Intelligent, digital key management technology.
Smartbox is a security platform with a cabinet attached, not a cabinet with software bolted on. Every cabinet is a connected IoT device, managed in the cloud.
- High-security cabinets
- Swedish and British development
- Hosted on Microsoft Azure
Secure, private, reliable infrastructure
Some of our customers
The range
One platform, a cabinet for every scale.
From 14 keys to several thousand in one system, expandable one 14-position key strip at a time or by adding networked cabinets. The hardware is engineered in Scandinavia by Creone and integrated into the Smartbox platform.
Fixed or pooled. You choose.
Two ways to set up your pegs. Fixed gives every peg a numbered home, so peg 3 only ever comes back to slot 3. Pooled lets a peg live in any linked cabinet, so a key taken in Birmingham can be handed back in London or Manchester, and the cloud keeps every site in step.
Locking or unlocking pegs.
Two peg types for the same strips. Locking pegs are held in place and release only for the right person. Unlocking pegs lift straight out, with every movement still identified and logged. Try it: click a peg below.
Entry options to suit any business
A badge on a lanyard, a MIFARE card, a PIN or a palm: every user identifies before a single key moves, and each identification lands in the audit trail.
Palm readers
Touchless palm vein recognition from 15 to 45 cm, authenticating in under 0.35 seconds. A palm cannot be lent to a colleague or left in a jacket pocket.
- Up to 5,000 palm templates, 1:N matching
- IP66, IK07 vandal resistant, cast aluminium
- Outdoor rated, minus 26 to 55 °C
Cidron card readers
Contactless identification for the smart cards your staff already carry, from MIFARE Classic to DESFire EV3, with AES128 encrypted card-to-reader communication.
- 13.56 MHz, Classic, Plus, DESFire EV1 to EV3
- OSDP Secure Channel, Wiegand, RS485
- IP65, with or without PIN keypad, Swedish design
RFID and PIN
Every intelligent cabinet supports RFID badge and PIN login as standard, with the branded readers as upgrades where sites need more.
- Standard on the intelligent range
- 13.56 MHz or 125 kHz card reader accessory
Connected, not exposed
Every cabinet connects to KeyWin6 over outbound-only communication to the Azure cloud. No inbound ports, no local server. And the platform plugs into the systems you already run.
Open API
Create, update and remove users and groups from your own systems with the KeyWin6 web API, in bulk when you need to. The same API connects third-party access control, including ASSA ARX.
- Users, groups and access over REST
- Batch create, update and delete
- Third-party access control, incl. ASSA ARX
Single sign-on
Administrators sign in through your own identity provider using SAML 2.0. Every authentication request KeyWin6 sends is signed, and password login for administrators can be switched off.
- SAML 2.0, SP-initiated
- Signed authentication requests
- Optional lockout of password login
Native IoT
Each cabinet carries the Azure IoT Hub SDK and speaks over one outbound, encrypted channel. Firmware and new features arrive several times a year, signed and verified.
- Azure IoT Hub SDK on every cabinet
- AMQP over WebSockets, ISO/IEC 19464
- Outbound only: 443 TCP TLS, 123 NTP
- Signed, verified firmware updates
Cloud security
The platform is scanned and monitored continuously in Azure, with quick feedback whenever a risk is identified.
- Azure Security Center resource scanning
- Azure Monitor and alerts
- keywin.app SSL, DigiCert Secure Site Pro SAN
- Web front end and API tested against OWASP Top 10
Alerts and event log
Email alerts reach staff and management in real time, and the full event log can be exported through the API.
- Real-time email alerts
- Event log export via the API
- Reports filtered by user, key or site
Hosted in the EU
Your data is held in Microsoft's Amsterdam data centre by default, inside the EU, with the region selectable if it needs to live elsewhere.
- Microsoft data centre, Amsterdam by default
- Region selectable on request
- Continuous backup, 7-day point-in-time restore
- Long-term retention: week, month, year
Two-factor authentication
Two-factor login protects both ends of the platform: identification at the cabinet and administrator sign-in to KeyWin6.
- Two-factor login at the cabinet
- Two-factor sign-in to KeyWin6
- Combine badge, PIN, card or palm
Active Directory Integration
Active Directory integration arrives later in 2026, linking KeyWin6 user management directly to your directory.
- Directory-linked user management
- Arriving later in 2026
Security
The audit trail is the product.
A key cabinet only earns its place if you can prove what happened. Every event in every cabinet is recorded, synced to the cloud and ready to export.
Full audit trail
Every removal and return recorded: who, which key, when, and for how long.
Role-based access
Each user sees only the keys their role allows, while trusted staff can hold wider standing access.
Key reservation
Reserve a key ahead of time, so it is waiting for the right person and nobody leaves empty-handed.
Email alerts
When a key is overdue or a door is left open, an email goes straight to the people who need to know.
Encrypted communication
Traffic between cabinets, the cloud and administrators is encrypted.
Tamper alerts
An alert the moment something is wrong, from a forced door to a key that has not come back.
Compliance reporting
Exportable reports filtered by user, key or site, ready for audit.
Why change
A pegboard cannot tell you who.
Hooks and log books work until the day you need an answer. Then the difference is stark.
Part of the Saab group
In partnership with Saab Combitech.
The KeyWin6 platform behind every Smartbox cabinet is developed and maintained in partnership with Combitech, part of the defence and security group Saab. The same house delivers electronic warfare software to a NATO member state and works on the Swedish Armed Forces' digital command and control infrastructure.
- 1937Saab founded, today a global defence and security company
- ~28,000Saab employees worldwide (2025 annual report)
- 1982Combitech founded within Saab
- 2,600+Combitech experts across 30+ locations in Sweden and Finland
Enterprise IoT cloud. Nothing to install.
KeyWin6 runs on Microsoft Azure IoT. Cabinets connect via outbound-only communication to the cloud service, so there is nothing to install on-site and no server to maintain. Administrators manage every cabinet, key and user from anywhere.
- Secure cloud hosting on Microsoft Azure
- Outbound-only communication, no inbound ports
- Resilient infrastructure, maintained by Microsoft
- Scales to thousands of keys across multiple sites
- US$20bnMicrosoft's five-year security investment, announced 2021
- 35,000Engineers working on security under Microsoft's Secure Future Initiative (2025)
- 100tnSecurity signals Microsoft processes every day (2025)
- 90+Azure compliance offerings, the industry's largest portfolio
No inbound ports are opened on your network: cabinets call out to the Azure IoT Hub and nothing calls in. Firmware updates arrive over the same channel, signed and verified. Each customer runs on a separate SQL database, encrypted at rest with AES256 and backed up continuously with seven-day point-in-time restore. The KeyWin6 web front end and API are tested against the OWASP Top 10.
How it works
From key to audit report.
Any screen
On your desk. In your pocket.
The admin portal runs in any modern browser, so the same live picture follows you from the office to the site floor: every cabinet, every key, every user.
- Live cabinet status, with keys out and keys in cabinet at a glance
- Open any key to see where it lives and its full activity history
- Manage users and access on the move
Customers
In their words.
Industries
Wherever keys change hands.
About us
Our people, across the UK.
Smartbox is built and supported by our own UK-based team, with field engineers from Truro to Inverness.
UK customer baseFull support desk, Birmingham
Rentals
One price. The whole system.
Rent Smartbox for one fixed, affordable price: hardware on the wall, software in the cloud and support behind it, with everything kept current automatically.
One fixed, affordable price.
Predictable from day one. Everything listed is in the price.
Get a rental quoteWhat is included
Updates
Always current. Automatically.
Firmware and software updates arrive over the air: security fixes, improvements and new features, live on every cabinet without anyone lifting a finger.
Configurator
Build your Smartbox.
Tell us how many keys you manage and the right cabinet picks itself. Choose your rails and entry option, and an exact quotation follows within one working day.
Type any number from 1 to 322. Keys sit on rails of 14, so we round up to the next full rail and pick the cabinet for you.
Any peg lifts straight out, with every movement identified and logged.
Remote demonstration
See your keys on the platform.
Tell us how you manage keys today and we will show you KeyWin6 live on a remote demonstration, with your own setup on screen. No visit, no obligation.
Not ready for a demo? Choose Talk to us on the form.