Setting up your account for the first time

In short: Work through eight steps, in order: key / hook numbers, asset types, assets, contacts, staff, the Hive, checkout settings, and the key sets themselves last, fobbing each one up as you go. Each step here is short and links to a full guide.

When you’d do this: Your account has been created, you can sign in to the web portal, and your Hive and Keyhive fobs have arrived. This is the one-off job of getting your keys, people and settings into Keyhive so that everyday handovers are ready to run.

Before you start

New to Keyhive? What is Keyhive? is the two-minute overview of the pieces you’re about to set up.
Work in the web portal on a computer. Almost every step below happens there, and several need Manager or Admin access. If a button mentioned in a step isn’t there for you, ask someone who has it.
Decide how you’ll label your keys first. The scheme (numbers on the storage, a short identifier on each set) shapes steps 1 and 8, and it’s much easier to settle before anything goes into Keyhive. See How to label and organise your keys.
Have the Hive and your fobs to hand. The final step creates each key set while attaching its fob, so you’ll want the keys, the fobs and a signed-in Hive together.

1. Add your key / hook numbers, if you use them

If your keys hang on numbered hooks, or sit in numbered drawers, pegs or slots, put those numbers into Keyhive first. The asset upload in step 3 has a column for them, so numbers that already exist get paired up with their assets as part of the same import. You can bring the whole board in from a spreadsheet in one go.

Key / hook numbers are optional. If your keys aren’t organised by numbered storage, skip this step and nothing else changes.

See Understanding key / hook numbers and How to import key / hook numbers from a spreadsheet.

2. Check your asset types

Asset types are the categories your assets fall into. Property and Vehicle are already set up; rename them or add your own, such as storage units, safes or rooms, to match what your keys actually open. Do it now because every row in the asset upload has to name a type that already exists, spelled exactly.

See How to manage asset types.

3. Add your assets

Assets are the things your keys open, and every key set belongs to one, so they go in before any keys do. If you have a list, upload it from a spreadsheet rather than typing assets in one at a time; if you’re only bringing in a handful, create them one by one instead.

See How to import assets from a spreadsheet and How to create an asset.

4. Add your contacts

Contacts are the external people you hand keys to, such as contractors, clients or visitors. If you already have a list, upload it now. If you don’t, skip this step: a contact can be added on the Hive or the mobile app in the middle of their first handover, so the list builds itself as people arrive for keys.

Either way, get an email address in wherever you can. It’s what lets Keyhive chase overdue keys for you.

See How to import contacts from a spreadsheet and How to create a contact.

5. Invite your staff

Invite your team by email. Each person gets their own login. The role you give them decides what they can do, from everyday checkouts up to managing staff and settings, and each role is described on the form as you pick it.

As you invite people, point them at the mobile app too. It’s the same handovers on a phone, for whenever they’re away from the Hive.

See How to invite a staff member and How to install and sign in to the mobile app.

6. Set your Hive’s password and sign it in

The Hive doesn’t use anyone’s personal login. It signs in with its own username and a shared password. Set that password in Branch Settings, in the Update Hive password panel, and make a note of the username shown there along with the password you chose: the portal never shows the password again. Then sign each Hive in.

See Changing your Hive’s password and How to sign a Hive in.

7. Check your checkout settings

You’re already in Branch Settings. The Checkout Settings panel sits at the top of the same page. It holds the default checkout lengths Keyhive suggests when keys go out, one for staff and one for contacts, and the switch for requiring a photo on long-term checkouts. Set them to match how long your keys are normally out.

See Changing the default checkout lengths.

8. Add your key sets, fob by fob

Everything is now in place for the part with the keys in your hand. Work through your keys at the Hive (or with the mobile app): attach a Keyhive fob to a set, tap it on the reader, find the asset it belongs to and create the key set. It’s registered, fobbed and ready to check out by the time you hang it back. Label each ring as you go, and the physical board ends up matching Keyhive exactly.

See How to create a key set and How to label and organise your keys.

Good to know

You don’t have to do it in one sitting. Each step stands on its own, and the uploads run in the background, so bring things in section by section and pick the job up where you left it.
If your keys live in more than one place (an office and a van, or two offices), set up your key stores before step 8, so each key set is recorded at the place it actually sits. Key stores aren’t switched on for every account; see Understanding key stores.
Steps 1 and 4 are the skippable ones. Key / hook numbers are optional entirely, and contacts can be added as people arrive. Everything else the later steps depend on.
When the first person comes for keys, you’re ready. See How to check out a key.