Everyone aims to avoid emergencies, but the reality is that they can occur. In the event of a disaster, ensuring physical access to your property becomes a top priority. While Emergency Lockdowns and Hold Opens can be executed through the Genea admin web dashboard, there might be situations where your computer is not accessible. Thankfully, administrators can also utilize these features directly within the Genea app, providing the ability to safeguard users and property from anywhere in the world.
What is an Emergency Lockdown?
An Emergency Lockdown is a function that allows you to simultaneously secure all access points at your property. During an emergency lockdown, all doors become inaccessible, and active credentials cease to grant access until the lockdown is lifted. It's important to note that doors can be excluded from the Emergency Lockdown if necessary.
What is an Emergency Hold Open?
An Emergency Hold Open is a function that can be used to unlock all access points at your property simultaneously. During an emergency hold, open, free ingress, and egress are made available to everyone, and users do not need to scan valid credentials to gain access to any given door(s) or gate(s). Similarly, doors can be excluded from the Emergency Hold Open if required.
One-off door Lockdowns & Hold Opens
If desired, you may also perform a lockdown or hold open a single door at your property. This feature proves especially useful when you need to restrict access to a specific area in your office, such as during construction or a special meeting. Conversely, it's equally valuable when you want to grant access to everyone, for instance, when visitors are on-site or during a specific event."
How to Perform an Emergency Lockdown Via the Genea App
While initiating an emergency lockdown is possible through the Genea admin web dashboard, likely, you may not have immediate access to your computer during a crisis. To address this, the Genea app is equipped with this functionality, allowing you to execute an emergency lockdown from anywhere in the world. Follow these steps to perform an emergency lockdown via the Genea app:
As a Genea administrator, locate the 'Doors' tab at the bottom of your Genea app interface and click on it. Next, select the 'Emergency' section from the top of the tab. From here, you will have the option to initiate either an Emergency Lockdown or an Emergency Hold Open.
To activate an emergency lockdown, simply click on the toggle button adjacent to the 'Emergency Lockdown' option.
A confirmation box will appear, prompting you to confirm the activation of the emergency lockdown. Once confirmed by selecting 'Activate,' no one will be able to use their physical keys or mobile keys while in lockdown mode.
Upon confirmation, all access points at your property will simultaneously enter lockdown mode. A red bar will appear in your app indicating that a lockdown is active. During an Emergency Lockdown, all doors will be inaccessible for entry. If necessary, you can choose to exempt certain doors from the lockdown.
TO OPT A DOOR OUT OF LOCKDOWN: To exempt a specific door from the emergency lockdown, follow these steps:
While the emergency lockdown is active, go to the 'Doors' tab within the 'Doors' section in your Genea app.
Click on the name of the door you wish to be exempt from the lockdown.
Locate the button next to 'Lockdown' and press it. If the button turns gray, it indicates that the lockdown has been canceled for that particular door.
Users will now be able to access the door using their credentials, provided it falls within their normal access permissions as if no lockdown were in effect.
To lift the lockdown, move the slider button next to the 'Emergency Lockdown' option from right to left, and hold the button in place for a moment before lifting your finger from your phone screen. When the lockdown is lifted, you will see a notification stating that the lockdown has been canceled. Once canceled, users will once again be able to access the property with their active credentials.
How to Perform an Emergency Hold Open Via the Genea App
As with Emergency Lockdown, you also have the ability to Emergency Hold Open all doors at your property via the Genea app. If you ever need to simultaneously unlock all access points at your property, follow the steps below to perform an Emergency Hold Open.
1) If you are a Genea administrator, you will have a tab at the bottom of your Genea app that says 'Doors.' Click on the 'Doors' tab. Select the 'Emergency' section from the top of the tab. From here you will be able to perform either an Emergency Lockdown or an Emergency Hold Open.
2) To perform an Emergency Hold Open, click on the toggle button next to the 'Emergency Hold Open' option.
3) A box will pop up asking you to activate the Emergency Hold Open for all the doors of your property. By clicking on the "Activate" the Emergency Hold Open will be activated and a message will appear on the screen. Once confirmed, all access points at your property will unlock simultaneously, and a green bar will appear in your app that lists that a Hold Open is active.
TO OPT A DOOR OUT OF HOLD OPEN: If there are any doors within your property that you would like to remain locked and secure during an emergency, you may opt for specific doors out of the Emergency Hold Open. When a door is opted out, the door will remain locked and only users with valid credentials will be able to access the space.
To opt a door out of a Hold Open, once the Hold Open is active, navigate to the 'Doors' tab within the 'Doors' section in your Genea app. Click on the name of the door you would like to opt out of the Hold Open and press the button next to 'Unlock.' When the switch is gray, this means that the Hold Open has been canceled on that specific door, and it will re-lock as per its regular configuration.
4) To remove the Hold Open, move the slider button next to the 'Emergency Hold Open' option from right to left and hold it in place for a moment before lifting your finger from your phone screen. When the Hold Open is lifted, you will see a notification stating that the Hold Open has been canceled. Once canceled, the property doors will resume their regular configurations.
How to Perform One-Off Door Lockdowns & Hold Opens
You may occasionally desire to lockdown or hold open only certain doors at your property. If so, you may do so via the 'Doors' tab in your Genea app. Click on the name of the door you would like to either Lockdown or Hold Open and, depending upon your desired lock or unlock effect, press the button next to 'Unlock' or 'Lockdown.'
When the button next to 'Unlock' is GREEN, this means that the specific door is being held unlocked. To re-lock the door, press the 'Unlock' button once more. When the button is gray, this means the 'Hold Open' command has been canceled and the door will resume its regular configuration.
When the button next to 'Lockdown' is RED, this means that the specific door is locked down and valid credentials will not grant access to the door. To lift the lockdown, press the 'Lockdown' button once more. When the button is gray, this means the 'Lockdown' command has been canceled and the door will resume its regular configuration.
If you have any questions or feedback regarding the Emergency Lockdown and Hold Open features, please reach out to Genea Support at acsupport@getgenea.com.