> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://wiki.inels.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://wiki.inels.com/inels-harmony/reception/guest-keys-cards-pins-and-salto.md).

# Guest keys: cards, PINs and Salto

Issue and revoke the three kinds of guest credential.

Harmony supports three kinds of guest credential, and a hotel may use more than one at once. All of them are issued **from the booking** — in the wizard's Access step, or in the Access section when editing a reservation.

| Credential     | Works with        | Comes from                            |
| -------------- | ----------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| **Card**       | iNELS readers     | A pool of cards registered in Harmony |
| **Door PIN**   | Keypads           | Generated per booking                 |
| **Salto card** | Salto Space locks | Written at a Salto encoder            |

## Cards

### The card pool

**Cards** holds every card the hotel owns. Each has a **UID** — the number printed on it or read from it — and a state showing whether it is free or attached to a booking.

Add cards one at a time with **Add card**, or in bulk: download the XLSX or CSV template, list the UIDs, and upload. Bulk import is the sensible route when a hotel opens with two hundred cards.

### Giving a card to a guest

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

#### Open the booking

Either in the wizard's Access step, or by editing an existing booking.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Pick a free card

**Add next card** gives a second key on the same booking — for a couple travelling together.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Choose the user zones

Only if the guest gets more than their room — spa, garage, lounge. **The room's own zone is automatic.**
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Save the configuration to the card

This is what writes the access onto it.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Save the booking

{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

### Taking a card back

At check-out, take the physical card and free it in **Cards** so it returns to the pool. **Delete selected** removes cards permanently — use that for lost or damaged cards, not for cards coming back into service.

## Door PINs

For hotels with keypads. In the booking's Access section click **Generate PIN** and Harmony creates a code for that booking. It stops working at check-out, exactly like a card.

PINs suit guests arriving after the desk closes — the code can be sent ahead by email, with no key to hand over.

## Salto Space credentials

If the hotel uses Salto locks, the key is written by an encoder at the desk rather than drawn from Harmony's card pool.

| Button              | Does                                                                         |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Encode card**     | Writes a credential for this booking. Put a blank card on the encoder first. |
| **Encode another**  | A second key for the same booking                                            |
| **Cancel lost key** | Revokes the credentials issued so far, so a lost card stops working          |

## A guest has lost their key

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

#### Revoke first

For Salto, click **Cancel lost key**. For an iNELS card, remove it from the booking and delete it from the pool.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Then issue a replacement

A new card, or **Encode another**.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Confirm with the guest that the new key works

Before they walk away from the desk.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

{% hint style="danger" %}
**The order matters.** Issuing the replacement first and revoking afterwards can leave the lost card valid. Always revoke first.
{% endhint %}

## When a card does not open a door

<details>

<summary>Check these, in order</summary>

1. **Is the booking checked in?** Cards on a merely booked reservation are not active yet.
2. **Is it the right door?** A room card opens that room and the entrance zones — nothing else, by design.
3. **Was the configuration saved to the card?** Re-save and try again.
4. **Does the zone include that door?** An administrator can check the reader's zone in **Readers**.
5. **Is the reader alive?** Its state is on the same page. A dead reader refuses every card, not just this one.
6. **For Salto:** is the room mapped to the right Space door name?

</details>