Assigning credentials

To assign credentials:

1. Do one of the following:
   • For cardholders, open the Cardholder management task, select a cardholder, and then click Modify ().
   • For visitors, open the Visitor management task, select a visitor, and then click Modify ().
2. In the Credential section, click Add a credential ().
3. Select one of the following options:
   • Automatic entry:

     Present the card at a reader.
   • Manual entry:

     Manually enter the card data. Use this method when you do not have a card reader near you.
   • Existing credential:

     Select a pre-enrolled, unassigned credential.
   • PIN:

     Create a PIN credential.
   • License plate:

     Enter a cardholder's license plate number. Use this method if a Sharp camera is being used to trigger a vehicle access barrier. In this case, the cardholder's vehicle license plate can be used as a credential.
   • Request card:

     Request a credential card for the cardholder or visitor. Use this method if you do not have a printer on site.
   • Mobile credential:

     Request a mobile credential for the cardholder or visitor. You must have a mobile credential provider set up and mobile credential readers installed. The cardholder must have a valid email address configured.
   • Paper credential (print):

     Print a badge (name tag or photo ID card) without assigning a credential. The paper credential cannot be used to open doors. It is only used to visually identify the cardholder or visitor.
4. If you select Automatic entry, you must then select a reader (USB reader or a door) and present the card at the reader.
   

   If you have a smart card encoding reader set up, set the option Encode before enrollment to OFF to read a pre-encoded card.

   

   When the reader LED turns green (ready to read), place the smart card on the reader. The reader LED turns yellow and then green with a short beep before turning off.

   If you want to generate and encode on your card a random 128-bit MIFARE DESFire credential before enrolling it, set the option Encode before enrollment to ON.

   NOTE: Your Security Center license must support smart card encoding.

   

   When the reader LED turns red (ready to encode), place the smart card on the reader for approximately 2 seconds. The reader LED turns yellow and then green with a short beep before turning off. If you hear a long beep and the LED stays red, try again.

   The dialog box closes automatically after an eligible card is presented. If the card has not been enrolled, it is enrolled automatically. If the card was already assigned to someone, it is rejected.
5. If you select Manual entry, you must then select a card format, enter the required data fields, and click OK.

   

   CAUTION: Enter your card data carefully, because the system cannot validate whether the data you entered correspond to a physical card or not.
   If the card has not been enrolled, it is enrolled automatically. If the card was already assigned to someone, it is rejected.
6. If you select Existing credential, a dialog box listing all existing but unassigned credentials in the system appears. Select an unassigned credential from the list, and click OK.
7. If you select PIN, you must then do the following:
   
   1. Enter the PIN as a numerical value.
      NOTE: Do not exceed the number of digits accepted by your readers. A typical PIN length is five digits. But certain models accept up to 15 digits.
   2. Click OK.
8. If you select License plate, you must then do the following:
   
   1. Enter the license plate number.
      NOTE: You do not need to enter spaces that appear in the license plate number. The system treats "ABC123" and "ABC 123" as the same plate.
   2. Click OK.
9. If you select Mobile credential, you must then do the following:
   
   1. Select the credential profile (if there is more than one).
      You can assign one mobile credential from each profile to the cardholder.
   2. Click OK.
   NOTE: An email invitation is sent to the cardholder with a link to download the mobile credential app. The cardholder must accept the invitation for the credential to be activated on their phone. If the cardholder declines the invitation or if the invitation times out, the credential remains unused, and the mobile credential provider can assign it to the next cardholder who needs one. Security Center does not know that the requested mobile credential has not been accepted by the cardholder until the same mobile credential is assigned to someone else, at which time, Security Center automatically removes it from the current cardholder.

   IMPORTANT: A mobile credential that has been activated (paired to a phone) can never be reused on another phone. If a cardholder loses their phone or needs to change their phone, they must inform the Security Center operator who must delete the credential or flag it as lost. After that, the operator must log on to the credential provider's portal and revoke the mobile credential.
10. After the credential is assigned, it appears in the Credential section.
    The credential name and status are displayed. Active indicates the credential is assigned.

    NOTE: If the credential is a PIN, the keypad icon is displayed. If the credential is a license plate, a license plate icon is displayed. If the credential is a card, a default badge template is assigned, and a print preview of the badge is displayed instead of the credential icon.
11. (Optional) If the credential is a card, select a different badge template as follows.
    1. In the Credential section, click the badge image.
    2. Select a badge template, and then click OK.

       Badge templates are created in Config Tool.

       A print preview of the badge appears, with data corresponding to the current cardholder or visitor and their credential.
12. Click Save.
    You must save all your changes before you can print the badge.
13. To print the badge, click Print badge next to the badge preview.