ATMIA: Kaba Mas features streamlined new Cencon 4 lock software

When Lexington, Ky.-based Kaba Mas decided to update their industry-standard Cencon Locking System, the company decided to look forward – and work backward.

The company's new Cencon 4 software, introduced in January and featured by the company at this year's ATMIA show in Miami, is both backward- and forward-compatible, according to Kaba Mas product manager Nathan Brown. The newly simplified software control system works with both older and newer locks, and will be compatible with future release locks, like the new version of the Cencon lock itself that will be coming out this year.

One of the big features of the new software is a streamlined and simplified user-experience that combines what used to be multiple screens into one and makes it easier to perform multiple functions from one screen, according to Kaba Mas national sales manager Scott Findley. The all new graphic user interface (GUI) was designed to improve process flow and usability.

Whether dispatching from a standalone terminal or a network, the latest version of the Cencon 4 software used along with the database management software Microsoft SQL Server gives users the tools to control hundreds or thousands of locks, according to Kaba Mas.

Cencon 4 is compatible with several operating systems, including Windows Vista and the recently released Windows 7, both 32 and 64-bit varieties. Highlights range from mapping software and unlimited log-on roles with user-defined authorization to the capability to rename remote user keys. The introduction of Cencon 4 also includes a new USB Key Box, which combines the functions of key reader and the unique code generating of the former PCI card.

The new system also centralizes reporting functions and supports both old keys and the newer electronic keys hitting the market, Findley says.

All of which started with the company listening to what its customers were saying they needed out in the real world, Findley says.

"A lot of this is really driven by customer feedback," he said on the show floor in Miami. "The ISOs and so forth, we really listened to a lot of the product and feature requests they had, and a lot of this is really built to target those specific needs that come out of the field."