Reception lockdown and silent duress code

Site lockdown

What happens when someone engages a lockdown.

Who can engage and release it. Admins and receptionists, from the Security page in the admin app. Read-only Viewers cannot. A lockdown covers the whole workspace, every site in it.
Kiosks refuse new sign-ins. Anyone trying to sign in at a kiosk, or from their phone through the kiosk's QR code, sees a neutral "Please see reception." It does not say there is a lockdown.
Sign-outs and evacuation still work. People can leave, and an evacuation roll call can still be started and marked. Reception can still sign someone in deliberately from the admin app.
A banner in the admin app. Every page of the admin app shows that the workspace is locked down, when it started and who started it, with the control to release it.
Admins are told. Every admin in the workspace gets an email naming who engaged it, from where and when. If you have a Microsoft Teams or Slack channel connected, the same notice is posted there. Releasing the lockdown sends a matching "Lockdown released" notice.
Your door controller gets a lockdown event. If you have connected access control, BeckonDesk sends a signed lockdown event, and unlock on release. Your controller or middleware decides what that does to your doors. See integrations.
It is recorded. Engaging and releasing each create an alert on the Security page and an entry in the audit trail with the person, the time and where it came from.

Silent duress code

A duress code for when someone at the desk is being forced to act.

Set in advance. An admin sets the duress code on the Security page. It must be at least four characters, and it is stored encrypted.
Entered discreetly. A member of staff who is under threat enters the code at a kiosk or in the admin app as if doing routine work. BeckonDesk responds exactly as it would to any other entry.
Nothing changes where it was entered. The person who entered the code sees no banner, no message and no change on their screen. Everything else follows the lockdown above: kiosks refuse new sign-ins with the neutral message, and the door controller gets the lockdown event.
Who is told. Every admin in the workspace gets an email headed "DURESS", naming who entered the code, where and when. The same notice goes to your Teams or Slack channel if one is connected, and a Duress alert appears on the Security page. The email tells readers not to call or message the person who entered it, because whoever is with them may be watching their phone.
Released like any lockdown. An admin or receptionist releases it from the admin app once it is safe.

Think about who is in the Teams or Slack channel before relying on it for duress alerts. If the person at the desk can see that channel on their own phone, the alert reaches them too.

Watchlist and anomaly feed

Names you want stopped, and visits that look wrong.

Your own watchlist: Ban or Flag

Admins add people one at a time with a name, company, reason and notes, and mark each entry Ban or Flag. Every sign-in is screened against the watchlist alongside the public sanctions lists, comparing both the person's name and their company.

A strong match to a Ban entry refuses the sign-in with "We're unable to clear your visit. Please see the front desk." A Flag match at a kiosk walk-in holds the visitor until an admin reviews it in Approvals. The host, receptionists and admins are emailed, without the match details. There is no CSV import for the watchlist.

Anomaly feed

The Security page lists visitors currently signed in who look out of place:

Overstay: on site longer than the hours you set (6 by default).
Never checked out: signed in on an earlier day and still showing on site.
Odd hours: signed in inside a window you set, 21:00 to 06:00 by default. The window is currently judged in UTC, not your local time.

The feed is worked out when someone opens the Security page. It is not pushed or emailed, so someone has to look at it.

Reception lockdown procedure

Setting up a lockdown procedure around BeckonDesk.

BeckonDesk handles the sign-in side of a lockdown. The rest of the procedure is yours. A starting point:

Decide who calls it. Name the roles who may engage and release a lockdown, and make sure each has an Admin or Receptionist account.
Set the duress code and tell only the people who need it. Pick something that would not be typed by accident, and change it when someone who knows it leaves.
Check who will be told. Lockdown emails go to every admin. Make sure the people who must respond are admins with working email, and decide whether a Teams or Slack channel should receive the notice.
Agree what your doors do. If your access-control system takes BeckonDesk's lockdown event, decide with your integrator what it does on lockdown and unlock, and test both.
Drill it. Engage and release a lockdown in a quiet period, check that admins received the emails, and check the audit trail shows who did what.

Frequently asked

What does a visitor see at the kiosk during a lockdown?

A neutral "Please see reception." when they try to sign in. The kiosk does not mention a lockdown. Signing out still works, and so does an evacuation roll call.

What is a duress code?

A code that a member of staff enters when they are being forced to do something. In BeckonDesk it locks the workspace down and alerts every admin, while the screen of the person who entered it carries on as normal.

Who is alerted when the duress code is entered?

Every admin in the workspace by email, your Microsoft Teams or Slack channel if one is connected, and the Security page. The email names who entered the code and where, and warns readers not to contact that person.

Does BeckonDesk lock the doors?

Not directly. If you connect access control, BeckonDesk sends a signed lockdown event to your door controller or middleware, and an unlock event on release. What the doors do is set in your access-control system.

Walk through a lockdown before you need one.

We will engage and release a lockdown in a demo workspace and show the kiosk, the admin banner and the alert email.

Book a demo Start free trial

Site lockdown and a silent duress code for reception.