Using Offline Mode

Offline Mode keeps MyWatchtower usable at the gate desk when your internet connection drops. Gate staff can keep looking up properties and visitors from a downloaded copy of community data until the connection returns. This guide is for gate staff.

The Network Status Button

Gate staff see a network-status button in the navigation bar footer. It reads Online with a cloud icon when connected, or Offline Mode in orange when not. Clicking it opens a small menu showing your network status, the time of your last sync, and a Manage Offline Data option that opens the Offline Data Manager. If you do not see this button, your account does not have gate permissions.

Downloading Data with the Offline Data Manager

Offline Mode only works if you download data ahead of time, while you are online.

• Step 1: Click the network-status button and choose Manage Offline Data.
• Step 2: Under Select Entity Types, check what to download — Properties, Residents, Guests, Vendors, Vehicles, Groups, Credentials, Schedules, Access Levels, QR Codes, and Users. Most types are checked by default; Credentials and QR Codes start unchecked. Select All / Deselect All buttons are provided.
• Step 3: Click Download (or Update if you have downloaded before) and wait for "Download complete!".

The dialog also shows your Last synced time with a Refresh button, and warns you when the data is more than 24 hours old. Clear Data removes the downloaded copy for the current community.

What the download deliberately leaves out: the offline copy never includes gate credential numbers or QR code identifiers, even when Credentials or QR Codes are selected — those values stay off the gate computer.

Automatic Downloads

Rather than refreshing by hand, turn on Enable Automatic Downloads in the manager's Automatic Downloads section. Choose a Download Interval from every 15 minutes up to every 24 hours (every hour is the default), and MyWatchtower re-downloads your data on that schedule whenever you are online.

What Happens When the Connection Drops

If your network drops and offline data exists for your community, MyWatchtower switches to Offline Mode automatically. Mission Control then shows an Offline Mode banner telling you how old your cached data is. While offline:

• Property and visitor search keep working from the downloaded data (type at least 3 characters).
• These actions are disabled: Record Entry, Create Visitor, Process QR Codes, and Scan License.
• Everything is read-only — changes cannot be saved while offline.
• Searching across a group of communities is disabled; offline data covers a single community.

Getting Back Online

Offline Mode does not end by itself when the connection returns — you choose when to switch back:

• Step 1: When the network is back, click Go Online in the Mission Control banner (or Exit Offline Mode in the Offline Data Manager).
• Step 2: Open Manage Offline Data and click Refresh so your offline copy is current for next time.

Anything that happened at the gate while you were offline was not recorded, so log any entries you need once you are back online.

Note that signing out clears your downloaded offline data — on a shared gate computer, each person needs to download data under their own account.

Need Help?

If the network-status button is missing or downloads keep failing, contact your community's management office, or submit a ticket to JEKA Support.