SkieCan the warden lock every phone and tablet at once in an emergency?
Yes. Skie has a lock-all action that locks all devices at once, and a panic lock for sudden situations. Locks reach online devices in seconds and offline ones at the next sync. A warden can lock a block or a group with the right role. Calls can stay available if the lock is set up that way.
Emergencies in a hostel vary: a fire drill, a security incident, a missing student at night, a fight in a common room. In several of them the warden wants every screen quiet so that students listen and the network is free. Skie has actions for this.
Locking can happen at the level the warden has access to. A warden scoped to one block locks the groups in that block. A senior role can lock a branch, a school or the whole organisation. Lock all devices acts across the lot, and the panic lock is the fast version for a real emergency.
Delivery depends on the device being online. If it is, the lock arrives in seconds. If not, it applies at the next sync, and an overlay on unlock syncs first when a device is overdue, so a tablet that was in a bag comes back under control. Rules already on the device keep working offline.
Think through what the lock should leave open. A student in an emergency may need to call home. Decide in advance whether your lock leaves the dialer available, because a total lock on every phone while a parent is trying to reach a child is a poor result. Test the exact behaviour on a spare device first.
Unlock is just as deliberate: release the lock for the group and normal rules return. The audit log records who acted, which helps if parents ask later.
A practical tip: put the lock procedure in the warden's emergency card and rehearse it once a term, alongside the fire drill. The first real use should not be the first time anyone has pressed the button.