What to do During an Internet Outage

What to do During an Internet Outage

Your Rhōmb website is hosted in the cloud, so it will still work during an internet outage at your location. However, the door system hardware needs an active internet connection to check and approve newly purchased access credentials.

What Still Works

  • Existing access credentials: Any credentials that were already active before the outage, like current membership PINs or day passes purchased before your internet went down, will unlock the door as normal. 

  • Online purchases: Customers can still visit your Rhōmb site and complete purchases during the outage.

What Won’t Work

  • New access credentials created during the outage: Purchases made while your internet is down will still generate access credentials, but those credentials will not unlock the door until internet service is restored. Once the connection is back, any credentials created during the outage will automatically sync to the control panel and work as normal.

    • Why this happens: Your control panel requires an active internet connection to validate new credentials. During an outage, it goes offline and can’t communicate with the access control system. Customers will still receive their credential (PIN code, mobile pass, etc.) at purchase, but it won’t sync to the door system until internet service is restored.

How to Help Customers During an Outage

Your Rhōmb system includes a Customer Service PIN code that rotates daily. This code is already synced to your control panel and will unlock your facility entrance during an internet outage. It’s designed to be shared with affected customers so they can still access your facility if your internet goes down.

Steps to Follow

  1. Track affected orders: Identify purchases made after the outage started.

  2. Notify affected customers: Send the Customer Service PIN code to customers whose purchases were affected.

Sample Email Template

Subject: Updated Door Access Code – [Customer Service PIN Code]

Body:

Thank you for your purchase. We’re currently experiencing an internet outage, which means the access code you received at checkout won’t unlock the door until our internet is restored.

In the meantime, please use this code to enter:
[Customer Service PIN Code]

We appreciate your understanding and look forward to seeing you soon.

— [Your Business Name]