A method for granting guest access to a control device includes detecting, by a monitoring control unit, a new connection of a guest device to a network, transmitting, by the monitoring control unit and to an authorized device, a request to grant access to the guest device to control a monitoring system, in response to the request, receiving, by the monitoring control unit, approval to grant access to the guest device to control the monitoring system, and in response to the approval, transmitting, by the monitoring control unit and to the guest device, (i) data that allows the guest device to access a web service and (ii) a temporary authentication token.