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Integrate Kisi with VERVE Pulse

VERVE Pulse is gym management software for gyms and fitness studios, covering memberships, billing, bookings, check-in and a member app. Connect VERVE Pulse with Kisi to grant and revoke door access automatically as memberships start, change, freeze, cancel or fall behind on payments, and to let members open the door with a fob, a card or a tap of their phone using the Pulse Member app.

info

This is a partner-built integration, maintained and supported by the partner.

Prerequisites​

  • Kisi organization administrator rights
  • A VERVE Pulse account, signed in as the gym owner. Only the owner can connect Kisi and change Door Access settings.
  • The Access Control add-on on the VERVE Pulse subscription (A$49 per month per location plus GST). It is available on every VERVE Pulse plan and is not included in any of them.
  • At least one door in a Kisi place and at least one Kisi group
  • At least one membership plan set up in VERVE Pulse

Generate a Kisi API key​

You need to have organization administrator or organization owner rights to create an API key. We recommend creating API keys from the organization owner's account, to avoid the API key becoming invalid when an organization admin loses their admin rights.

  1. Sign in to Kisi
  2. On the top right corner, click on your name and click on My Account
  3. Next, select the API tab and click on Add API Key
  4. Enter the name for the API key and your Kisi password and click Add
  5. Copy the API key shown on the screen and click Close

Set up the integration in VERVE Pulse​

VERVE Pulse only needs a Kisi API key. You don't need to set up a group ID, place ID or webhook by hand.

  1. Sign in to VERVE Pulse as the gym owner
  2. (Optional) If the add-on is not active yet, go to Settings > Billing & Add-ons, find Access Control and click Add to Subscription. Until it is added, Door Access shows Door access is an add-on with a See add-ons button.
  3. In the menu, open Front desk and click Door Access
  4. On the Set up door access card, choose Kisi
  5. Paste the Kisi API key you generated earlier into the Kisi API key field
  6. Click Connect

VERVE Pulse checks the key, finds your doors and Kisi groups, and adds an event webhook integration to your Kisi organization so door events reach VERVE Pulse. The integration's name starts with "VERVE Pulse".

Door Access then lists each door with its live status, and Door Access settings shows Kisi as Connected with Events live.

Configure member access​

Door access follows the member's membership plan. Map each Kisi group to the VERVE Pulse plans whose members should be in it:

  1. On Door Access, click Settings (owners only)
  2. In the Who gets in row, click Edit. Each Kisi group is listed with your active membership plans beside it.
  3. For each Kisi group, select the plans whose members should get that group's doors. A plan can be selected for more than one group.
  4. Leave a group with no plans selected if VERVE Pulse should not manage it, for example a staff group. It shows as Kisi only and VERVE Pulse never changes it.
  5. Click Save. Every member's access is updated straight away.

Optional settings​

The same page has three optional settings:

  • Member app - choose any door to switch on tap to unlock for members in the Pulse Member app, or Off to switch it off. The door you choose only switches the feature on and does not limit which doors a phone opens. Once it is on, a member turns on tap to unlock in the app's Check-in tab and holds their phone to a Kisi reader. Their phone opens every door their Kisi groups open, the same as their fob.
  • Owing money - switch on Lock out members who owe money, then set Days before lockout and Minimum owed in dollars. It is off by default. The member is warned by SMS and email the night before, and access comes back as soon as they pay.
  • Unlock from Pulse - choose which staff roles can press Unlock on a door, and mark any door Owners only

Give a member a fob​

The member's plan must be mapped to a Kisi group first.

  1. Open the member's profile and go to the Details tab
  2. On the Door fob card, hold the fob on the reader
  3. Type the code printed on the fob and click Activate

Add new doors​

Doors are installed and added in Kisi. When VERVE Pulse sees a new door, the owner gets a card on Door Access to pick the plans that open it, or Staff only.

How access syncs​

Sync is automatic. Joining, buying a pass, changing plan, cancelling, freezing and unfreezing, a ban, and paying off an overdue invoice each update that member's Kisi access on the spot.

Every hour, VERVE Pulse also checks every member, corrects anything out of step, and picks up new Kisi groups. Click Refresh from Kisi on the settings page to pick up new groups immediately.

  • How access is granted - VERVE Pulse creates a Kisi user for each member whose plan opens a door and adds them to the mapped Kisi groups. To remove access, it takes them out of those groups. It does not disable the Kisi user, so access you grant by hand in Kisi (for example a staff group for a member who also works at the gym) keeps working.
  • Who gets access - active members on a plan that is mapped to a Kisi group. Frozen, cancelled and banned members lose access, as do members whose billing has stopped. A plan with no mapped group opens no door.
  • Kisi emails - members are created in Kisi with Kisi's emails switched off, so they are not invited to Kisi. A member with no email address in VERVE Pulse is created in Kisi under a placeholder address ending in @nomail.vervepulse.io.
  • Connection problems - if VERVE Pulse cannot reach Kisi, no member is locked out or restored because of it. The change is applied at the next hourly check.

Other important information​

  • Opening hours are set in Kisi - VERVE Pulse controls group membership only. A plan's check-in hours in VERVE Pulse do not apply at the door, so set an access schedule in Kisi if a door needs hours.
  • Tap to unlock - needs Pulse Member 1.5.0 or later. iPhones use Bluetooth and Android phones use NFC. An Android phone without NFC cannot tap, so give that member a fob. Each member has one phone at a time: a new phone replaces the old one, and signing out removes the phone's key.
  • Unlock time - owners can change how long a door stays unlocked (1 to 60 seconds) from Door Access. This changes the door's own setting in Kisi, so it applies to fobs, phones and Unlock alike.
  • Door events - entries, members turned away and door alarms appear in Recent Activity on Door Access. The history starts when Kisi is connected.
  • Disconnecting - Disconnect removes VERVE Pulse's door settings and history and its webhook integration from Kisi. Members keep the access they already have in Kisi, so nobody is locked out, and you manage them in Kisi from then on. Connecting again needs an API key.

Support​

This is a partner-built integration, maintained and supported by VERVE Pulse. For help with the integration, contact VERVE Pulse support at support@vervepulse.io.

For questions about Kisi hardware, installation or your Kisi subscription, contact our support team.

Last updated on by Ramana Venkata