Understanding Blocked Smart Keys - Schlage Control Properties

Understanding how smart keys become blocked will help prevent you from unnecessarily blocking your property’s available stock of smart keys. On STRATIS Control properties there are a few ways that smart keys can become blocked and unusable. Here we’ll highlight those ways, how to avoid them, and how to investigate a smart key that shows as blocked.

When you attempt to write a smart key and get a failed message with the error code Credential Blocked on Lock, that means that the smart key you are attempting to use has at some point been blocked on one or more of the locks you are trying to program to it. Within STRATIS there are several reports you can use to see how and when the smart key was blocked to potentially prevent it from happening again. But first, lets talk about how smart keys can be blocked:
 

How a Smart Key Gets Blocked

Staff Keys

• Return With Credential

  • Returned Staff smart keys have a block written to them so that they can't be reused and accidentally given to a Resident who could potentially have access to doors they should not have access to. Return with credential is the preferred method when returning Staff smart keys.
     

• Return Without Credential

  • When Staff smart keys are lost or if a staff members leaves the property and does not return their smart key, you’ll will need to returned these smart keys without credential. This will place a block on the door file and all doors which the smart key had access to will need to be programmed with updated door files to successfully block the smart key from working. Until the doors are programmed, the smart key will continue to work.

Resident Keys

• Move out With Credential

  • This is the preferred move out method. When a Resident's lease is up, ensure that they return their smart key to your Staff so you can return the smart key using the key reader. When a Resident is moved out with credential their smart key is reusable for other Residents or Staff.
     

• Move out Without Credential

  • If the Resident does not return their smart key on move out day, you’ll need to select Move out without credential. This will move the Resident out and write a block to all the door files the smart key had access to. To stop the smart key from working you will need to download new door files and program all the locks the key had access to.
     

• Replace Key

  • When a Resident loses their smart key you can use the Replace key function. When you use replace key and write the new smart key, the old smart key will cease to work and have a block written to it once the new key is used on the doors it has access to. If a Resident can’t touch the new key to the doors it has access to, you can download new door files and program the locks to speed up the blocking process of the old smart key.

  • This should only be used when your intention is to block the old key, not when your intention is to give a Resident a spare key.

How to See if a smart key was Blocked

1. Select Reports.

2. Select the Credentials report option. This report will show you a list of all smart keys for your property.
   
   

   Open

   

3. Using the search bar in the top right you can search by:

   1. Badge/smart key number

   2. smart key name

   3. smart key owner

4. Under the column Number of Locks you’ll see a blue hyperlinked number. Select it.

5. You’ll now be shown a list of doors that the smart key has or had access to.

6. Under Function you’ll see a BL for blocked or an N for normal.

   • N indicates the smart key is active and has access to the listed locks.

   • BL indicates that the door file knows the smart key is supposed to be blocked.

     • This does not mean the smart key will not work, as in some cases you’ll need to program the lock with updated door files to prevent the smart key from working. You can check this using the Places report.
        

How to Check a Door File to Confirm a smart key was Blocked

1. Select Reports.

2. Select the Places option. Then, search for the door in question.

   • Resident smart keys will either be blocked on their unit or the Virtual Lock for Common Areas.

   • Either search for the unit the Resident lived in in Places, or find the common area virtual group in Virtual.

   • Staff master keys will be under the virtual lock for the building or property depending on how your layout is built.

3. When you find the unit or virtual group in question, select it to open the list of locks in that unit or group.

4. Select the lock in question to view its door file.

5. Using the search bar in the top right, search for the Badge/smart key number or the smart key owner.

6. Located in the top left of the screen is the Current Door File link which will take you to the current door file stored on the server. This will also tell you when it was created.

7. If the current door file was created after the door was last programmed then the smart key will continue to work even though it looks like it’s blocked.

   • You can use the Door Programming History report to reference the last time a door was programmed. The report also shows when the door file programmed to the lock was generated. If that time is before you blocked a smart key, then the door file you programmed to the lock will not include the block and the smart key will continue to work.
      

How to Check the Reason a smart key was Blocked

1. In the same Places Report you can select a unit and then select the lock like above.

2. In the top left of the screen you will see the Lock Change History link.

3. Using the search bar, search by smart key number to see how a smart key became blocked.

   • Replaced means that someone used the replace key function on that smart key, which writes a block.

   • Remove/Blocked means that someone either moved out a Resident without credential or returned a Staff key which always gets blocked.