KeyTrak, a provider of key- and asset-management systems, is unveiling its next major advancement at the NADA Show 2024. Through a partnership with TrueSpot, a real-time location services company, KeyTrak Edge systems now allow dealership personnel to find vehicles and their keys faster.

Typically, misplaced or stolen keys cost several hundred dollars to replace. According to TrueSpot’s estimations, North American dealerships are spending about $350 million or more to replace the keys that are lost during typical dealer operations annually.

“With the technology available today, there’s little reason for keys to go missing,” said KeyTrak Vice President of Sales Steve Robinson. “Our goal is to make sure dealers have the tools they need to prevent lost keys in their dealerships. Our partnership with TrueSpot makes that goal a reality.”

Finding the key is just as important as finding the car. “A customer’s time is valuable, and every minute matters,” said TrueSpot CEO Mike Hanna. “Whether the customer is waiting to test drive a vehicle or get their car back from being serviced, efficient use of their time directly increases the very important customer satisfaction scores.”

Leveraging TrueSpot’s AQFind Location Platform and its gateway sensors and geointelligence, TrueSpot narrows the location of the asset to within a few feet anywhere on the dealership’s lot, all in near real time. Through this network of sensors and KeyTrak’s key access tracking measures, managers can dig into the analytics to understand who’s checking out keys and why, as well as where they're located.

Keys go missing for many reasons. Sometimes an employee misplaces them or accidentally takes them home —and sometimes salespeople hoard keys to popular models. Regardless of the reason, being able to find and recover keys easily makes for a smoother operation all around.

“KeyTrak’s electronic key and asset management systems provide the ‘who’ and ‘when’ of finding missing assets; TrueSpot completes that search criteria with the ‘where,’” Robinson said. “With the integration between KeyTrak and TrueSpot, dealers are able to identify problems before they escalate.”

Full demonstrations of the power of this partnership will be on display in the KeyTrak booth 3140W at NADA.