Wuppertal Fire Brigade modernizes their service with eCLIQ digital access

Challenge

The Wuppertal fire brigade has around 1,100 employees and members who are on duty 365 days of every year. In addition to fire protection services, the teams provide assistance, disaster protection, and rescue services.

A volunteer fire brigade was established here in 1745, with a professional fire service following in 1892: Wuppertal has one of the oldest brigades in Germany. Today, firefighters work across three professional fire brigade hubs, 16 volunteer sites, and six rescue stations. They are responsible for an area spanning 168 km² – in any emergency, every second counts. The choice of access solution must reflect the critical nature of this service’s work.

Key requirements

• A locking solution which combines high security with simple day-to-day administration
• Flexibility in management to adapt to changing needs of a large number of buildings
• Reliability to support Wuppertal’s firefighters in potentially challenging situations

Solution

Following positive experience with the system in other areas, the city of Wuppertal decided to convert all fire brigade locations to ASSA ABLOY’s eCLIQ locking system, a fully electronic version of the CLIQ smart key access solution. It offers a broad range of cylinders for doors and other openings, plus robust digital padlocks. The benefits for the fire service have quickly become clear. Users carry just one key for all the cylinders they open, reducing administrative effort. Programming user access rights via the CLIQ Web Manager web-based software is straightforward and does not cause any additional IT costs. Access rights can be defined down to the level or every individual. Any key’s permissions are blocked immediately in the event of key loss, protecting fire brigade sites and employees.

The site conversion process also went smoothly: installers simply swap out an existing mechanical cylinder for each eCLIQ device. Power supply to their new digital devices comes directly from standard batteries inside the user key, with a typical battery lifetime of 10 years. No wiring is required at the door or lock, which vastly simplified retrofitting existing doors across the service’s multiple sites.