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WelcoYour alerts, by text.

Door forced open alarm texts, sent to the person on call

When a stair door is forced at night, the person on call gets a door forced open alarm text naming the door and the time. Your access software already logs the event and can email it. Add your Welco address to that email, and held open alarms can go to a different person.

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  • SMTP email is all it takes
  • Daytime fob traffic stays quiet
  • No per-user fees

Works by email with

  • Door forced & held open
  • Access control

A floor plan of Building 1: Stair 4 (emergency exit) goes into alarm, forced open, its room turns orange and Access server emails the alert. The email reaches Welco and the phone shows: “Welco: Door Forced Open, Stair 4 Emergency Exit at 11:47 PM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Animation: a long Access control alert email is trimmed into one short text: "Welco: Door Forced Open, Stair 4 Emergency Exit at 11:47 PM. Reply STOP to opt out."

What door alarm texts change after hours

  • A forced door is news tonight

    The person on call learns which door and when, not from Monday's event report.

  • Forced to security, propped to facilities

    Two rules split one feed. A propped shipping door doesn't wake the security lead.

  • Daytime traffic stays off the phone

    Set door texts for nights and weekends, when the security desk or concierge is off.

What does a door forced open alarm mean?

It means a door opened without a valid fob or card, or a request to exit such as a push bar or motion sensor. Door controllers raise a few other kinds of alarm too, just like other building alarms sent as texts. They don't all deserve a text at midnight.

  • Door forced open: text it

    The door opened without a valid credential or a request to exit. This is the one most teams text right away.

  • Door held open: text the right person

    A valid entry, but the door stayed open past its timer. Often a propped shipping door or a closer stiff from the cold.

  • Door restored or secured: keep in the log

    The door closed again. Useful in the access log, but most teams keep it out of texts.

What you need before you start

Check three things. Most teams have all of them already, and the door emails you get today keep going to the same inboxes.

  • Access control or door alarm software that can email an event. If it can only send SMTP email, that is enough.
  • A Welco account. Once your business is verified, your Welco address is ready to use.
  • The people who respond to doors, such as the security lead, the property manager or the on-call building operator. You invite them, and each joins with their own cellphone.

Send door forced alarms as texts in 5 steps

Menu names differ between access systems. Look for words like Event notification, Email action or Alarm routing.

  1. Approve the access system's sender address

    Find the address your access software sends from, such as access-events@security.example.ca. Add it to your approved sender addresses in Welco so only that system can text your team.

  2. Add your Welco address to the door events

    In the access software, open the email or notification action for the Door Forced Open event. Add your Welco address as a recipient.

    • Do the same for Door Held Open if you want those as texts too.
    • If the software groups doors, pick the group of exterior, parkade and stair doors first.

  3. Split forced and held open alarms

    In Welco, set an alert rule that matches Forced and sends to security. A second rule can match Held Open and text the building operator instead.

  4. Leave out the all-clear

    Add a rule that drops emails containing Restored or Secured. The event stays in your access log, but nobody's phone buzzes for a closed door.

  5. Open a test door

    Turn on test mode to hold texts and hold a test door open past its timer. Check the Welco feed, then switch test mode off and try once more for real.

Door alarms on your phone tonight

Approve your access system, paste your Welco address into the door event and test one door.

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing

Text me door forced alarmsBook a demo

A door held open alarm as a text

On a -20 C night, a parkade door that won't close lets cold air into the garage and its sprinkler piping. Held open emails repeat the door, the panel and a long footer. Welco keeps the door name, how long it was open and the time.

Alert email from access-events@security.example.ca, subject “Alarm: Door Held Open”. Welco trims it to one text of 75 characters: “Welco: Parkade P1 Door 2 held open 5 min at 9:20 PM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Text received: Welco: Parkade P1 Door 2 held open 5 min at 9:20 PM. Reply STOP to opt out.

Characters243751 credit

Animation: the alert email "Alarm: Door Held Open" is trimmed into one text: "Welco: Parkade P1 Door 2 held open 5 min at 9:20 PM. Reply STOP to opt out."

You decide what the text keeps. One-text trimming cuts the footer and panel details away.

Tips for door alarm texts that people act on

Door alarms are frequent. A little tuning keeps the texts useful.

  • Text only after hours

    During the day, residents, staff and students walk through doors all the time. Use on-call time windows so door texts go out only at night and on weekends.

  • Send forced doors to two people

    A forced exterior door may need a second pair of eyes. Several phones per alert lets the security lead and the on-call operator both get it, once each.

  • Calm a stormy night

    Wind, snow and frozen latches can trip the same door again and again. Welco's alarm flood limits cap the burst so the phone stays readable.

Why didn't a door alarm text show up?

Work through these in order. The Welco feed shows what happened to each email.

  • The access software never sent the email. Check that its SMTP settings work by sending a test email to yourself.
  • The event type has no email action. Forced and held open are often set up as two separate events.
  • The sender isn't approved yet, so Welco refused the email and the feed says so.
  • The person hasn't replied YES, or the number is a desk phone that can't take texts.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a text only when a door is forced, not every time it opens?

Yes. Send only the Door Forced Open event to your Welco address, or add a Welco rule that matches the word Forced. Normal fob and card entries never create an email, so they never become texts.

Our access software only supports SMTP email. Is that enough?

Yes, SMTP email is all Welco needs. Enter your mail server in the access software, add your Welco address to the door events, and approve the sender in Welco. No extra software or hardware goes on the access server.

Can held open alarms go to facilities and forced alarms to security?

Yes. Two alert rules can match different words in the same email feed. One sends Forced events to the security phone, and the other sends Held Open events to the building operator's on-call phone.

Do our guards or operators need an app to get door alarms?

No. A door alarm arrives as a normal text starting with Welco: on any mobile phone. Each person joins from your invite with their own number and replies YES. Anyone can stop the texts by replying STOP.

Can the person on call reply to say they're checking the door?

Yes, and the reply comes back as an email to the address that sent the alarm. It does not acknowledge or clear the event in your access software. Have the access server send through a mailbox your team reads if you want to see those replies.

Will a propped door send a text every minute?

That depends on your access software, since it decides how often to repeat an event. Welco sends one text per email and flood control limits bursts. Fixing the door, the closer or the timer is the lasting cure.

Does Welco connect to our access control server or door panels?

No. The access software sends its event email out, and Welco reads only that email. Nothing reaches back into the panels, the readers or the security network. Only the sender address you approved can create a door text.

What do door forced alarm texts cost?

There are no per-user fees, no hardware and no setup fee. A trimmed door alarm uses one message credit for each phone, and dropped all-clears use none. The 7-day trial comes with 15 credits to test a few doors. See Welco pricing for plans in US dollars, which never bill overage.

Know about a forced door before morning

Point your door events at your Welco address and the on-call phone gets the text.

Text me door forced alarmsBook a demo

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing