System Calendar - Activate and De-activate Weekly Schedules

System Calendar - Activate and De-activate Weekly Schedules

1.0 Introduction

System Calendar can be used to activate and de-activate weekly schedules (time schedules which are assigned to auto-unlock doors at specific times or schedules which are assigned to cardholder's access groups to determine when cardholders are able to gain access).

2.0 Use Cases

2.1 Temporarily Locking Auto-Unlock Doors

Time schedules can be activated and de-activated with the use of a holiday but there are inherent limitations when using holidays (all other holidays which are set to the same holiday type may also need to be edited). Additionally, the holiday will determine how a holiday functions on that configured holiday date, whereas System Calendar provides more flexibility - as it allows you to activate and de-activate holidays for a specific period of time (such as for a few hours) and then for the schedule to resume as normal. You can also set the action to occur once every Monday, for example, and only for a specified number of times or for a duration of a few days, weeks or even for a few months.



So, in effect, this could be used to lock doors (which are normally configured to auto-unlock during the day), for a specific amount of time but perhaps only on a Monday and only for 10 weeks.

2.2 Disabling Cardholder Access for a Specified Period of Time

Another use case could be setup for a school where the intention is to prevent cardholders from gaining access during the school holidays. The time schedule associated with the cardholder's access groups can be configured to be disabled for the duration of the school holiday and then to resume once the school term time resumes.



You can use System Calendar to specify the exact day when normal access will resume for the cardholders.




3.0 Steps to Temporarily Disable an Auto-Unlock Time Schedule

The following steps explain how to use System Calendar to temporarily disable a schedule that normally unlocks a door at 7am and then re-locks at 6:30pm. The schedule will be temporarily disabled for one afternoon (2pm-6:30pm) as the school will be closed on that afternoon.

Note: this action will be applied to all doors on a controller, which have been assigned the selected schedule as an auto-unlock schedule - so is quick and easy setup for temporarily locking multiple auto-unlock doors.
  1. From within Doors.NET, click on Home >> System Calendar.
  2. Click the NEW APPOINTMENT button.



  3. In the description field enter a name for the new appointment (for example: March 2024 - Half Day).
  4. Select the date and the time when you require the door(s) to lock. The default is today's date. 



  5. Click on the Categories tab.



  6. Select Hardware Control.



  7. Click on the Start Action tab (this is what you want to happen at 2pm, for example).
  8. From the Macro Item Type drop-down list, select Weekly Schedule.
  9. Select the hardware gateway.
  10. Select the controller which is on that gateway.
  11. Select the specific time schedule which is used as an auto-unlock schedule.
  12. Select Turn OFF.



  13. Click the End Action tab.
  14. The same options will be pre-selected as on the Start Action tab.
  15. In the End Action settings set the Turn ON option - this will configure the selected schedule to be active again at 6:30pm, for example.
  16. Save the System Calendar Appointment.



  17. You will now be on the System Calendar appointments screen and a new entry for the new appointment will be displayed.



  18. Finally, click the Save ALL icon in the upper-left corner of the admin client.




4.0 Steps to Temporarily Disable Access for Cardholders

The following steps explain how to disable a time schedule that is assigned to cardholder's access groups. For example, in a school, access can be disabled for all students during the summer holidays and then normal access will resume when term time starts again.

Note: The following setup is only practical when there are only a few doors that the cardholder's have access to, such as the main entrance - (because only one controller can be selected per appointment). For disabling access to multiple doors the better option is to use Holidays or Global Linkage macros.
  1. From within Doors.NET, click on Home >> System Calendar.
  2. Click the NEW APPOINTMENT button.



  3. In the description field enter a name for the new appointment (for example: Summer Holidays 2024).
  4. Select the date and the time when you require access to be denied (for example, the start of the summer holidays). 



  5. Click on the Categories tab.



  6. Select Hardware Control.



  7. Click on the Start Action tab (this is to configure what you want to happen on the first day of the holiday).
  8. From the Macro Item Type drop-down list, select Weekly Schedule.
  9. Select the hardware gateway.
  10. Select the specific time schedule which is used in cardholder's access rights.
  11. Set the schedule to Turn OFF.



  12. Click the End Action tab.
  13. The same options will be selected as on the Start Action tab.
  14. For End Action settings set the Turn ON option - this will configure the selected schedule to be active again (on the same day that term time resumes, for example).
  15. Save the System Calendar Appointment.



  16. You will now be on the System Calendar appointments screen and a new entry for the new appointment will be displayed.
  17. Finally, click the Save ALL icon in the upper-left corner of the admin client.



5.0 Using Global Linkage to Apply to Multiple Controllers

System Calendar only allows you to select a single controller per appointment but if you wish to disable a time schedule across multiple controllers it is best to select and configure the controllers using Global Linkage. Once the Global Linkage macro has been setup to include multiple controllers you can then use System Calendar to activate the Global Linkage Macro. You would need one Global Linkage macro for turning off the schedule and a second Global Linkage macro for turning the schedule back on again.

Note: Global Linkage needs to be enabled in the Doors.NET license and is only available in the Elite version of Doors.NET.

5.1 Create a Global Linkage Macro to Turn Off a Schedule on Multiple Controllers

  1. From within Doors.NET click on Home >> Global Linkage.
  2. Global Linkage will open up on the Macros tab.
  3. Click the ADD NEW button.
  4. Select NEW MACRO.
  5. The properties will appear on the right.
  6. Enter a new description.
  7. Click the ADD MACRO ITEM button.



  8. Select the new macro item (added beneath the macro name).
  9. Enter a name for the new macro item (for example: Disable Access - Controller 1).
  10. From the macro item type drop-down menu, select 'Weekly Schedule' - located at the bottom of the list.
  11. Select the hardware gateway where the controller resides.
  12. Select the specific controller.
  13. Select the schedule that you wish to turn off.
  14. Select the option to Turn OFF the selected schedule.



  15. Save the new macro settings (using the save/save all icon in the upper-left corner of the admin client).


  16. Select the main macro again then repeat steps 7 - 15 for any additional controllers that need their weekly schedule to be de-activated.
  17. Your screen should resemble what is shown in the following image.



5.2 Create a Global Linkage Macro to Turn On a Schedule on Multiple Controllers

The next steps are to setup the reverse of the previous Global Linkage macro.

  1. From within Doors.NET click on Home >> Global Linkage.
  2. Global Linkage will open up on the Macros tab.
  3. Click the ADD NEW button.
  4. Select NEW MACRO.
  5. The properties will appear on the right.
  6. Enter a new description.
  7. Click the ADD MACRO ITEM button.



  8. Select the new macro item (added beneath the macro name).
  9. Enter a name for the new macro item (for example: Enable Access - Controller 1).
  10. From the macro item type drop-down menu, select 'Weekly Schedule' - located at the bottom of the list.
  11. Select the hardware gateway where the controller resides.
  12. Select the specific controller.
  13. Select the schedule that you wish to turn off.
  14. Select the option to Turn ON the selected schedule.



  15. Save the new macro settings (using the save/save all icon in the upper-left corner of the admin client).


  16. Select the main macro again then repeat steps 7 - 15 for any additional controllers that need their weekly schedule to be activated.
  17. Your screen should resemble what is shown in the following image.


6.0 Execute the Global Linkage Macros to Test the Functionality

Now that the Global Linkage Macros have been setup for the multiple controllers, you can right-click each of the macros to test that they work correctly. If you are near to one of the controllers which has a reader that is auto-unlocked, when you execute the 'Turn OFF weekly access schedule' macro the reader should automatically lock.



When you then execute the macro to re-activate the weekly schedule the reader should go back to being auto-unlocked.

​

7.0 Use System Calendar to Activate and De-activate Global Linkage Macros

The next step is to use the System Calendar to trigger the 'Weekly Schedule activate' and 'Weekly Schedule de-activate' macros.
  1. From within Doors.NET click on Home >> System Calendar.
  2. Click on the NEW APPOINTMENT button.



  3. In the subject line, enter a new name for the appointment (for example: Summer Holidays - 2024).
  4. Use the Start Time calendar to select the first day that you wish the weekly schedule to be inactive. Also set the start time.
  5. Use the End Time calendar to select the day that you wish the weekly schedule to be re-activated. Also set the time when the weekly schedule will re-activate.



  6. Click on the Categories tab.



  7. From the Categories option list, select Global Macro.



  8. Click on the Start Action tab.
  9. Select the Global Macro that was setup to de-activate the cardholder access weekly schedule.



  10. Click the End Action tab.
  11. Select the Global Macro that was previously setup to re-activate the cardholder's access weekly schedule.



  12. Click the SAVE AND CLOSE button.



  13. The main System Calendar screen will be displayed.
  14. Finally, click the Save ALL icon in the upper-left corner of the admin client.



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