Streamlining Community Management: 3 Ways to Integrate Zapier and PDK Access Control
- ProdataKey
- Jun 16
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 20
Managing a residential community is all about creating a seamless, secure, and connected living experience for everyone involved. As providers of cloud-based access control solutions, ProdataKey (PDK) is proud to create technologies that allow residents of any community to feel safe and sound. And through access control integrations, PDK makes it easy for installation partners to build effective management systems on top of that security.
Zapier, one of ProdataKey’s newest integrations, is an automation builder capable of connecting PDK to a collection of 8,000 software-based tools. By building integrations–or “Zaps”–through Zapier, ProdataKey users can streamline their community management processes, from communication to billing, reservations, and more.
Efficient Communication for Community Residents and Managers
In any community–whether it’s an apartment building or a neighborhood spanning over acres of land–communication is essential. Well-executed communication allows everyone to stay up-to-date on community happenings, and feel a sense of connection to their neighbors. Luckily, with PDK and Zapier, there are many ways for community managers to take their communication to the next level.
By default, ProdataKey allows users to configure Push Notifications, keeping you up to date on any important events in your system–like propped doors, access events, or forced entries. But with Zapier, you can further customize how you receive these notifications. By creating Zaps with softwares like Gmail, Outlook, Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, Twilio, and more, you can set up custom notifications through the specific platforms of your choosing.
Zapier even allows you to connect ProdataKey with website-builders like WordPress, where you can automate posts for your entire community to see. For example, if PDK.io reports that a gate has been forced open, a Zap could automatically generate a post on your community’s website notifying residents and telling them to be on the lookout for any intruders.
But that’s not all! Zapier also allows you to connect ProdataKey to various community-based social platforms, like Bettermode and Mighty Networks. Through this integration, when new users are added onto your community’s social platform, you can automatically generate a Holder profile for that user in PDK.io. You can even take things a step further and have Zapier automatically generate a PDK mobile credential for them!
By effectively linking ProdataKey and various communication tools, Zapier allows community managers to automate contact processes and enrich the sense of connection in their space.
Streamlined Finances and Payments
Another aspect of community management that can be improved through this integration is financing. Using Zapier, you can seamlessly tie together ProdataKey and various billing platforms, like Stripe, Chargebee, and GoCardless, to name a few.
By creating Zaps that connect these platforms to ProdataKey, you can set up automations that update credentials and Group Rules based on people’s payment status. For instance, if a resident fails to pay their rent in Stripe, you can automatically suspend their access to certain areas of your community in PDK.io until they complete the payment.
Additionally, if a user’s account in the billing platform of your choosing expires or is deleted, you can create a Zap that automatically removes their profile in PDK.io! This eliminates the need to manually input information across multiple platforms–saving you lots of time and energy.
Simplified Reservation Booking and Management
Many communities, no matter the shape or size, need to facilitate the short-term and long-term use of specific areas by community members. For example, communal spaces like pools, conference rooms, working spaces, fitness centers, and clubhouses need to be easily accessible for residents. With ProdataKey it’s easy to set up automatic access schedules for these communal areas–but you can take this process even further with Zapier.
Thanks to Zapier, connecting access control and room reservation tools is simple. By creating Zaps with programs like Google Calendar, Outlook, and Planyo, you can make it easy for community members to reserve access to communal spaces. Using Zapier, you can program PDK.io to open specific doors, generate temporary PINs, and add or remove someone from a Group automatically in conjunction with room reservations in your third-party reservation program.
Zapier also makes it easy for administrators to manage bookings on any short-term rental properties in their community. With Zapier, community managers can input booking information into rental tools like Lodgify and Planyo, and that information can be transferred into PDK.io, where new Holders and Mobile Credentials can be automatically created. Managers can even set up a Zap to remove that user from PDK.io once the rental period has ended! This saves lots of time for community managers by eliminating the manual task of adding and removing users across multiple platforms.
Keeping Communities Secure and Seamless with PDK and Zapier
Incorporating Zapier’s supply of tools into your ProdataKey system empowers community managers to streamline everyday operations–from keeping residents informed to managing finances and coordinating shared spaces. Altogether, these automations promote a more responsive and connected community. So whether you're overseeing a small apartment complex or a sprawling neighborhood, integrating ProdataKey with Zapier gives you the tools to manage it all with greater ease and confidence.
