When a reader does not function with your smartphone device, there can be many reasons why and this article aims to help you resolve the situation as efficiently as possible.
What do the lights on the reader mean?
Light Colour | STid |
Green light | Door is open and enter |
Yellow light | Enter Access PIN code to enter (outside building hours) |
Red light | Access denied / Door locked |
No light | Reader is not integrated or device is not functioning with the reader |
Troubleshooting
Yellow light - forgot your PIN?
When you created your digital card, you also set a personal PIN code. Follow this guide to change it: Change PIN code
Red light - no access?
Red light can mean you don't have access to this door, that access is not active at the time of day you're trying to enter (e.g. outside 0800-1600), that the reader isn't making proper contact with the card, or that you entered the wrong PIN.
Check if your phone works on other doors you know you have access to
If it concerns a specific door you believe you should have access to then contact your company administrator
Check if a colleague with the same access group can enter the door
Device Issues
If you are using an Android smartphone and there's an issue with the readers then this might be due to corrupted NFC files located on your device preventing the responsiveness with the readers. Here are a couple of ways you can detect this issue:
Your Android device was functioning correctly with an activated Access Badge but has stopped reacting to the readers entirely
Your Android device functions with the readers unreliably
If this is the situation then please use the How to fix Android access card issues article for further information on resetting your NFC files.
Welcome Access Issues
Missing Access Roles
If a reader functions on some readers but not on others then this might be because you're missing access roles for certain readers in the building. These access roles can be verified by your Company Administrator who can grant you these access roles if it's deemed necessary. In this scenario, we know the following information:
The device is functioning
The Readers are functioning, but some are not responsive
The best path to outline this concern is to ask your colleagues to verify if they can also use the Readers successfully.
Desynchronisation of Access Roles
Due to server related issues with the Welcome system, access roles may require resaving due to desynchronisation, which can be caused by:
Synchronisation Lag: New access roles added in the building's access control system can take time to propagate through to the readers.
Failed user provisioning: If a user's data wasn't correctly pushed through the back-end, their badge may show as active in Welcome but not actually be registered in the ACS — so the readers don't recognise them.
Credential Issue: If a user's record is stale (e.g. after a phone change), badge generation can appear to succeed but the credential isn't properly provisioned
ACS-level issues: Problems on the building's local server or other ACS hardware can cause the readers to fall out of sync independently of anything in Welcome
Tell-tale sign: if both the digital badge and the physical card fail at the same readers, that points to an ACS sync issue at building level rather than a device or app problem
You can ask your Company Administrator to resave your access roles by unticking and ticking the access roles on your Welcome profile to resolve the issue.
Building Issues
Although rare and more likely an issue found when new buildings are integrated with Welcome Workdays, sometimes readers may not function with your device because they have not been integrated by the Reader Provider for the building.
In order to resolve the issue, this should be raised to your Company Administrator who will investigate further and speak with the Operations Team in the building to isolate the missing Readers and integrate them with the Welcome system to ensure access through the doors required.
Do you need help?
Chat with us via the AI chatbot at the bottom right of the screen, or send an email to support@welcomeworkdays.com.