The 6am instructor who is also the doorman
Your 6am HIIT instructor arrives at 5.40am, unlocks the building, turns on lights and music, sets out equipment and then stands at the door with a tablet checking names. Three people arrive at 6.02am. She runs to let them in, checks them in, and the class starts late. Someone with no booking is outside, knocking. She lets him in because turning him away in the dark feels wrong.
Afterwards she locks up and heads to her next job. The attendance in the booking system is partial, because she did not have time to mark the late arrivals.
Why early classes stay labour-heavy
Many studios would like to run more early and late classes but cannot justify desk staff for them. So the instructor becomes receptionist, keyholder and teacher at once.
Door access and bookings are usually separate systems. The door uses a key or a fixed code that has been passed around for years. The booking system knows who should be there but cannot open anything.
Studios are sometimes wary of self-entry because of security. That is a fair concern, and it is why the link between booking and access matters: codes that only work for booked people, only near class time.
What the doorman instructor costs
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Instructor opens and checks in | Late starts and distracted teaching |
| Shared door code | No idea who can get in |
| Attendance marked partially | Wrong data for pay and reporting |
| Unbooked walk-ins let in | Classes over capacity, no payment |
| Early slots not added | Demand for early classes goes elsewhere |
Linking bookings, the door and check-in
We connect the booking system to a door access system and a self check-in point.
- We work with a smart lock or door entry system that has an API, such as those from established access control providers. If you already have one, we check what it supports.
- Booked clients receive a personal entry code or phone pass that works only in a window before and after their class.
- Inside, a tablet shows today's classes. Clients tap their name or scan a code to check in, and attendance is recorded in the booking system.
- The instructor sees a live class list on their phone, with who has arrived and who is missing.
- Walk-ins can book and pay on the tablet if there is space, which issues them an entry code at the same time.
- Every door opening is logged with the client or staff member it belongs to.
Security, emergency procedures and lone working are for you and your own advisers to decide. We build the technical link to the rules you set.
The cases worth planning for
- A client whose phone dies: the instructor can let them in and check them in from the class list.
- A late cancellation: their code stops working when the booking is cancelled.
- Cleaners and contractors: separate codes for set hours, logged the same way.
- A power cut or network failure: the lock falls back to its own offline behaviour, and the instructor keeps a physical key.
A 6am class afterwards
The instructor arrives at 5.50am, sets up and teaches. Clients let themselves in with their code and check in on the tablet. Attendance is complete. The shared door code is gone.
- Instructors free to teach
- Entry limited to booked clients around class times
- Full attendance records without manual marking
- Early and late slots that no longer need desk cover
Does this sound like your early classes?
- Instructors open up and run check-in for early classes.
- Your door code has been the same for years.
- Attendance for early classes is incomplete.
- Unbooked walk-ins sometimes get in.
- You have avoided adding early slots because of staffing.