Offline mode keeps MyWatchtower working at the gate when the server does not answer. You find properties and visitors in a copy of the community data on your device, and you record entries. MyWatchtower keeps each entry on the device and sends it when the server answers again. This article is for community staff who work the gate.
Before you start
To use offline mode, your role needs Gates set to Add & edit. By default, the Admin, Supervisor and Gate Attendant roles have it. If you do not see the offline controls, your role does not have this permission.
Offline mode works only with data that is on your device. Download the data while the server answers. MyWatchtower also downloads it for you, as the section *Download the data* tells.
Find the controls
- On a computer: select Network Status in the navigation at the left. The button shows Online, Offline Mode or Server unreachable. When the window is not tall enough, the button is in the ⋮ menu at the bottom of the navigation.
- On a phone: select your avatar at the top of the screen, then select Offline Data.
The menu shows the network status, the time of the last download, the Work offline switch and Manage Offline Data.
Download the data
MyWatchtower downloads the data on its own. The first download starts about one minute after you sign in or change the community. After that, MyWatchtower updates the data every 15 minutes, when the server answers again after an outage, and when you go back to the app. MyWatchtower shows no message for these downloads.
To download the data yourself, or to change the automatic downloads:
1. Open the Network Status menu and select Manage Offline Data. The Offline Data Manager opens.
2. Optional: under Automatic Downloads, set the switch, and select a Download Interval from Every 15 minutes to Every 24 hours. The device keeps these settings when you sign out.
3. Under Download Data for Offline Use, select the data types. Credentials and QR Codes are not selected by default. An automatic download includes them only after you download them yourself one time.
4. Select Download. When the device has data for the community, the button shows Update.
A bar shows the progress, and Download complete! shows at the end. Under Downloaded Entities, each data type shows its status and its number of rows. The Status section shows Last synced and a Refresh button. When the data is more than 24 hours old, a warning tells you to refresh it.
Download, Update and Refresh are not available while offline mode is on or while the server does not answer.
The data on the device never holds card numbers, facility codes or the codes in the QR codes.
How offline mode starts and stops
MyWatchtower checks whether the server answers. A network connection on the device is not sufficient.
- Automatic: when the server does not answer two checks in a row, and the device has data for the community, offline mode starts. When the server answers two checks in a row, offline mode stops, and the page loads its data again. You do not have to do anything.
- By choice: in the Network Status menu, turn on Work offline. This offline mode stays on until you turn off the switch. After 8 hours, it stops the next time that the server answers.
You cannot turn on Work offline when the device has no data for the community. The switch then shows Download offline data first. You cannot turn off the switch while the server does not answer.
In the Offline Data Manager, Mode shows Online Mode, Offline Mode (automatic) or Offline Mode (manual). While offline mode is on, select Exit Offline Mode to go back online.
While offline mode is on
A strip at the top of each page shows Offline Mode, the age of the data, for example Data from 5 minutes ago, and the number of queued entries. Select Manage to open the Offline Data Manager. When the data is more than 24 hours old, the strip shows a warning color.
In Mission Control, a banner tells you what you can do:
- Still available: you can record entries. MyWatchtower queues them on this device and sends them when the server answers again.
- Disabled in offline mode: Create Visitor, Process QR Codes and Scan License.
The banner also has Manage Offline Data. When the server answers again, it also shows Go Online.
What you can use:
- The Mission Control search, for the properties and the visitors in the downloaded data.
- Approve entry and Deny entry, for a visitor in the downloaded data. The Record entry card shows an Offline chip, with the number of queued entries, for example Offline · 2 queued.
- The property page of a property in the downloaded data.
What you cannot use:
- A page with no offline data shows Not available offline. Examples are the community lists, such as the entries list, the settings pages, groups, schedules, access levels, PINs, reports and camera feeds.
- You cannot add or change a visitor, scan a QR code or a license, or open a gate. When you approve an entry, the gate does not open. Open it another way.
Queued entries
When you record an entry in offline mode, a message tells you that the entry is queued, for example Entry approved for Priya Raman at 101 Heron Bend Lane is queued and will be sent when the server answers again.
MyWatchtower sends the queued entries in the order that you recorded them. It sends them when the server answers again, when the app starts, and when you go back to the app. The entry list then shows them.
In the Offline Data Manager, Pending entries lists each entry that waits. Each entry shows Queued or Failed.
- Select Send now to send the queued entries.
- If the server refused an entry, the entry shows Failed and the reason from the server. Select Retry to put it back in the queue.
- To remove an entry, select Discard. Type a note in Why is this entry being discarded?, then select Discard entry. MyWatchtower does not send that entry.
An entry from the queue shows two times on its page: the time on the device when you recorded it, and the time when the server received it.
Sign out
When you sign out and the server answers, MyWatchtower sends the queued entries first. If an entry cannot be sent, a Sign out? message asks you what to do:
- Select Stay signed in to keep the entries.
- Select Discard and sign out to remove the entries and sign out.
When the server does not answer and entries wait in the queue, the same message shows.
Sign-out removes the downloaded data from the device. The automatic download settings stay on the device. When automatic downloads are on, the next person with the gate permission gets a new download after sign-in.
When the device has no offline data
If the server does not answer and the device has no data for this community, each page shows Server unreachable. The text tells you that this device cannot work offline until a download is complete. Select Try again to check the server immediately.
To prevent this, download the data while the server answers.
Troubleshooting
- The Network Status button is not in the navigation. Your role does not have Gates set to Add & edit. Ask your community administrator.
- A data type shows Failed. Select Download again when the server answers. If the message says Not enough space on this device, free some storage on the device.
- The search finds nothing in offline mode. The person or the property is not in the downloaded data. Update the data when the server answers again.
Need help?
If the controls do not show or the downloads fail again and again, contact the management office of your community. You can also select Help Center in the navigation to open the MyWatchtower support page.