Managing Access Credentials

Find, filter and manage the cards and other access credentials of your community in Access > Credentials, and know which other actions remove credentials.

Community staff manage access credentials, such as cards and fobs, in Access > Credentials. This article gives you an overview of the list, the actions on each credential and the page of a credential. The steps are the same for Brivo and HID communities.

Before you start

The Credentials tab shows when your community uses Brivo or HID and your role can view credentials. By default, the Admin, Supervisor and Gate Attendant roles can.

To create, assign, edit or suspend a credential, your role must be able to add and edit credentials. By default, the same three roles can.

To delete a credential, your role must be able to delete credentials. By default, only the Admin role can.

Find a credential

1. Select Access in the navigation.

2. Select the Credentials tab. The list "Manage access credentials and permissions" opens.

3. To find a credential, type at least 3 characters in Search. The search finds the values of a credential, its property, its holder and its vehicle.

4. To filter the list, use the two filters:

Status: All, Active Only or Suspended Only.

Assignment: All, Assigned Only or Unassigned Only.

The list shows the assigned credentials first. The address bar keeps the search, the filters and the page. So when you go back from a credential, or reload the page, the list stays the same. You can also send the link to a colleague.

The Credentials list, with four resident credentials, the Search box, the Status and Assignment filters and the Create Credential button

The Status filter, open, with the options All, Active Only and Suspended Only

What a row shows

The name of the row is the format of the credential, such as Barcode. For a vehicle credential, the row shows the make, the model and the license plate.

The line under the name shows the holder and the holder type, such as "Elena Marsh • Resident". A credential with no holder shows its property. A code that the community holds, such as an emergency PIN, shows "Community". Any other credential with no holder shows "Unassigned".

A chip shows the values of the credential, such as the card number and the facility code 41001 - 100.

A chip shows the holder type: Resident, Staff, Guest or Vendor. A credential with no holder shows Unassigned. A PIN or a QR code that a property or the community holds does not show this chip.

A chip shows PERM for a credential with no end date, or TEMP for a credential with an end date. Put the pointer on TEMP to see the dates.

A Suspended chip and a Vehicle chip show when they apply. A suspended row shows dimmed.

If your role can also view PINs or QR codes, the list can show them too, with the format PIN or QR Code. Manage a PIN on the PINs tab and a QR code on the QR Codes tab. The row menu of the Credentials list does not suspend, assign or reassign them.

Create a credential

Select Create Credential to open the New credential wizard. For the steps, see *Create a Credential*.

If Create Credential is not available, your community has no group (Brivo) or no access level (HID) yet. Put the pointer on the button. The tooltip tells you what to create first.

Use the row menu

Select the ⋮ (more) button on a row to open its menu. The menu shows only the actions that your role can do.

Assign: gives a credential with no holder to a person.

Reassign: moves the credential to a different person.

Unassign: takes the credential from its holder and keeps it on file. The credential does not work while it has no holder.

Edit: opens the Edit credential dialog.

Suspend or Unsuspend: stops the credential, or lets it work again.

Delete: removes the credential for good.

For the details, see *Assign or Reassign a Credential*, *Edit a Credential* and *Delete a Credential Safely*.

The row menu of a credential, with Reassign, Unassign, Edit and Suspend

Suspend or unsuspend a credential

1. Select ⋮ on the row, then select Suspend.

2. Read the dialog. It says "This will immediately revoke access at all access points."

3. Select Suspend. To keep the credential active, select Cancel.

To let the credential work again, select Unsuspend in the row menu, then select Unsuspend in the dialog. Access comes back at once.

On Brivo, a suspend applies to all credentials of the person. When the person has more than one credential, the dialog shows a warning and lists each credential that the suspend stops. On HID, a suspend applies to one credential only. For more, see *Suspend or Unsuspend a Credential*.

The Suspend Credential dialog, with the Cancel and Suspend buttons

Open the page of a credential

Select a row to open the page of the credential. The top of the page shows the reference ID, the format, the holder and the property. A status line under it shows one of these:

Active: the credential works now. The line shows the end date, or "No end date".

Suspended: the readers refuse the credential until you unsuspend it.

Expired: the end date has passed.

Upcoming: the start date is in the future.

The page also shows these facts: Property, Credential type, Encoded value, Reference ID, Start date, End date, Field values and Record. Record shows the day when the credential was added and the day of its last change. A row shows only when the credential has a value for it. So a permanent credential shows no End date. A credential with no property shows "Community credential".

At the side, the page shows:

Belongs to: the holder and the vehicle. Select a card to open the record of the holder or the vehicle.

User groups (Brivo) or Access levels (HID): the doors that the credential opens. An HID credential with no access level opens no door, and the page says so.

User credentials (Brivo), or the other credentials of the holder (HID): the list shows when the holder has more than one credential.

If your role can delete credentials, the page has a Delete Credential button. To go back to the list, select Back.

The page of credential 41001, with its status line, its facts, its holder and its two groups

Actions in other places that remove credentials

Some actions outside the Credentials tab also remove credentials. Before you confirm one of them, read the dialog. It tells you what happens to the credentials.

Remove a user from a property: when the user holds credentials on the property, the dialog shows how many. The removal deletes each credential of the user on that property. This is also true when the user belongs to another property.

Delete a user from the community (Access > User List): the dialog shows how many credentials the user holds. The removal takes them with it.

Reset a property: the dialog lists each credential on the property, with its holder. The reset deletes all of them. By default, only the Admin role can reset a property.

In each dialog, the confirm button stays unavailable until MyWatchtower has read the credentials. If the read fails, the dialog tells you, and you cannot confirm. Select Cancel and try again.

When you delete a resident who has no account, MyWatchtower deletes the PINs and the QR codes of the resident. It does not delete their Brivo or HID credentials. The dialog shows no warning about credentials.

The Reset Property dialog, with the list of the credentials that the reset deletes

If a person lost a credential by mistake, create it again. See *Create a Credential*.

Need help?

If an action is not in the menu, your role cannot do it. Ask your community Admin, or open a help desk ticket.