Door cards guide, part 5: make room cards

This is part 5 of 6 of the Xenia door cards guide: 1. What you need and how it fits together · 2. Add the bridge in Xenia and set up your rooms · 3. Put the bridge on the hotel computer · 4. Connect the encoder · 5. Make room cards · 6. Special cards and the card register.

This is the daily part, for the front desk. By now the bridge is online and every room has its building and floor. A card takes a few seconds.

Make a room card

1. Put a blank card on the encoder.

2. Open the guest's booking: choose them under In the house on the front desk screen, or find the booking under Bookings.

3. Scroll down to Room cards, under the bill. It says "Key cards for Room 101, written by the card encoder at the hotel." and lists any cards already made.

4. Choose Make a room card.

The button changes to Requesting... and then A card is being made. The new card appears in the list with a status that changes as the request moves along.

• Waiting for the encoder: Xenia has asked, and is waiting for the bridge.

• Sent to the encoder and Writing the card: the bridge has it and the encoder is writing. Leave the card on the encoder.

• Card made: done. The card's number is shown. Take the card off the encoder and give it to the guest.

• Failed: it did not work. The reason is written under the card.

• Timed out: nothing took the request within a minute, so the bridge is probably offline.

• Cancelled: someone chose Cancel before the encoder started.

What is on the card

The card opens that room (and the area it is in) from now until 12:00 noon on the last day of the booking, in the hotel's own time. If the guest extends their stay, make a new card for the extra days.

When it does not work

• No lock bridge is set up for this hotel yet. Nobody has added a bridge. Ask the owner or general manager (parts 2 to 4).

• Timed out, or the Door locks page shows the bridge Offline. The hotel computer is off or has lost internet. Check it, and ask again.

• Put a blank card on the encoder. Nothing on the reader. Put a card on it and ask again.

• Room 101 has no building or floor set, and the Tengo locks need both. The manager sets them under Rooms and asks again.

• If a card shows Failed after the encoder had started, do not assume it is blank or good. Test it at the door, or ask a manager to read it (part 4), before you give it to a guest.

A request that did not start can be called off with Cancel while it is still waiting. A card that is already being written cannot be stopped. Wait for it to finish.

The guest lost their key

A lost key is a risk to the room, so deal with it straight away. This needs the Replace a room card permission. Managers have it; front desk staff do not by default, so ask the duty manager, or the owner can grant it under Roles.

1. Open the guest's booking, scroll to Room cards and choose Lost key.

2. Xenia says: this writes a card that makes the lock on the room refuse the lost key once it has been presented at the door. Put a blank card on the encoder and choose Write the lost-key card.

3. Take that card to the room's door and hold it against the lock. From then on the lock refuses the old key.

4. Make the guest a new room card, as above.

Reading and erasing a card

On the Door locks page, which owners and general managers see, Card tools can read what is on the card on the encoder (Read the card) and make a card blank again (Erase the card). Erasing needs the Replace a room card permission. Use it for guest cards you collect at check-out, so the same cards can be used again.

Next: Part 6: special cards and the card register.