By Bob Powell
Technical Support supervisor
2020 hasn’t been the easiest year. But here’s something that IS easy: Setting up DMP panels for holidays that don’t fall on the same date every year.
Take Thanksgiving. If a DMP panel isn’t programmed to recognize that’s November 26 this year, it’ll automatically disarm that system and unlock the access control doors at the same time as any other work day. Here’s how you and your customer can easily prevent that from happening.
Creating and Managing Holiday Dates is Easy
From Virtual Keypad.com, your customer can create new Holiday Dates and edit existing ones. Or, you can do it for them from Dealer Admin™ by using the Log in As Customer tab. In either case, from the System Overview page, select Schedules from the left-hand menu, then Holiday Dates at the top. Here’s where the Holiday Dates you’ve already created are listed.
To change the date of a holiday that’s already there, just click in the date field to choose the correct date, then click on Refresh.
Adding New Holiday Dates is as Easy as A, B, C
If the holiday you’re looking for isn’t listed, Virtual Keypad allows you to add up to 40 different Holiday Dates. First, click on the Add Holiday tab, enter a name and select the date, then choose which class it will be (A, B or C). After entering this information, click on the green check box to send this Holiday Date to the panel.
Next, go to the schedule you've created, and enter in a time for this Holiday Class. For instance, here’s an example I use when fielding calls on the Help Desk about Holiday Dates:
Type A: The business will be closed all day and the system needs to remain armed and doors locked.
Note: These times are left blank.
Type B: The business is open only during the morning and closed in the afternoon. This schedule is 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Type C: The business is closed in the morning and open only in the afternoon. This schedule is 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Adding Holiday Dates provides the system with dates in the year when the normal opening and closing schedules are not used and are replaced by one of the Holiday Schedules A or B or C. If your business is going to be closed all day, you could assign that to Class A and just leave the begin and end times blank. Keep in mind, the class times can be changed to whatever the customer specifies.
Once the times are entered, save the schedule with the green 'SAVE' button in the top right, and you’re done. No matter what the special occasion is, Virtual Keypad’s Holidays Dates allow you to adjust the system schedule easily.
If you have any questions about Holiday Dates, don't hesitate to call Tech Support for help at 888-436-7832.