About double-badge activation - With double-badge activation, also known as double-swipe activation, an authorized cardholder can unlock a door and trigger actions by badging twice. The door remains unlocked until the next double-badge event. - Security Center 5.13

Security Center Administrator Guide 5.13

Product
Security Center
Content type
Guides > Administrator guides
Version
5.13
ft:locale
en-US
Last updated
2025-04-16

With double-badge activation, also known as double-swipe activation, an authorized cardholder can unlock a door and trigger actions by badging twice. The door remains unlocked until the next double-badge event.

A double badge or double swipe occurs when the same cardholder’s badge is read twice within the standard grant time configured for the door. When the door is locked, double badging unlocks it and triggers the Double-badge on event. The door only relocks when the cardholder double badges a second time, triggering the Double-badge off event. Between these two events, double-badge is considered activated on that door. A door in the double-badge activation state is always unlocked.

Double badging can also be used to lock a door that isn’t in double-badge activation state, such as a door that is unlocked by an unlock schedule. However, the Double-badge off event is still generated.

Tip: You can use double-badge events to trigger actions through event-to-actions. For example, on Double-badge on event, you could send a message to the operator indicating that the door is unlocked until further notice.

How it works

Double-badge activation requires doors to be controlled by a Synergis™ unit and the DoubleSwipe custom field to be configured for door entities in Security Center. This custom field identifies the cardholder group whose members are authorized to perform double-badge actions.

Cardholder information is logged with double-badge activation events. This information is shown in the credential column of the following reports:
  • Cardholder activities
  • Credential activities
  • Door activities
  • Area activities

Supported interface modules

Operate interface modules in dependent mode, where the Synergis unit makes all access control decisions. The following table lists the interface modules that are supported, and any restrictions that apply.
Supported interface modules Restrictions to the supported operation modes
HID VertX V100 The V100 must be online. Degraded mode is not supported.
Mercury MR panels The MR panels must be online. Degraded mode is not supported.
Mercury controllers The controller must be operating in dependent mode. Standalone mode is not supported.
Honeywell controllers The Honeywell controller must be operating in dependent mode. Standalone mode is not supported.
DDS The DDS controller must be operating in dependent mode. Standalone mode is not supported.
SALTO SALLIS After the door is unlocked with a double-badge, press the Privacy button and double-badge again to return the lock to its normal state.
Aperio-enabled locks Only Aperio v3 lock hardware is supported. For the certified models and firmware versions, see Supported Aperio-enabled locks.

You must set the lock access decision timeout to 8 seconds on Aperio hubs to get proper reader LED feedback on Aperio locks.

STid readers None.

Double-badge activation and first-person-in rule

When double-badge activation is used with the first-person-in rule, the following behavior is expected:
  • When the first-person-in restriction is enforced on unlock schedules, affected doors unlocked with a double-badge action remain unlocked until the second double-badge action is performed, even if this extends beyond the scheduled unlock period.
  • When the first-person-in restriction is enforced on access rules, cardholders authorized to double-badge cannot unlock the affected doors until a supervisor is present.

Limitations

  • Double-badge activation does not work with turnstiles or elevators.
  • Doors unlocked by double badging remain unlocked if you delete the DoubleSwipe custom field while the door is unlocked.
  • The effect of the double-badge action is lost after a Synergis unit restart.
    • Doors unlocked by double badging are relocked after a unit restart, and the Double-badge off event is not generated.
    • When double badging is used to lock a door that was unlocked by a schedule, the door unlocks again after a unit restart if the schedule is still active.
      Workaround: To prevent a door, locked by double-badge activation, from unlocking due to an unlock schedule after a unit restart, enable the first-person-in rule for the area secured by that door.