User-Initiated Mobile Access

In the user-initiated onboarding model, the tenant asks for a digital key from the HqO app and your property team issues it. This guide walks through all six steps of that handoff — what the tenant sees, what lands in your inbox, and exactly what to do in HqO Admin and your access control system.

⚠️ If the tenant already uses the standalone HID app: Before starting the steps below, ask them to delete it from their device, then revoke their old credential in HID Origo. Revoke only the credential and keep the user: when the tenant requests a key, HqO looks up their existing HID Origo user by email.

Before you start

You need	Why
HqO Admin access with a Landlord Manager, Landlord Operator, or Corporate role	The Mobile Access page is only visible to these roles
Access to your ACS	You paste the credential number into the tenant's cardholder record
Access to the HID Origo portal	Needed to revoke an old credential, or to inspect a user who has no credential yet
A building configured for user-initiated onboarding	The Mobile Access page only appears for buildings on the user-initiated flow

🔑 Not seeing Mobile Access in the left nav? The page is hidden for buildings configured for ACS-initiated onboarding, where credentials are pre-loaded and no approval step is needed. Contact your HqO Customer Success Manager if you expect to see it and don't.

How the workflow fits together

Step	Who acts	What happens
1. Request	Tenant	Requests a digital key in the HqO app. Their key sits in Key requested.
2. Notification	HqO	An email goes to the building's ACS manager address.
3. Copy	Property team	Copies the credential number from the Pending tab in HqO Admin.
4. Assign	Property team	Pastes the credential number into the tenant's record in the ACS.
5. Activate	Property team	Clicks Activate access in HqO Admin.
6. Ready	Tenant	Receives a push notification and can use the key.

Steps 3 through 5 must happen in that order. Activating in HqO before the credential exists in your ACS gives the tenant a key that opens nothing.

Step 1: The tenant requests a digital key

The tenant signs into your app with their work email, opens your mobile access utility button (your team sets its name, often Mobile Access or Digital Key), and taps Request digital key on Android or Request a Digital Key on iPhone.

Three HqO app screens: the home screen with a Mobile Access tile, the Request a Digital Key screen with a Request digital key button, and the Key requested confirmation screen — The tenant's path from the Mobile Access tile to a requested key

Their key then stays in the Key requested state until your team issues it. The app tells them their property team is activating the credential and that they will be notified when it is ready.

Step 2: Your team is notified

HqO emails the ACS manager address configured for the building, with HqO's access team copied. The message reads:

Hey [ACS manager email address],

[First name] [Last name] ([email]) of [Building] has requested a mobile credential. Please go to your HID portal, find the mobile credential for [email] and add it to your ACS. Once that is done, please go to HqOS's HID Manager page and click the green "Activate access" button for [First name] [Last name].

The New Mobile Credential notification email, addressed to the ACS manager, naming the requesting tenant and linking through to the mobile access page in HqO Admin — The New Mobile Credential email sent to the building's ACS manager

💡 The email uses older wording. It calls the destination the "HID Manager" page — in HqO Admin that page is now Mobile Access, under Operations — and it describes the activate button as green, when it is blue. It also sends you to the HID portal for the credential, but the same number is on the Pending tab in HqO Admin (Step 3). The steps below use the current labels.

If the wrong person is getting these emails, the ACS manager address is set per building. Contact your HqO Customer Success Manager to change it.

Step 3: Copy the credential number from HqO Admin

In HqO Admin, go to Operations → Mobile Access.
Open the Pending tab. This lists every user who has requested mobile access but has not been activated yet.
Find the requesting tenant. Their credential number is in the Credential column. HID Origo issues it to their phone as part of the request.
Copy that number. The copy icon next to it puts it on your clipboard.

The Pending tab of the Mobile Access page in HqO Admin, listing two users with their credential number, device, credential status, and a blue Activate access button on each row — Operations → Mobile Access → Pending. The credential number sits in the Credential column.

⚠️ Only activate people who asked. The All tab lists every user in the building, activated or not. Work from the Pending tab so you only issue credentials to tenants who have actually requested one.

A few things you may see in the Credential column instead of a number:

Column shows	What it means
`N` credentials (a link)	The user has more than one credential. Click it to see them all and pick the right one.
Pending user action	The tenant requested a key, but their phone hasn't finished setting it up, so there's no credential to activate yet. Ask them to open the key screen in the app again.
Awaiting user	The user has an HID record but no open request: their key request didn't complete, or their access was removed. Nothing to approve.
No credentials	The user has no HID record in HqO. They've never requested a key. See What each action does below.

Step 4: Add the credential to your ACS

Log into your access control system.
Find the tenant's cardholder profile.
Paste the credential number into the Badge ID field and save.

A cardholder record open in an access control system, showing the Badge ID field where the credential number is entered — Pasting the credential into the cardholder's Badge ID field

ℹ️ Your ACS will look different. The field names and layout vary by system — the constant is that the HqO credential number goes in whichever field your ACS uses for the badge or card number.

Step 5: Activate access in HqO Admin

Return to Operations → Mobile Access and open the Pending tab.
Click the blue Activate access button on the tenant's row.
Confirm the dialog — "Are you sure you have added this card number to your access control system?"

The Pending tab with the blue Activate access button on each user row — Activate access is the blue button at the end of the row

The tenant drops off the Pending tab and appears on the All tab as active.

Step 6: The tenant gets their key

The tenant receives a push notification — "Mobile access card ready" — and can return to the mobile access utility button to view and use their key.

Two HqO app screens: a Key is ready confirmation with a View key button, and the digital key card with instructions to unlock by presenting the phone to the reader — What the tenant sees once you activate their access

From here they unlock doors by presenting the phone to an HID reader. See Using Mobile Access for the reader behavior and device requirements.

What each action does

The All tab shows every user in the building, and the button on each row depends on that user's state:

The All tab of the Mobile Access page showing rows in different states, with View user in Origo, Activate access, Remove Access, and Get Access ID buttons — All tab — each row's action depends on the user's credential state

Action	When it appears	What it does
Activate access (blue)	A pending request with a credential	Marks the user active in HqO and sends the tenant a push notification
Remove Access (red)	The user is already active	Marks the user inactive in HqO. The row then shows Awaiting user.
View user in Origo	Credential column shows Awaiting user	Opens the HID Origo portal in a new tab, where you can check the user's record
Get Access ID	Credential column shows No credentials	Creates an HID Origo record for a user who never requested one. Not part of the normal flow.
Trash icon	Any row	Clears the user's HID information from HqO. The row then shows No credentials.

Both Remove Access and the trash icon change the user's state in HqO only. Neither one revokes the credential in HID Origo or removes the number from your ACS. If the person should lose door access, also remove the credential number from their cardholder record in your ACS and revoke the credential in HID Origo.

Troubleshooting

The tenant requested a key but they aren't on the Pending tab. Confirm they completed the request in the app rather than only opening the tile, and that they signed in with the email on their building record. If their row on the All tab shows Awaiting user, the request didn't go through. Ask them to request the key again.

There's no Activate access button on the row. Activate access only appears on a pending request that already has a credential. If the Credential column reads Pending user action, the tenant's phone hasn't finished setting up the key. Ask them to open the key screen in the app again. If it reads Awaiting user, the user has an HID record but no open request; use View user in Origo to check their record in the HID Origo portal. If it reads No credentials, they have no HID record in HqO.

I activated access but the tenant's key still doesn't open doors. The credential number is missing or wrong in your ACS, or the user's access levels in the ACS don't cover those doors. Re-check the Badge ID field against the number in the Credential column.

The tenant already had the standalone HID app. Have them delete that app and revoke the old credential on their user in HID Origo — without deleting the user — then start again at Step 1. Don't keep the standalone HID app on the same device as the HqO app.

Nobody is receiving the notification email. The ACS manager address for the building is missing or out of date. Without one, the email goes only to HqO's access team. Contact your HqO Customer Success Manager to update it. In the meantime you can work directly from the Pending tab.

HID Integration — setup, tenant experience, and FAQ
Mobile Access & Digital Keys — all supported mobile access providers
Access Control Command Center — attendance, entry activity, and connector status