InexTech IZCloud Gate Access Integration Set Up Guide

Firefly has partnered with InexTech iZCloud! Here you can find information on setting up and using the integration

Table of Contents:

  • Using the Integration
    • Adding Visitors as Addons
    • Where can guests update their vehicle information (Guest Portal Information)
    • Guest Vehicle Management
    • Reports and additional Information

Getting Started 

If you are not already a customer of InexTech, check out this link for more information! Once you are a customer, come back to this page and it will walk you through how to set the integration up. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. 

Request the Integration be Turned On for your Account

Send an email to support@fireflyreservations.com and ask that the integration be turned on for your account. Once the support team confirms this has been completed - check back here for the next steps.

Setting Up Firefly

Add the Addon

1. In the top right corner of Firefly, click on your name

2. Click on Account

3. Navigate to the Addons Tab

4. Check the box next to iZCloud (Inex Tech - Gate & Visitor Management)

Set Up Property Settings

All parks should configure their Time Zone property setting properly in order for the gate functionality to work as intended. This can be found from Settings > Property > General (tab) > Time Zone. If a park connects to the gate access system and pushes through any reservations, those will then be stamped with the time zone that the park is currently set to - this means any records that were sent before will have the wrong time. A resync or a disconnect/reconnect will fix this issue.

 

Require Vehicle Information - To use this integration you will need to turn on the requirement that all guests provide vehicle information.

1. Click on Settings

2. Click on Property

3. Click on the Reservations tab

4. Scroll down to see the Vehicle Info Options section

5. Check the box next to "Require at least one vehicle for all unit types"

 

This is what the prompt to guests will look like upon booking:

 

Setting up the Integration Settings (Channel Management)

Note: Park needs to receive/setup their personal equipment first.

Navigate to the Channel Management Settings: 

1. Click on the Settings drop down

2. Click on Channel Management

3. Click on the iZCloud Option where you will be prompted to complete the rest of this information:

  1. Username/Email: Provided by InexTech. There could be two different usernames given to a user by InexTech - one for the API integration, and the other for the park’s management website through InexTech.

  2. Password: Provided by InexTech. This will only need to be entered once.

  3. Tenant ID: Provided by InexTech.

  4. Account: Provided by InexTech. Will most likely be the name of the park/property.

  5. List ID: Provided by InexTech. This is the identifier of the Allow List. Firefly will insert records into this list and the gate system will use this list to validate the license plate numbers and data time ranges.

  6. Check Out Time: This is the time that the gate access system will work until on the day of checkout. Setting the unit status to “Checked out” will remove the record from the gate access system. By default, this time is set to 11:30 AM since most locations have checkout policies for 11 AM. To allow the gate to work all day, users should set the time to 11:59 PM - setting the time to 12:00 AM will give zero time for the day of checkout.

  7. Mode:

    1. Demo Mode: The mode that the connection is going to. This is for validation and demos/development on Firefly side only.

    2. Live Mode: The mode that the connection is going to. The mode will be set to this by default, which all users should be using for all scenarios, whether testing or using for legitimate purposes.

  8. Options:

    1. Ignore Check-in Status: This is selected by default. When checked, this will allow the gates to work at midnight on the check-in day. This means that the gate will open for the customer at any time on the check-in day. If the checkbox is not checked then the clerk needs to change the reservation unit status to checked in before the gates will work.

If all field info has been entered in correctly, the connection will be established.

Link (or Unlink) Units 

Some parks might not want to link all their units to the gate access system. Users will be able to link and unlink any units from this list at their convenience. From here, when the “Save” button is clicked, Firefly will search the reservations to find all plates that need to be sent to the iZCloud list.

 

When unlinking, Firefly will search the reservations and find all license plates that need to be removed from the iZCloud list. The Channel Management setup credentials will also be displayed on this page at the bottom above the “Disconnect Property” button.

 

Testing the Integration and the Gate

It's always good to test! To test this integration and the data transfer, you will want to use a vehicle you have access to, either a park vehicle with a license plate, or a staff car. This test also requires using a reservation, so we recommend parks have a test reservation that can be edited to be used. 

  1. Navigate to your test reservation 
  2. Click the Options button
  3. Click to update vehicle information 
  4. Add a park vehicle to the reservation (this is going to be used to test the gate entrance/access)
  5. Drive to your gate (in real life) and see if the access you have set up works! 

Using the Integration

Adding a Visitor Add On

The flow for adding a visitor will be the same as adding an addon to any reservation unit. Customers can either add this visitor during a new reservation creation, or have the addon added after the reservation is made.

Visitors will be classified as “Visitor Addon Types” but will function the same way as rental addons. From the backend when selecting this addon and creating a new reservation, the user can define the visitor arrival/departure dates and the quantity and create the reservation. From here, under the units tab in the reservation detail, the user can click “update vehicles” under Options. Once all vehicle info is added and saved, this will then be displayed via the units tab under the given unit(s) within the reservation detail.

If the user is adding this addon after the reservation has been created, they will need to visit the reservation Addon tab. From here, when adding an addon, a window will popup and allow the user to enter the date range and the reservation unit for that visitor addon. If the user selects to “add details” in the popup window, they will be directed to the Reservation Addon Details page. From here, the user can select a visitor to be associated with the addon they just added. This can also be done by selecting “add visitor info” next to the visitor addon from the reservation detail Addons tab. From this page, the user should also add all vehicle info associated with that visitor.

This can be updated at any time from the reservation detail Addons tab next to the addon.

How does the Integration work with the Guest Portal?

 Where do guests update their vehicle information? 

Via Guest Portal > Reservations (tab), two things have been added:

  1. The # of vehicles connected to the given reservation

  2. The option to “Request change to vehicle details”

When #2 from above is selected, the user will be redirected to the Guest Portal > Contact Us page. From here, Firefly will pull the vehicle details from the reservation unit and display them for the email form.

  • If Settings > Property > Reservations (tab) > Vehicle Info Options > “Allow Guest Portal to automatically approve vehicle updates” (button) is checked, the vehicle updates will save automatically, but the park will still be notified of the change, even though no manual intervention would be needed. This setting is optional.

  • The email form will include:

    • Subject Line

    • Vehicle info per unit in the reservation (Make, Model, Color, License Plate)

    • Message to park


 

Guest Vehicle Management

To add initial guest info: 

  1. Go to the Reservation (on the units tab)
  2. Click on the Options button
  3. Click Update Vehicles

 

Note: Guest Access is connected to the reservation initially and then can be adjusted after at the guest profile.

 

To Edit Vehicles after they have been added internally in Firefly: 

Under the Reservation, click "Edit Guest" and then click on the tab, "Guest Vehicles." This tab is where you can edit the vehicle information. 

Once a visitor addon has been added from the backend and the reservation has been created, under the units tab in the reservation detail, the user can click “update vehicles” under Options.

Once all vehicle info is added and saved, this will then be displayed via the units tab under the given unit(s) within the reservation detail.

 

Vehicle and Visitor Reports

To access reports on vehicles and visitor reports, you will find them in Firefly under "Reports." If your user has access to reporting you can also click on the links below. 

  1. Add-on Visitors: Displays a list of all addon visitors for the date range selected.

  2. Reservation Guests & Visitors: Displays guests and visitors with a reservation during any portion of the date range selected.

  3. Reservation Guests & Visitors (Vehicles): Displays guest and visitor vehicle detail for a reservation during any portion of the date range selected.

  4. InexTech iZCloud Active Access List: Displays the InexTech Active Access List. This is the same list from the InexTech console.

 

Using the iZCloud List Manager

Why is my iZCloud List Manager Empty?

 

For users newly accessing this page, it will display an empty list. If a user connects a park to iZCloud without linking a unit, this will also result in an empty list. If units are linked and reservations are in the system, but this list is still empty, the user should ensure that the “Ignore checkin status” button was checked. No data will be sent to this list until the reservation status is set to “Checked in”. If the park isn’t doing check-ins, then this would explain why the list is empty.

If all settings are properly configured and the rules to when the data can be pushed are set to what the park wants, then the integration will be able to push the data to the iZCloud list.

Note: The data presented here will be the same as what’s shown within the new InexTech iZCloud Active Access List report.

When is data sent to iZCloud from Firefly? 

  1. Making a reservation as a clerk from the backend (New Reservation/Reservation Grid) (adding the vehicle information)

  2. Editing a reservation unit

    1. Start date

    2. Departure date

    3. Vehicle info changes

    4. Moving a reservation from one unit to another - editing this could change dates or the unit going to or from might be linked or not linked to the gate integration

  3. Making an online reservation from the Reservation Portal. On completion of the reservation booking, Firefly will send the license plate info automatically

  4. Changing the reservation unit status

    1. IF Not Checked In or Checked In is the reservation status and “Ignore checkin status” is checked, then the license plate info will show from the iZCloud list

    2. IF Checked In is the reservation status and “Ignore checkin status” isn’t checked, then the license plate info will show from the iZCloud list

    3. IF Checked Out is the reservation status and “Ignore checkin status” is checked” isn’t checked, then the license plate info won’t show from the iZCloud list

    4. IF Checked Out is the reservation status and “Ignore checkin status” is checked is checked, then the license plate info won’t show from the iZCloud list

  5. Cancelling an entire reservation will remove the license plate info from the iZCloud list

  6. Changing a reservation unit to “Ongoing”

    1. This will set the departure date to 2099

  7. Linking or unlinking a unit

    1. This will either add or remove the license plate info from the iZCloud list