Features Update

    New Keycafe Features Update December 2021

    3 minutes
    Keycafe December updates: programmable alerts, time-based access shifts, improved key search filters, and User Badge tap-to-access authentication.
    Gideon Leung

    Author

    Gideon Leung

    Product Marketing Manager

    Gideon Leung is the Product Marketing Manager at Keycafe, leading global marketing and serving as the company's product expert. He writes the technical documentation, feature announcements, product updates, and how-to guides that help customers worldwide get the most out of the platform.

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    Features Update

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    Keycafe’s December 2021 update adds programmable alerts for unreturned keys, time shifts for controlled access, enhanced search filters for large fleets, and User Badges for fast tap-to-access authentication—streamlining operations and improving key management efficiency.

    The team at Keycafe has been hard at work turning customer feedback into new solutions for key management. Our December update highlights a few of the new features rolled out to help streamline your operations.

    Send custom alerts when keys are not returned

    With Programmable Alerts, you can create alerts with your own customized messaging that gets sent to a key’s user, administrator, or any other user when keys are not returned by a specified time.

    By using Time Shifts along with Programmable Alerts you can customize exactly when you want to send out notifications of missing keys. This is a very important feature in better key management and one of our most requested so we are happy to be bringing this to you now.

    Create your first alert now!

    Create scheduled shifts with key access

    Time Shift profiles can be created by administrators to restrict users’ key access to particular days and times.

    This simplifies giving company-wide access to individual keys or groups of keys ensuring authorized access only within specific business hours.

    The option for ongoing access allows staff to pick up keys 24/7 which works for many organizations, but Time Shifts enhance customization by restricting pickup access due to shift work, or ensuring keys are available for contractors after hours.

    Find out how to set up your first time shift.

    New Search Filters for your fleet of keys

    Our enhanced Key Search Filters allow for faster searches especially valuable for accounts with large volumes of keys.

    A new filter displays keys by either checked in or by checked out status, enabling managers to see the status of multiple keys at a glance.

    Another option is to view all keys checked out by an individual staff member at a glance from within the users section.

    These two features will save valuable time for managing larger fleets of keys and enable faster resolution when keys are not where they need to be.

    See how the filters work.

    Quick authentication with new User Badges

    The Keycafe User Badge is a game changing feature when it comes to rapid access. No more pin codes or apps to authenticate at a SmartBox.

    User Badges enable quick tap authentication by tapping the badge to the Keycafe SmartBox scanner and selecting the keys from the list of authorized keys on screen.

    For even more convenience, User Badges can be a sticker that is placed on an access card that staff already carry to streamline systems.

    With the simple tap of a badge, authentication is complete and the user is able to quickly access their authorized keys.

    Learn more about User Badges and see them in action.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Administrators can now use Programmable Alerts to send customized messages to a key's user or manager when a return is late. By combining these alerts with Time Shifts, organizations can determine the exact timing for missing key notifications based on their specific operational hours. This automation reduces the manual effort required to monitor the audit trail for overdue assets.

    Time Shift profiles allow managers to restrict key access to specific days and hours, ensuring staff can only retrieve keys during their designated work periods. This feature is particularly useful for managing shift work or providing restricted windows of access for outside contractors. While some teams require 24/7 access, these shifts provide enhanced control to prevent unauthorized pickups outside of business hours.

    User Badges allow for rapid access by replacing the need for PIN codes or mobile app authentication with a simple tap at the SmartBox scanner. To improve convenience, these badges can be provided as stickers that staff place on their existing building access cards. Once tapped, the screen displays a list of authorized keys, allowing the user to quickly complete their transaction.

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