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Software-defined digital lockers, native to ServiceNow

Digital lockers put the intelligence in the platform, not just the steel.

You already run a distributed IT estate, and every device handover still costs your team time it does not have. Velocity digital lockers move that work into software: your people request, collect, return and swap IT kit through their own ServiceNow workflows, while your team keeps a full chain-of-custody audit trail behind every door. It is how IT leaders at Roche, BAE Systems and Centrica take the manual grind out of device management without losing a shred of control.

A bank of Velocity digital lockers lined along a workplace corridor, ready for self-service device collection
What it is

What is a digital locker?

A digital locker is a secure, electronically controlled compartment whose access, allocation and audit are all governed by software rather than by a key or a signing-out sheet. Your employee requests a device through their service portal, the platform assigns a compartment and issues a one-time code, and every open, collection and return is written to a permanent record. The steel keeps the kit safe; the software decides who gets in, when, and against which ticket.

That is the difference between a digital locker and an ordinary locked cabinet. Velocity digital lockers run natively inside your ServiceNow tenant, so access control, device records and the audit trail all live in the environment your team already owns. There is no separate directory to maintain, no middleware to keep alive, and no nightly sync to reconcile.

In one paragraph
  • Software-defined access — the platform decides who opens which compartment, and when
  • Full chain of custody — every open, collection and return logged against a ServiceNow ticket
  • ServiceNow-native — access control and device records stay inside the tenant you already run
How it works

How digital lockers work, end to end

Every transaction runs through your own ITSM. Your employee never joins a queue, and your team never touches the handover. Here is the loop a digital locker closes on its own.

STEP 01
The request is raised
Your employee raises a request in ServiceNow — a new laptop, a peripheral, a break-fix swap or a loan. Your existing approval workflow decides whether it goes ahead.
STEP 02
A compartment is allocated
The platform assigns a specific compartment to that request and issues a single-use collection credential — a one-time code, PIN, or the employee's corporate ID — to the person named on the ticket.
STEP 03
The employee collects
They walk up whenever it suits them, authenticate, and the platform releases that one cell. Day or night, no service desk open, no engineer dispatched to hand it over.
STEP 04
The record writes itself
The ticket closes, the device record updates, and the audit trail captures who took what, from which compartment, and when. Returns and swaps run the same loop in reverse.
The platform

A digital locker system controlled entirely from ServiceNow

The reason a Velocity digital locker system earns its place is that the intelligence sits in the platform, not in the cabinet. Access control, allocation, authentication and reporting are all Velocity Smart Collect® running natively inside ServiceNow — so you govern the whole estate from the environment your team works in every day, rather than logging into yet another console.

That native footprint is what lets you scale digital lockers across sites without fragmenting how your organisation operates. One access model, one audit standard, one place to look — whatever hardware sits underneath.

ServiceNow-native access control
Who can open which compartment is governed by your own ServiceNow roles and approvals. No second directory to keep in step.
Full chain-of-custody audit trail
Every open, collection and return is logged against the ticket and the user's identity record, tenant-resident and export-ready.
Remote cell release
Your service desk can release a specific compartment remotely when a workflow needs a hand, without a site visit.
Integration with your ITSM
Requests, approvals, device records and reporting stay inside ServiceNow, so there is no middleware to build or maintain.

Authentication your organisation already trusts

Every collection is authorised by a credential the platform issues at the moment a request is approved — a one-time code, a PIN, or the employee's corporate ID or badge. The credential is tied to a single ticket and a single compartment, so the record maps one collection to one transaction. There is no new app to install and no separate password to manage.

One-time code
PIN
Corporate ID or badge

Why authenticate the transaction, not just the person? A credential tied to one ticket and one compartment gives you a clean, one-to-one map between every request in ServiceNow and every physical collection. That is the chain of custody regulated, distributed enterprises — pharma, defence, energy — depend on when they need to prove exactly who held which asset and when.

The outcomes

What digital lockers change for your IT team and your people

Two groups feel it first. The IT team stops running a handover desk, and employees stop waiting on one. Here is what shifts on each side.

For your IT team

Break-fix swaps, new-starter kit-outs, peripheral fulfilment and loan returns all run without an engineer in the loop. Your specialists stop staffing a collection desk and get their week back, while every movement still reconciles itself in ServiceNow. The audit trail is captured whether anyone is watching or not.

30%+ Less onsite IT support across the estate

For your people

They collect what they need the moment they need it, day or night, without booking a slot or joining a service-desk queue. A broken laptop goes in, a working one comes out, and they are back to work the same hour. The wait that used to sit between a ticket and a device simply disappears.

45–60% Fewer hardware and service-desk tickets

Across the Velocity customer base, IT leaders typically see a return inside year one — the onsite support they stop paying for, and the tickets they stop raising, cover the platform before the first year is out.

Getting live

Standing up your digital lockers, step by step

You do not need a year-long programme to start. We map the handover workflows you run today, size a pilot, and grow from there once your people feel the difference.

STEP 01
Map your workflows
We sit with your team and map the device handovers you run today — issues, returns, break-fix swaps and loans — against your existing ServiceNow processes.
STEP 02
Size the pilot
We agree a first site and the hardware ranges that fit its environment, then scope a pilot small enough to prove out quickly and real enough to matter.
STEP 03
Deploy inside ServiceNow
Smart Collect® installs as a native ServiceNow application. Your access control, approvals and device records connect to workflows you already own.
STEP 04
Prove it, then scale
You measure the drop in tickets and onsite support on the pilot site, then roll the same access and audit model out across the estate.
Frequently asked

IT leaders ask us these questions about digital lockers

A digital locker is a secure, electronically controlled compartment where access, allocation and audit are governed by software rather than a physical key. With Velocity, that software is a ServiceNow-native platform: an employee requests an item, the platform assigns a compartment and issues a single-use credential, and every open, collection and return is written to a permanent audit record against the originating ticket.
An ordinary locker keeps kit safe but tells you nothing about who used it. A digital locker adds a software layer that decides who can open which compartment, when, and against which request — and records the whole thing. With Velocity the intelligence lives in the platform inside ServiceNow, so the value is in the access control and audit trail, not just the steel.
Yes — through the Velocity Smart Collect® application, which is fully native to ServiceNow. Access control, approvals, device records and the audit trail all run inside your own tenant. Every locker transaction creates or updates a ServiceNow request and asset record automatically, with no middleware and no separate directory to maintain.
The platform issues a single-use credential when a request is approved — a one-time code, a PIN, or the employee's corporate ID or badge. The credential is tied to one ticket and one compartment, which keeps a clean, one-to-one link between the request in ServiceNow and the physical collection. There is no new app to install and no extra password to manage.
The same loop runs in both directions, so a digital locker system covers issue, return, break-fix swap and loan management. Broken devices go in and replacements come out; loans are tracked with due dates and automated returns; peripherals are dispensed to pre-authorised users. Every one of those movements reconciles itself in ServiceNow and lands in the audit trail.
They are built for exactly that. Velocity serves regulated, distributed enterprises such as Roche, BAE Systems and Centrica, where proving chain of custody matters as much as speed. Because every collection is authenticated against a specific ticket and logged inside ServiceNow, you can show precisely who held which asset and when — across every site, from one place.
Ready to start?

See digital lockers running inside your own ServiceNow

Spend 60 minutes with a Velocity ServiceNow architect and you will leave with your device-handover workflows mapped, a pilot sized, and a clear view of the return inside year one. You bring the estate; we bring the plan.