Temporary Access: What’s it About?

A flexible schedule allows employees to work hours that differ from the normal company start and stop time. In only rare cases employees enter and leave the office at exactly the same time, every day. A flexible access control system is needed. Especially in shared workspaces members often want to have 24/7 access to their space. On the other hand, consultants or contractors often just visit one time and are unlikely to need access in the future. Granting them permanent access may pose a security risk. That’s why it’s possible to set up restrictions in the Tapkey app. The intuitive interface helps administrators manage and restrict access—area- and timewise. This article shows you when temporary access is necessary and when unlimited access is the best solution.

One-Time Access

What do parcel couriers and craftsmen have in common? Both need access to an office to deliver their services. Maybe they just need access once—for a limited period of time.  Hence you can easily issue a key to these so-called one-time visitors for a day, or even an hour. The minute this period expires, the user’s access is automatically revoked. Either way, you’re eliminating the need for physical keys.

Limited Access

Time restrictions allow admins to set a specific window for users to access a space. This is particularly useful for spaces that have strict hours, like conference room bookings. You can select a start and end date and pick a time you want to grant access to a person. For example, you could only allow entrance to the main entrance door from 9 am to 6 pm. If employees attempt to unlock the door outside of those allowed time frames, they will be denied access. This allows administrators to enforce strict hours. For a step-by-step tutorial on how to set a time restriction in the Tapkey app, click here. 

Recurring Access 

You do not only have the option of assigning time-limited permissions, but also give weekly recurring authorisations. This is especially interesting for cleaning services that need access to several offices and conference rooms once or twice a week. In this case, it’s not necessary to grant them unlimited access—just set up weekly recurring access permissions. Et voilà! Every Monday and Thursday they will have access between 4pm and 6pm.

Unlimited Access

Well, if there’s limited access the logical step is that there’s also the possibility to grant unlimited access. This means that the person can open the lock anytime. Of course, you as an administrator also have the option to revoke access permissions at any time. Additionally admins can control who has access to specific rooms and places. Not every employee needs access to accounting records or the server room. The administrator can set up that specific lock to only be opened by certain people. For example the IT department may have an storage room that needs to be secure and only available to the IT managers. Maybe you also have a cabinet with documents not everyone should have access to, only the accountant. 

On the admin level, any of the above restrictions can be changed or edited at any time from the Tapkey web portal and the mobile app. You can appoint additional colleagues as  so-called admins as well. They can then manage the entire system and do whatever the owner can—except adding new administrators.