User's Manual

26 • Software - HT24W / HT28 Smart Onity HT24W / HT28 Smart
Masters Menu
Managing master cards is one of the most important tools to keeping tight security at
any facility. A lost master card is dangerous because it can open many, if not all, of
the doors at a facility. There are three features of the Onity system that reduce the
risk of a lost master card – sequential encoding, master canceling cards, and
expiration dates.
• Sequential encoding means that an old card is locked out by using any
new card in a lock. This is the same principle that works with the guest
cards.
• Master canceling cards will also lock out a lost master card. To be sure
that a lost master cannot be used, make a canceling card and dip it in all
the locks and readers. The canceling card will not unlock the doors, it
will only cancel the appropriate master type.
• The expiration date is an easy way to limit the risk of a lost master. If a
master expires in a few hours you may feel that a notification to all
employees and a watchful eye will get you through those hours.
The software makes managing masters simple and allows various levels of risk
management. This section explains all of the details about managing master cards,
master users and the security of your facility.
Revalidation
Revalidation is a new feature in the system that allows you to manage your master
users simply and effectively while maintaining the security of your facility. This
section will explain the basic philosophy of revalidation and the flexibility it offers.
First we will briefly discuss the traditional method of managing master cards.
Traditionally, master cards are encoded with an expiration date that will allow the
card to operate for several months. If a card is lost it poses a significant threat
because the card can enter all or nearly all of the doors in a hotel. To prevent an
incident the management must cancel the card using a master canceling card in all of
the Onity locks and by encoding new master cards for all users who hold that type of
card. For example, if a housekeeping master (HK) is lost, a canceling card should be
used in all of the locks, and all staff members who carry an HK master card must be
located to have their cards re-encoded. This process is time consuming and
inconvenient because all of the users must be found and their cards updated or they
will be locked out of the guest rooms.
To reduce some of the logistical problems you could issue daily cards to your staff.
These cards would work for only one day and then they expire. This reduces some
of the problems because everyone gets a new card at the same time each day, but
someone must encode all of those cards.
Suppose that each employee encoded their own card each day – automatically. That
is what the revalidation system does. Every day when an employee arrives for work
he inserts his card into the revalidation unit which reads the card and identifies the
user. If the user is still employed, the card is re-encoded, or revalidated, to operate