Playground partners with ZkTeco USA to provide access control hardware that integrates directly with our software. Customers purchase hardware directly through a ZkTeco USA licensed installer (usually Mellintech), who provides a comprehensive quote for installation and hardware costs.
Once door locks are installed, Playground becomes the only app that you need to open, monitor, and control your connected doors. Every unlock, either through someone’s phone, or from a check-in kiosk, runs through Playground, and is logged.
Note: If you are a multi-site or enterprise customer, you will be provided with several installers to choose from. Your onboarding consultant will provide you with more information.
Software Door Lock Features
The two ways to open connected doors through Playground are through the mobile app, or via a tablet in kiosk mode (commonly referred to as the check-in kiosk).
Mobile App Unlock
You can unlock a connected door through the Playground mobile app.
From your mobile app home screen, open your menu by tapping the ☰ icon in the top left and select Door Access.
From your mobile app home screen, open your menu by tapping the ☰ icon in the top left and select Door Access.
3. You'll see a list of all of your connected doors. Tap the row for a door to unlock it.
When a door is unlocked, the corresponding door row in Playground will turn blue, the row will update with an Unlocked status, and the icon will display as unlocked for the duration of time the door is unlocked (typically 5 seconds).
The door will automatically lock and the row will become purple again with a Locked status and a locked icon.
💡 Remote unlocks are logged in Playground, so you always have a record of who opened which door and when.
Unlock Doors with the Check-in Kiosk
Playground's door lock integration allows you to set up Kiosks that will automatically unlock the door for families after they check their kid(s) in or out via PIN code. This also works for staff clocking in and out for the day. The Check-In Kiosk can be set up to unlock doors on both the mobile app and web.
💡 New to Kiosk mode? Read our Kiosk mode article before setting up a door connection.
🚨 Within Kiosk mode, doors will only unlock using PIN codes. Scanning the QR code will not unlock doors.
For Parents: Using the Check-In Kiosk to Unlock Doors
Parents will enter their individual PIN on the tablet in kiosk mode (your kiosk should look like the image below, and have the name of your door in the top right corner)
Select the child they are checking in or out
Tap the blue Sign for Students button
Sign to check their student in or out
Tap the blue Submit button
The connected door will unlock
For Staff: Using the Check-In Kiosk to Unlock Doors
Clocking In
Staff will enter their individual PIN on the tablet in kiosk mode
A success banner will show at the top of your kiosk, with the name of the staff member who has been clocked in.
The door will unlock
Clocking Out
Staff will enter their individual PIN on the tablet in kiosk mode
Tap the red button at the bottom of the screen that says Clock out New Staff
The door will unlock, and you should see a success banner at the top of your kiosk, with the name of the staff member who has been clocked out.
Playground Features by Use Case
When trying to understand what features will work best for you, ask yourself these questions:
How many doors are you connecting to Playground (1, 2, or 2+)
Are the doors internal or external-facing?
External-facing: an exterior entry point, like your main entrance.
Internal: a door inside the building, like the door leading to your classrooms, or lobby
How is this door primarily used?
Are families using the door to enter the building?
Are families checking students in before the door unlocks?
Is this a staff-only entrance?
Use Case | Playground Door Feature | Additional Recommended Features |
External-facing door used by families | Mobile app unlock | Geofencing, access hours, role-based access |
External-facing door used by staff | Mobile app unlock | Geofencing, access hours, role-based access |
Internal door with a check-in Kiosk | Kiosk unlock | None |
Internal door without attendance Note: This is feature must be toggled on by the Playground team. Contact us if you would like this enabled | Kiosk unlock without logging attendance | None |
Additional Recommended Features
These features are meant to enhance safety and security at your building. By enabling any of these features, you will have more granular control over who has access to connected doors, and who can attempt to unlock them.
Feature | What It Does |
Access hours | Set specific hours and days of the week when staff and families can unlock a door |
Access via roles | Grant door access to specific staff roles. Good if you want to restrict certain staff members from having access to doors via the mobile app (ie, your accountant). |
Geofencing | Require someone to be within a physical radius near the center before they can unlock a door |
Access logs | Review every unlock attempt for each door |
View Door Lock Logs
Door logs allow you to view who, when, and how each door was unlocked. Logs for each door can be viewed by following the steps below:
From your Admin Dashboard, navigate to Integrations.
Click View logs under the door you want to view.
You will then be able to view previous door unlocks for the selected door.
The Door Lock Setup Process
Step | Who's Responsible | What Happens |
1. You see a demo of door lock features | Playground representative | Your sales representative will provide a demo of how our door lock software features work |
2. Intake form | You | You complete an intake form describing your current access control setup, including pictures. |
3. Installer introduction | Playground | We connect you with the MellinTech team (or alternative installers if you are an enterprise/multi-site) |
4. Installation quote | MellinTech | MellinTech provides an installation quote. If they need more information first, MellinTech may organize a site visit before providing you with a quote.
This quote will include the cost of your $650 controller device, installation labor, any additional hardware (like a wire, strike, cabling), and applicable tax/shipping. |
5. Your decision | You | You review the quote and decide whether door locks make sense for your center. This is the purpose of the quote. Nothing has been billed, and nothing gets scheduled until you move forward. |
6. Install scheduling | You & MellinTech | You work with the MellinTech team to coordinate your install. |
7. Installation | MellinTech | MellinTech completes the installation. |
8. Feature setup | You | Your doors appear automatically in your Integrations tab once installation is complete. From there, you can follow the steps in How to Set up Playground's Door Lock Features to set up your door features.
Note: Mellintech does not configure your Playground product setup |
9. Billing begins | Playground | Your $30/month per location subscription begins on your next invoice after installation. |
Pricing
This table provides an overview of all the necessary components you must purchase to set up doors with Playground.
| Cost | Who to Purchase From | Notes |
Controller | $650 | MellinTech/installer | One-time device cost, covers a one- or two-door setup
Included in your quote |
Installation + additional hardware (wiring, strike, etc) | Quoted by your installer | MellinTech/installer | Varies based on your center's current setup
Included in your quote |
Tablet to run the Playground app | Variable | You must purchase this yourself | If you are planning on connecting doors to your check-in kiosk, you must purchase a tablet yourself that can run the Playground app without issues |
Playground Door Lock Subscription | $30/month | Playground | Added to your next month's invoice after your doors are installed |
💡 Your quote from Mellintech will include the cost of your controller, installation labor, and any additional hardware necessary for install (like wires, or a strike).
Important Considerations
Both the controller and installation labor must be purchased through MellinTech. You can't buy a controller and arrange your own separate installer.
You cannot purchase any other hardware (like physical keypads, cameras, or biometric locks) as part of this partnership. Any hardware purchased outside of what is listed above will not integrate with Playground.
Connecting more than two doors requires a larger controller, so your hardware cost will be higher than $650. MellinTech will include the exact amount in your quote.
Installation cost depends on your center's current setup, so the final price is always quoted by MellinTech, not Playground.
Set Up Your Door Lock Features
This section walks you through connecting your check-in kiosk to your connected door, and setting up door unlock through your mobile app, and configuring your door unlock features and settings for the first time.
Confirm Your Doors are Connected
Start by confirming your doors are connected to Playground.
From your admin dashboard, navigate to the Integrations tab.
Find Door locks and click Manage.
You should see each door that was connected during your installation.
Move on to the relevant section below to set up your features (setting up kiosk features, setting up mobile features, or both)
💡 Don't see your doors, or see one missing? Reach out to our support team in the chat bubble in your admin dashboard before working through the rest of this section.
Setting Up Kiosk Features
🚨 You must have your own tablet in order to set up your check-in kiosk. Playground does not provide tablets for check-in kiosks.
How to Configure Your Check-In Kiosk On Mobile
If you don't know your Center PIN code:
On the web version of Playground, go to Settings. Under the General tab of your Settings, scroll down to Attendance and find the section titled School PIN code. Click the eye icon to view your School PIN code. You will need this four digit pin to set up your connected door kiosk.
Once you know your center PIN code, open the Playground app on the tablet that you will use to run your check-in kiosk
Make sure you are logged in with your Admin account
Tap Kiosk on your home screen
Tap the Lock Icon in the top right corner to initiate Kiosk mode. You must Lock your device in kiosk mode to connect it to a door.
Tap the Tap to select a door connection for this kiosk button.
This step connects the tablet to a specific door in your center and is critical for ensuring the correct door unlocks once someone enters their PIN.
Select which door you'd like to unlock when students and staff are checked in or out. If you have multiple connected doors, ensure that you select the correct door.
You should see "<Door name> connected to kiosk session" in blue. This confirms the door is connected to the device and will unlock upon check-in or check-out.
Enter your School PIN from step 1 to lock the Kiosk, and enter Kiosk mode. You'll get confirmation that the device is locked in Kiosk mode.
Once your door has been linked and kiosk mode has been locked, guardians and staff should be able to unlock the door using their PIN codes. Once your door has successfully been connected, you should see the name of the connected door next to the Lock Icon in the top right corner, like the photo below.
🚨 If you see a QR code instead of a PIN code, that means your door wasn't connected. Try steps 1-9 again, and ensure that you tap to select a door connection, and re-lock your kiosk.
How to Configure Your Check-In Kiosk On Web
While logged into your admin dashboard, click the Settings tab.
From there, click the View kiosk button under the Attendance section.
Once the Kiosk is open, select Connect door in the top right hand corner.
Select the door you want to connect and select Connect when finished. You should then see a message confirming that the door has been successfully connected.
Once your door has been linked to kiosk mode, guardians and staff should be able to unlock the door using their PIN codes.
Ensure that guardians and staff click Sign in with a PIN instead - they will not be able to unlock the door by scanning the QR code.
🚨 Each Kiosk device can only be connected to one door at a time. If you want multiple doors to unlock via Kiosk check-ins, you'll need one device per door.
How to Configure Your Check-In Kiosk Without Recording Attendance for Door Locks
For centers using door access, kiosks can be configured to unlock doors without recording an attendance event.
💡 This is an internal setting that must be enabled by the Playground support team. Reach out to support if you'd like this turned on for your center.
Configure Check-In Kiosk without Attendance on Mobile
If you don't already know your Center PIN code:
Log in to the web version of Playground and go to Settings. Under the General tab of your Settings, scroll down to Attendance and find the section titled School PIN code. Click the eye icon to view your School PIN code. You will need this four digit pin to set up your connected door kiosk.
Once you know your center PIN, open the Playground app on the tablet that you will use to run your check-in kiosk
Make sure you are logged in with your Admin account
Tap Kiosk on your home screen
Tap the Lock Icon in the top right corner to initiate Kiosk mode. You must Lock your device in kiosk mode to connect it to a door.
Tap the Tap to select a door connection for this kiosk button. This step connects the tablet to a specific door in your center and is critical for ensuring the correct door unlocks once someone enters their PIN.
You should see "<Door name> connected to kiosk session" in blue. This confirms the door is connected to the device and will unlock upon check-in or check-out.
Toggle on “Open Door Only”
Enter your School PIN from step 1 to enter Kiosk mode. You'll get confirmation that the device is locked in Kiosk mode.
Once your door has been linked and kiosk mode has been locked, guardians and staff should be able to unlock the door using their PIN codes.
Configure Check-In Kiosk without Attendance on Web
While logged into your admin dashboard, click the Settings tab.
From there, click the View kiosk button under the Attendance section.
Once the Kiosk is open, select Connect door in the top right hand corner.
Select the door you want to connect and toggle on Open Door only.
Press the blue Connect button when finished. You should then see a message confirming that the door has been successfully connected.
Once your door has been linked to kiosk mode, guardians and staff should be able to unlock the door using their PIN codes.
Ensure that guardians and staff click Sign in with a PIN instead - they will not be able to unlock the door by scanning the QR code.
Setting Up Mobile App Features
Decide which mobile features you would like to configure for your connected doors (access hours, role-based access, or geofencing). These features are best for an exterior-facing door.
As a quick reminder, opening a connected door via the mobile app means opening a door via the door access tab. Configuring the settings below limits who, where, and when users can open doors.
If you have multiple connected doors, we recommend setting up access to each door individually. Follow these steps before setting up your mobile features for the first time:
From your admin dashboard on web, navigate to the Integrations tab.
Find Door locks and click Manage.
Toggle on “Manage access for each door individually”
Setting Up Access Hours
Access limit when you can open doors via the mobile app.
From your admin dashboard on web, navigate to the Integrations tab.
Find Door locks and click Manage.
Navigate to the door you would like to configure, if you have multiple.
Decide whether you want to set access hours for Guardians, Staff, or both.
Click Add Access Hours for the group you are configuring (Guardians or Staff)
In the pop-up window, select the permission level you would like to grant:
Cannot unlock this door: Guardians or staff can't unlock the door on their own. They'll need to use the Kiosk instead.
Can always unlock this door: Guardians or staff can unlock the door at any time without using the Kiosk.
Can unlock this door at certain times: Set specific time windows when guardians or staff can unlock the door. Outside of those windows, they'll need to use the Kiosk.
To enable hours-based access, select Can unlock this door at certain times
Toggle the days of the week you would like to have this door available to unlock (Ex: Monday - Friday).
The default hours will be 9 AM - 4PM. To change the hours, click into the first day you would like to change, and type the hours you would like to set.
Click the Copy icon on the right to copy the hours to all active days. This prevents you from having to type in the hours manually.
Click the blue Save Access Hours button in the bottom right corner to save your selection.
Repeat steps 3-10 for all relevant doors and groups (for example, if you always want staff have to access to a door, but only want guardians to have access within certain hours).
💡 Access hour changes apply immediately. There's no need to restart the app or re-sync the hardware.
Configuring Role-Based Access
If you would like to limit mobile app access to unlocking based on certain roles (ex: you don’t want your accountant to have access to door features), you can enable role-based access.
From your admin dashboard on web, navigate to the Settings tab.
Find Roles within the horizontal bar of pages.
Select the role that you would like to have access to door locks
Click the Pencil next to the three dots
Scroll down to Door locks and toggle it on. You should see this:
Repeat steps 3-5 for all of the roles that you would like to have access to unlocking doors via the mobile app.
🚨 If you also have access-hours enabled, access hours will override your role-based settings. So if you have given a staff member access via roles, but set access hours to only unlock doors between 9 AM - 4 PM, they will not be able to unlock the door outside of those hours.
Configuring Geofencing for Door Locks
The Require geofence for door locks toggle controls whether mobile app users must be within the geofence before they can unlock doors through Playground.
Go to Settings on your admin dashboard on web.
Locate the Geofence section
Click into the Geofence section and toggle on Require geofence for door locks.
Click Save changes.
In the Address field at the top of the page, type your center's address and select it from the search results. The map will update to show a pin at your center's location.
In the Geo distance field, enter the radius of the geofence in meters. The circular boundary on the map will update to reflect the distance you enter. We recommend a minimum distance of 100 meters, in order to avoid issues.
Use the Map or Satellite toggle to switch views and visually confirm the boundary looks correct for your location.
Click Save changes to save your address and radius settings.
🚨 Geofencing requires location access to be enabled on each user's device. On iPhone, go to Settings → Playground → Location and select While Using the App or Always. On Android, go to Settings → Apps → Playground → Permissions → Location and allow location access.
🚨 Geofencing requires the Playground mobile app build 605 or later.
Configure Geofence for Attendance Check-In
The Requires geofence to check in setting controls who must be within the geofence boundary before they can check students in or out on the mobile app.
On the Geofence settings page, locate Requires geofence to check in.
Click the drop-down and select one of the following options:
None: No geofence restriction on check-in.
Parents: Families must be within the geofence to check in or out.
Staff: Staff must be within the geofence to check in or out.
Parents and Staff: Both families and staff must be within the geofence to check in or out.
Click Save.
🚨 If you select Parents and Staff, any staff member who clocks in from outside the geofence on the mobile app will be blocked. Make sure your geofence radius is large enough to cover any locations where staff legitimately clock in.
Troubleshooting
If you are experiencing an issue with your door locks and need help troubleshooting, read our guide on Troubleshooting Door Lock Issues.