Beacon access — enable Beacon per trust and school, and choose tenancy

Beacon access is where Realsmart decides which trusts and standalone schools get the Beacon helpdesk, and how each trust runs it. Schools and trusts can't enable Beacon themselves — this page is the only way it's turned on.

Who can see this {#step-1}

Same gate as Platform apps and SmartLogin SPs: it only appears in the sidebar (under Platform) when you're a full-access admin actively working within the Realsmart platform school — not MAT overview, and not any other school. Schools and trusts never see it.

The Realsmart row is always on {#step-2}

The Realsmart platform school sits at the top as a fixed Always on row. It's a permanent single-school Beacon that can't be turned off — there's no toggle on it by design.

Turning Beacon on for a trust {#step-3}

Each trust is a card showing its current status and a tenancy mode. Pick the mode first, then enable:

Whole trust (the default) — one shared Beacon for the whole trust: a single inbox, help docs and team spanning every school. Use the trust's Turn on / Turn off toggle.
Per-school — each school runs its own isolated Beacon, with separate tickets, mailboxes and team. The card lists every school in the trust, each with its own Turn on / Turn off toggle, so you enable them one at a time.

Switching a trust's tenancy mode {#step-4}

Changing the mode changes the tenant boundary, so it's a deliberate reset: switching to per-school turns the trust's shared Beacon off, and switching back to whole trust turns every per-school Beacon off. You'll be asked to confirm, because it clears the other mode's enablement. Set the mode you want, then enable the trust (or its schools) fresh.

Turning Beacon on for a standalone school {#step-5}

Schools that aren't part of a trust are listed under Standalone schools, each with its own Turn on / Turn off toggle. The list is capped for speed — use the search box at the top to find a specific trust or school by name.

How this relates to the platform master switch {#step-6}

This page decides who gets Beacon; the Platform apps master switch decides whether Beacon is available at all. If Beacon is switched off in Platform apps, nothing here takes effect until it's switched back on — you'll see a banner saying so. You can still set enablement and tenancy while it's off, ready for when it's on.

Every change — enabling, disabling, and mode switches — is recorded in the admin audit trail, with who made it and when.