Access Control – Entry Points and Entry Point Profiles

Problem

You need to control who can pass barriers, turnstiles, door readers and reception scanners, by creating entry points and entry point profiles, linking the hardware, and monitoring swipes in the 360 Access module.

Resolution

Entry points

  1. Switch to the correct site in Plus2

    • Entry points are listed per site, so switch to the right site first.
    • Each physical reader or lane is an entry point. Usually there are separate in and out entry points per lane (for example, Lane 1 In, Lane 1 Out) when members swipe to exit.
    • Each site normally has standard Booking, Reception and Web entry points as well.

  2. Create the entry point

    • Go to Configuration > System > Entry points > New. Create entry points in Plus2 rather than the GMC, where the entry points screen can be very slow to load.
    • Quickest method: copy an existing entry point (for example, Web), change the ID and description, and change the swipe reader prefix on the Hardware tab so it saves. The other tabs do not need setting.
    • ID: follow the existing naming (for example, site prefix + name, ABCPADEL, RECEPTION001).
    • Description: for example, "Reception lane 1".
    • Site.
    • Hardware tab: the swipe reader prefix must be unique per reader (for example, 10, 11); if Plus2 says it is in use, pick another unused number. Also set the port type. The installer uses this to link the physical reader.
    • Leave Ignore infringements unticked, so the GMC profile rules apply. Other restriction tabs in Plus2 do not matter, because the GMC profile controls access.

  3. Set the reception entry point for each site in 360

    • 360 uses the entry point set in GMC > Configuration Manager > Gladstone360 CheckIn POS > General Settings > Entry Point ID (default Reception, All Sites).
    • Each site needs its own reception entry point, added as a site-specific value, so Record attendance and reception swipes log attendance at the right centre and apply that site's rules. Add another if a new reception point opens.
    • Create one entry point for each location 360 must show; add more only when a new desk, gate or reception function needs separate monitoring.
    • Gantner Entry Point ID, Gantner Success Message and Gantner Failure Message (same section) configure Gantner NFC devices such as lockers. Gladstone sets them at installation.
    • Ignore membership infringements when selling a membership (same section) controls whether infringement rules are ignored during a membership sale.

Entry point profiles

  1. Create a profile

    • Go to GMC > 360 Access > Entry point profiles.
    • A profile sets who is allowed through an entry point. Create one profile per door type that behaves differently (for example, gym vs padel courts). Several doors that should behave the same can share one profile.
    • One profile per site (for example, one for each site's gym door, one covering both lanes of a gate) gives flexibility even when the rules start the same. Copy a finished profile with File > Save as.

  2. Configure the profile settings

    • Profile ID: no spaces or special characters. Add a description.
    • Entry points: the entry points controlled by the profile.
    • Ignore infringements: off.
    • Record attendance: on if members reach this door without swiping at reception. A swipe checks them into any class or activity they have booked, so they do not also need to visit reception.
    • Exit point (swipe out): rarely used now.
    • Duplicate swipes: block a card being reused within N seconds (for example, 30 s), to stop cards being passed back to friends. Not so long that a genuine re-swipe is blocked.
    • Booking grace period: legacy setting (time allowed between reception and a second door, for example changing rooms). Usually 0.

  3. Set the allowed entry and allow lists (optional)

    • Allowed entry sets optional restrictions by subscription, resource (booking) or product. If no subscriptions are listed ("permission not currently active"), anyone with an in-date entry-point subscription can pass.
    • Subscriptions: for example, only gym-inclusive memberships.
    • Resources: bookings, for example gym-slot or court resource products (for booking-only doors).
    • Products: pay-at-desk tickets sold at the till (for example, swim, leisure suite, gym and swim combos). Pay-as-you-go customers without a valid membership only get through once they have bought one of these, so list every ticket that should open each door (the reception gate and the specific area door each need their own list). Do not add retail items (for example, drinks, swimwear). Guests without cards are let through the side gate. For bookings, use Resources, not the product list.
    • On multi-site databases, include all-site memberships but leave out subscriptions and resources that belong only to other sites.
    • Leave out induction memberships (they do not grant entry by themselves). Alternatively, use an induction membership as the only allowed item on a door, so only inducted members can use the gym, or only people who have done a water-safety class can use a marina.
    • The resource list usually takes longest: leave out resale products where the customer should go through reception first.

  4. Set up staff access (if applicable)

    • Create a £0 Staff access subscription with no price product, put it on staff fobs or cards (for example, one on each set of operational keys), and add it to the profile's permitted subscriptions.
    • Because it has no price product, it cannot be used to book classes for free.

  5. Configure restrictions

    • For each restriction, choose Deny entry or Charge infringement (the customer pays standard rate). Both sets can be used together, for example charge infringement for Frozen (a member on rehab can still pay to use the pool) and deny for Cancelled, Deceased, Expired, Suspended.
    • Invalid entry time: off-peak membership at peak time, or outside the booked slot.
    • Membership not in date.
    • No entry-point membership: use this to allow a membership through some doors (for example, gym, reception) but not others (for example, swim).
    • No permitted site: deny memberships that belong to another site.
    • Primary linked member unpaid sales: a debt on a linked member (for example, a child's cancelled lessons) blocks the primary. Consider leaving this off and relying on the member's own unpaid sales, or charging the infringement so the linked member does not have to clear the primary's debt.
    • Office message: use this for blocking notes. Office and reception messages are separate rules: remove office message from the deny list if only reception messages should stop people.
    • Reception message: often informational (for example, "photo needed"), so many sites do not deny on it. System messages (for example, a failed DD's reception message) block entry only if this rule denies them.
    • Unpaid sales on the record (for example, a failed DD debt or an RCP cash debt).
    • Statuses: for example, deny Suspended, Frozen, DD query, Purge, Pending eligibility; charge Expired or casual/leisure-pass statuses. Do not block a Cancelled status used for members still in their notice period. An expired subscription does not change the status, but the profile still refuses entry because it checks for a valid subscription.
    • For booking-only doors with no screen (for example, courts), extra deny rules leave customers stuck with no explanation even though they have paid. Often restricting only by the booking resource is best. Add rules later if problems appear.

  6. Save the profile

    • Once a profile is saved, Gladstone's technical team links the hardware to it, and from then on the profile controls that entry point. Contact Gladstone Support to arrange the linking.
    • Profiles can be edited at any time, for example to add memberships or remove infringement rules.

General access configuration

  1. Review the general settings
    • Go to GMC > 360 Access > Configuration.
    • Booking window: how far before and after a class start time bookings show on the access profile (default 600 minutes). Extend it (for example, 1,440 minutes) to see the next day.
    • Class Check In Widget (Gladstone360 Access element): Invoke Class Check In Functionality adds the option to create an Access Screen Profile for class check-in; Show Classes Finished Within (minutes) (for example, 30) and Show Classes Starting Within (minutes) (for example, 1,440) control which classes the register lists.
    • Entry override defaults (IP address, general user) and the quick setting port: used by the technical team for the handshake between the reception points and 360. Do not change them; a mistyped digit stops that IP working. Contact Gladstone Support if they need changing.
    • Entry overrides here are for staff overriding the entry point, not customers. The default PCID/UserID (for example PCID 11 in the event log) is an automated background process. The IP address and PC number are shown for reference.
    • Screen messages (for example, "Denied, please report to reception", "Welcome, have a nice day") for monitors or TVs at the door, used with Integrations (for example, OLED screens).

Entry-screen questions (if applicable)

  1. Create access products for reporting

    • If readers have touchscreens, a profile can ask up to about six questions (for example, "Where are you going? Gym / Studio / Pool") before opening. They are optional. Keep them simple to start, for example one Select activity question with Gym, Swim, Class and the combinations.
    • First create one Plus2 access product per answer, purely for reporting (no sale), for example ASACC00001 Gym access, Swim access, Gym & swim access, Class access. Give them their own department (for example, Access) so they do not distort income reports.

  2. Create the question

    • Go to GMC > 360 Access > Questions and create a new question.
    • Set the text (for example, Select activity), priority (1 = first), active, the entry points it shows on, the display time in milliseconds (for example, 6000), and the subscription groups it applies to (at least one must be chosen, for example the workflow groups covering the memberships you sell).

  3. Add buttons

    • Add a label (for example, Gym, Swim, Gym & swim), entry points and the access product recorded for each button. About six buttons fit.
    • Members only going to a class they have booked do not need to answer: the swipe checks them in. Pay-as-you-go customers have already told reception what they are doing by buying a ticket. Brief front-of-house staff so they can explain the screens.

Pay-as-you-go tickets (barcodes)

  1. Create a Plus2 ticket layout

    • A ticket is different from a receipt: it is a separate slip with a barcode that opens barcode/QR readers.
    • Create a layout (for example, ID PAYG01, description "Pay as you go", type Ticket rather than Wristband), paper width (for example, 34) and font.
    • Add the fields: date and time, member ID (non-members show the default guest record), product description (clearer than product IDs), barcode reference and the barcode (booking barcode and product barcode). Laying out the fields is fiddly.
    • Whether tickets print a 1D barcode or a 2D QR code is set in GMC CheckIn POS Barcode Type (default 1D).

  2. Set the ticket on price products

    • Set the ticket on every price product that should print one (gym sessions, swims, pay-and-go classes).

  3. Set the ticket printer and test

    • In 360 cog > Printers, set the ticket printer for each site and pick the ticket layout.
    • Test that the tickets open the readers.

Linking the hardware

  1. Prepare for the engineer visit

    • Create the entry points and profiles before the engineer visit. The engineer remotes onto a PC at each site to link the readers to the profiles (a controller/"slave" number), and may need Windows admin rights, so arrange access in advance. This needs someone on site. It may need redoing after a controller replacement or some outages.
    • Doors can be linked and then switched off until the allow lists and tickets are finished.
    • Swipe readers and gates connect to 360 through cog > Communication ports; a new PC may need its COM port set up by Gladstone (coordinate with IT and the gate supplier before go-live) before the gate responds. COM port configuration is done by Gladstone or IT.
    • IT must install any local access software on the reception and studio PCs before the hardware goes live.
    • For cloud-based access hardware, the site's network must allow the Gladstone 360 Access API. Send the site's public IP address to Gladstone so they can allow it. If the API URL returns a server error, the setup may be incomplete on Gladstone's side.

  2. Test the doors

    • When testing, also swipe a card on a record with no membership to see how a denial looks on the reader or touchscreen.
    • If a reader shows access denied for someone who should get in, it is usually configuration (check their membership, status, tokens, messages, unpaid sales and the profile rules), so raise it with Gladstone support. If the gates do not respond at all while everything else works, it is likely hardware, so call the installer.
    • Resolve the cause rather than routinely overriding the gate.

Access module and reception display

  1. Set up screen layouts

    • The 360 Access module shows each swipe with the photo, name and allowed/denied reason (for example, membership expired, reception message). It replaces the old dedicated doorman PC and can run on a tablet. A doorman access screen profile can show the swiper's picture beside the allowed/denied widget and summary.
    • Go to Access > PC settings > Screen layouts > New, choose the default entry-point profile and add widgets: events for all or specific entry points, pictures, and class attendance (registers). Activity or gym-slot bookings may be added later.

  2. Set up class registers (if applicable)

    • The Access module can act as an electronic class register (class search showing who is booked), for example on an instructor's tablet instead of a printed register.
    • Turn on class check-in in the GMC and set how far back finished classes and how far ahead upcoming classes show.
    • Create the access screen profile for class check-in.
    • Assign the locations or class types.
    • Test on a workstation or managed tablet.
    • Attendance is recorded when the customer swipes at an entry point, when staff use Record attendance, or when an instructor marks it in the register. Check that a site entry swipe applies attendance to the intended class.
    • Roll out in phases: pilot one activity group, compare electronic and paper registers, fix missed or duplicate scans, train instructors, then expand. Keep the paper process until the electronic one is proven.

  3. Record multiple attendances (if applicable)

    • Click the bell to record multiple entries at once (for example, 30 block-booking or swim-lesson attendees through one swipe), which keeps usage reports accurate.
    • Select the correct entry point.
    • Enter the number of attendees.
    • Check the attendance count updates.

Notes

This page as markdown · All pages · llms.txt