How the City of Port Phillip brought vehicle bookings and key control into one system
Managing a pool fleet should be straightforward: employees book a vehicle, collect the key, complete their journey and return it for the next person.
At the City of Port Phillip, the process had become far more complicated.
An unreliable third-party booking and key cabinet system was creating access problems, administrative work and delays for employees. Keys were not always registered correctly when returned, staff needed separate system accounts and fleet personnel were frequently required to attend a site to resolve problems manually.
Council responded by developing an integrated solution connecting the iKLAS electronic key cabinet with the OneCouncil enterprise platform already used across the organisation.
The result is a faster, more reliable and scalable system that gives Council greater control over bookings, keys, vehicle records and user access.
Why vote for the City of Port Phillip?
The City of Port Phillip has solved an everyday fleet problem by combining technology the organisation already owned with a secure electronic key-management system.
The project has reduced administration, improved user experience, strengthened governance and given a small fleet team greater control across multiple sites.
It has also created a repeatable integration that other councils may be able to adopt without starting the development process from the beginning.
The challenge
The City of Port Phillip operates a diverse fleet of approximately 250 assets with a combined value approaching $15 million.
Many operational assets work across day and night shifts, supporting areas including cleansing, compliance, waste management, local laws, health, family services and library programs.
The technology project focused on approximately 50 to 60 shared pool vehicles operating across several Council locations.
The previous system relied on a subscription-based web platform and rented electronic key cabinets. Council did not own the hardware, and both the cabinets and software could be unreliable.
Employees sometimes struggled to access a key even when they had a valid booking. Keys returned to the cabinet were not always recognised by the system, particularly when inserted incorrectly.
Resolving these problems often required the fleet manager to attend the site, open the cabinet manually, release or reset the key and close the employee’s booking.
With multiple cabinets across different sites, this was difficult for a small fleet team to manage.
Using technology Council already owned
Rather than purchase another standalone fleet booking platform, the City of Port Phillip examined how it could make better use of OneCouncil, its existing TechnologyOne enterprise system.
OneCouncil already contained an asset-booking module. Council’s fleet and digital teams worked with AMTAC Professional Services to connect this module with the iKLAS electronic key cabinets.
The project required coding and integration work to ensure the two systems could communicate securely.
Employees can now:
- access OneCouncil through their existing staff login
- select and book an available vehicle
- attend the electronic cabinet
- authenticate their access
- collect the correct key
- return the key when the booking is complete.
The cabinet and booking records synchronise regularly, giving the fleet team visibility of who has a vehicle and whether the key has been returned.
Removing duplicate administration
One of the main benefits is that employees no longer require a separate account for the fleet booking system.
Under the previous process, the fleet manager needed to create a username and password for each user and provide separate instructions explaining how to access the system.
Because OneCouncil is already connected to Council’s employee records and access controls, current employees are automatically recognised as authorised users.
Instructions are embedded within the booking platform and additional training resources are available through Council’s intranet.
This reduces administration for new starters and removes the need to maintain a separate database of fleet users.
It also improves security. When an employee leaves the organisation or loses access to Council systems, they no longer retain a separate fleet login that needs to be removed manually.
Reducing 20 steps to five
The City of Port Phillip estimates that the number of steps required to collect a key has fallen from approximately 20 to around five.
Employees were already familiar with OneCouncil, making the new booking process easier to understand.
The system can also collect information tailored to Council’s requirements, including the reason for a booking and other details needed for auditing or reporting.
Employees can access OneCouncil from their phones, allowing them to make or manage a booking without returning to a desktop computer.
The key cabinet has also been designed to make incorrect returns far less likely. A key cannot easily be placed in the wrong position or returned in a way that prevents the system from recognising it.
This has removed one of the most time-consuming problems associated with the previous cabinets.
Remote fleet management
The fleet manager can now monitor and manage the key cabinets remotely.
When an employee is unable to access a cabinet, the door can be released remotely in approximately 15 seconds. Previously, the fleet manager may have needed to travel to the site and physically resolve the problem.
Keys can also be placed into administrative custody from a phone or computer. This prevents a vehicle from being booked when it is unavailable for maintenance, repair or another operational reason.
The system generates alerts if a key has not been returned.
Council has built a 30-minute buffer between bookings, giving employees reasonable time to return vehicles. If a key remains outstanding, the driver and system administrator receive notifications before the next booking begins.
Although exceptions still occur, the system generally resolves them without extensive intervention.
Better governance and reporting
Connecting bookings to Council’s enterprise platform creates a clearer audit trail.
The fleet team can download records showing:
- who booked a vehicle
- when it was collected
- when it was returned
- which vehicle was used
- the purpose of the booking
- whether the key was returned late.
This information can support governance reviews, internal audits and investigations.
Council’s governance team may also request vehicle user records to support workplace processes such as random alcohol and drug testing. The integrated system makes these records easier to retrieve.
The City of Port Phillip now reports on pool vehicle utilisation each quarter and has accumulated more than a year of booking data.
Council believes the simpler, more reliable system has encouraged greater use of the pool fleet. Some employees had avoided the previous system because they were concerned that the cabinet would not release the key, choosing to use private vehicles instead.
The booking information can now help identify highly used vehicles, lower-use assets and opportunities to rotate vehicles between departments.
Results at a glance
- Approximately 50–60 pool vehicles managed through the system
- Employee access connected to existing Council credentials
- Key collection reduced from around 20 steps to approximately five
- Separate fleet usernames and passwords eliminated
- Incorrect key returns substantially reduced
- Remote cabinet access available to the fleet administrator
- Approximately 15 seconds required to resolve some access issues remotely
- Automated alerts for overdue key returns
- Quarterly utilisation reporting introduced
- More than one year of booking and usage data available
- Rented key cabinets replaced with Council-owned assets
- No separate ongoing subscription required for the OneCouncil booking module
A solution other councils can use
The project began as a tailored solution for the City of Port Phillip, but the integration work has created something other organisations can adopt.
Council believes it is the first local government organisation to connect the Iklas cabinet system with the OneCouncil asset-booking platform in this way.
The underlying architecture has now been developed, making the solution closer to an off-the-shelf option for other councils using OneCouncil.
The technology could also extend beyond fleet.
Council is considering secure key access for vehicle-cleaning contractors, allowing them to collect keys without requiring a fleet employee to hand them over or leave them at reception.
Building maintenance and other operational teams could potentially use the same booking and key-management process for facilities, rooms or secured assets.