as an example in business schools…”the ideal product.” It performs a service, fulfills a universal need, easy to manufacture, light weight, easy to ship, no moving parts, user friendly, no batteries…born to be broken.
If anyone is interested in marketing Keysure or becoming a distributor please contact me….800.803.7308.
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