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"A family business that has been around for over a hundred years. Here in the Netherlands, as a wholly owned subsidiary, we have been in business for around forty years.
EVVA's origins are in mechanical locking, with beautifully complex locking plans. People know us for our special cylinders. In recent years there has been increasing demand in the world for electronic access control." Speaking is Jan van Dalsem, account manager for the Northern Netherlands at the originally Austrian company EVVA. He has now been with the Hengelo-based Dutch subsidiary for 15 years, but has spent his life "in the world of locks, cylinders and access control," as he puts it.
"Mechanical cylinders are still widely used, but in recent years you see more and more the combination with an electronic outer ring. That provides extra protection, preventing people from just entering the building. Then you find a mechanical solution on the inside and an electronic answer for the outside. If the budget is not always sufficient for fully electronic, this is a great solution."
"That does mean that so-called combination keys must also be available. Well, we have those: keys with a part in the head for electronics. So you can use them interchangeably. So 'hybrid' is a widely used solution at the moment. The combination keys may be a nice extra option for user convenience, but of course there is no question of having to."
"You can apply this everywhere, from companies to healthcare complexes. And we also already have the first private customers who want to use the electronics products for their doors. This is slowly making its appearance there, especially in the higher segment, of course. After all, the average price is still high. Especially people who are fond of gadgets are interested in this."
The product EVVA has for this is the AirKey cylinder. "With that you not only have the tag on a keychain, but you can also operate the locks using the smartphone as a key. We can program the cylinders to have separate access options for each key. And, the cylinder can be easily assembled and adjusted in length, should a wrong size be ordered."
What is unique about this EVVA product, according to Van Dalsem, is that the software is free. "We work with so-called KeyCredits, whereas with many colleagues you have to pay considerable amounts for software packages and annually recurring license fees. With us, you get the complete software and pay with KeyCredits. A much fairer way of working. After all, you pay according to consumption."
In the software, the customer can set whether events are recorded ("logs") and for how long. Often this data is stored for a maximum of thirty days. It goes without saying that EVVA takes privacy laws into account in this regard. "Of course we take these seriously. We discuss this carefully with our customers."
In conclusion, "What makes us really special is that we not only have many different products for different door thicknesses, but also for every conceivable challenge that customers can offer us. A good example is the so-called Rittal cylinder for server cabinets. We have these available both mechanically and electronically. We have many dealers in the Netherlands for our general products, but for the complex software we work with selected partners. These are trained by us, because we expect them to have the knowledge to sell our products."
Variation in color, by the way, is increasingly in demand. "Black cylinders in particular are doing well," he says.
