An audit of the fob list
The operations manager exports the list of active fobs from the access system and compares it with active members in the membership platform. There are more fobs than members. Some belong to people who left months ago. Some belong to members who downgraded from a dedicated desk to a part-time plan but can still get in at weekends. A few are labelled with first names only.
One former member was seen in the building last week. Nobody is quite sure how.
Why access and membership drift apart
Access control and membership are managed in different systems, often by different people. Some platforms integrate with some access systems, but the integration may only cover creating users, not changing or removing them, or may not cover all doors and sites.
- Cancellations are processed in the platform, but access is removed by hand.
- Plan changes, such as downgrades, do not change access hours or doors.
- Fobs lent to guests or contractors are never returned or deactivated.
- Members of a company that leaves are removed one by one, and some are missed.
- Unpaid accounts keep full access because nobody links the two.
Community teams are also generous by nature. A member forgets their fob, so a spare is lent from the drawer. A contractor needs access for a day, so a fob is activated and never collected. Each kindness is reasonable, and together they make a fob list nobody can vouch for.
What drift costs
Former members, and anyone they gave a fob to, can enter a building full of other members' equipment and private offices. Members on cheaper plans use the space outside their hours. Arrears grow while access continues. And if something goes missing, you cannot say with confidence who had access.
Members in private offices are trusting you with their equipment and sometimes confidential work. A fob list you cannot vouch for undermines that trust quickly if it comes to light.
Insurers and larger corporate members increasingly ask about access control as part of their own checks. Being able to show that access follows membership, with a nightly check behind it, is a better answer than a promise that the team is careful.
The access sync we build
- Each plan in your membership platform is mapped to an access profile: doors, floors, sites and hours.
- When a member is created, changes plan or ends, the access system is updated through its API to match, the same day.
- When a company's membership ends, every member of that company loses access together.
- Your rules on unpaid accounts are applied, for example a warning, then restricted hours, then suspension, with a person approving any suspension.
- Temporary fobs for guests and contractors are issued with an end date and deactivate automatically.
- A nightly check compares all active fobs with active memberships and flags anything that does not match for a person to resolve.
| Membership event | Access change |
|---|---|
| New member | Profile for their plan issued |
| Plan upgrade or downgrade | Doors and hours updated |
| Cancellation or end | Access removed on the end date |
| Company leaves | All company members removed together |
| Unpaid account | Your chosen steps, with approval |
| Temporary fob | Expires automatically |
What you can now say about access
Every active fob belongs to an active member on the right plan, or is flagged. Access follows the membership automatically, so the community team does not have to remember. Unpaid accounts are handled consistently. And if anyone asks who could enter the building on a given night, you have an answer.
Multi-site operators benefit most. A member moving between sites, or a plan that includes several sites, gets the right access everywhere from one change in the platform.
Is your access list in step?
- There are more active fobs than active members.
- Former members have been seen in the building.
- Plan downgrades do not change access hours.
- Temporary fobs are never deactivated.
- Unpaid accounts keep full access.