Our visitor-management feature allows your team to invite visitors to your facility and to manage the associated administration that accompanies these visits. The issuance of the invite, and the check-in and check-out processes, are all managed with Skedda!
Check out our FAQs if you have further questions!
Visitor registration
In order to begin the process, a Skedda user will complete the 4 following steps:
The user navigates to the 'Visits' page, which they'll access via the navbar on desktop and mobile devices.
The user clicks 'New visit', which opens the 'New visit' form.
The user then completes the form, providing required information (Date/Time, Host*, Notes, Visitor Email, Visitors’ Names and Surnames). Please note that Non-Admins will always be auto-set as the Host for visits they create.
The visit is added to the 'Visits' page, with accompanying details included.
Visit-confirmation email
Once a visitor is registered (or on any updates to the visit date/times), they will receive a confirmation email, containing:
The date and time of the visit
The name of the host
The custom instructions/notes (if any) that were provided for the visit
The street address where the visitor should go. By default, this will be the street address of the venue found in Settings > Basics.
Below you'll see an example of a visit-confirmation email:
Visitor checks in
There are two options for check-in on arrival: self-service check-in, and booking-admin check-in.
Self-service check-in
The user scans the QR code on the tablet in the reception area, using their phone
A web page opens on their phone
The user provides their email address
The user selects the specific visit they’d like to check in to
The user confirms any custom check-in items required at this point
The user taps 'Check-in' and sees a screen confirming successful check-in
The visitor can use the details on this screen to show any relevant parties at the premises
Check-in/out on the physical tablet
Visitors can also choose to check in our out via the physical tablet, if desired. All they need to do is tap the 'Use the tablet' button shown beneath the QR code!
Admin check-in/out
Your Admins are able to manage the check-in/out status of all visitors right from within the 'Visits' page!
By clicking on the 'Manage status' option in the dropdown that appears next to a given visit, Admins can open a screen that will allow them to move visitors through their check-in flow sequentially, i.e. Invited > Checked in > Checked out.
This screen includes the list of visitors linked to the visit, and the various next check-in/out "steps" you can take in the process. Simply click the action you'd like to take for each visitor, review the summary of changes you'll be making, and click, 'Save'!
If there are any check-in confirmation items configured for your visits, you'll see them included at the bottom of the screen, so that you can ensure your visitors confirm them all before you check them in.
Alert email for hosts
Upon successful check-in of the visitor, the host will receive an email to alert them of this.
Please note that we don’t send out any further notifications for the same visit in the case that there is more than one visitor invited. This is to prevent hosts from receiving too many emails in quick succession for visitors that arrive at roughly the same time for a given visit.
Visit arrival logged
Details of the visit including visit time, checked-in status, host name, visitor name are logged and visible on the dedicated ‘Visits’ page. The visitor's check-in status is updated at this point to reflect their arrival.
Visitor check-out
Once a visit is complete, the visitor is checked out in one of the following ways:
Via the physical check-in tablet (visitor scans the QR code again and checks out)
Admins manually check them out as outlined here
Visit changes/cancellations
If a visit is canceled or its details are changed, we'll notify both the host and the visitor(s) via email to ensure that all parties are aware of the latest visit information that affects them.
Walk-in visits
If enabled, visitors can also show up to your premises and schedule a visit on demand! All visitors need to do, after getting started with your visit tablet or on their mobile devices, is provide their name and email address, and choose the person at your organization they'd like to meet.
The process is outlined below:
Visitor accesses tablet or visitor pages on their mobile device
The visitor begins the process by either tapping "Use the tablet" on the visit tablet or by scanning the QR code.
Visitor provides email address
Next, the visitor provides their email address to Skedda.
Visitor selects "Create a new visit"
Following this, the visitor will select the "Create a new visit" option.
Visitor provides required details and completes check-in
Here, the visitor will be required to provide some key pieces of information, as well as to agree to any check-in confirmation items:
First name
Last name
Host of the visit (they can search from a list of users who you have allowed to host visits)
End time for the visit (we will start the visit "now" / as soon as they finish creating it)
Confirmation of all check-in confirmation items
Visit created, checked in to, and host is notified!
Once this is complete, the visit gets created, and the host is notified that they have a visitor who has arrived onsite!
Settings and setup
This section outlines the settings page and how you can set this feature up, as well as the 'Visits' page and how it works.
Please note that Visitor Management is a paid add-on for our Starter, Plus, and Premium Plans that involves an additional charge per venue if you use the feature. Reach out to our team if you have any questions about this, or check out our different plans here!
It's important to make sure that you've configured the 'Address' fields for your venue in your 'Basics' settings page, so that these are included in emails sent to your users' visitors, before proceeding with the rest of the configuration.
If you don't want to do this, your users will need to include address details in separate communication with their visitors, or via the 'Optional Notes' field when creating the visit in the first place.
You can manage your visitor management feature via a dedicated settings page, called 'Visitor Management'. To use visitor management, you'll need to do the following:
Determine who can host visits (you can allow all users to host visits, or target specific users via user-tag targeting).
Decide if walk-in visits are allowed (you can allow guests to create and check in to their own impromptu visits by selecting their host and providing their details upon arrival, using either your visit tablet or their mobile devices)
Set a check-in and check-out window (this is used to determine how long before and after a visit's start/end times a visitor can check in and check out, respectively).
Set up check-in confirmation items for your visitors (these are checkboxes you can require visitors to "check" prior to successful check-in to gain their agreement to a set of terms you can outline).
Content added to the visit-confirmation email sent to your visitors and hosts (this field allows you to specify specific information that will be included in the visit-confirmation email sent to both your hosts and visitors).
(Optionally) specify custom email addresses to be CC'd into all visit-related emails sent to your users (these emails would be: visit confirmations, visit updates, visitor arrivals).
Pair one or more check-in/out tablets with Skedda (these are the physical tablets you will provide visitors that will allow them to scan a QR code to commence the check-in/out process on-premise, or to proceed with check-in/out on the tablet itself).
Tablet pairing
In order to allow visitors to check in to (and out of!) their visits upon arrival at your premises, you'll need to provide them with a "check-in/out" tablet that they'll use to scan a QR code which will kick off the process.
To get this set up, you should do the following:
Navigate to the 'Visitor Management' settings page in Skedda
Under the 'Tablet View' section, click, 'Pair a tablet'
A blue box will appear with a URL (https://yoursubdomain.skedda.com/visitor-tablet) and a special PIN
Follow the URL on your tablet
Type the PIN into the field that appears on your tablet's screen
Click, 'Pair device'
Success! Your tablet has been paired successfully
You'll see instructions on the screen that you should follow in order to complete the process
Additional tablet notes:
We support pairing more than one device for check-in/out (you may find this useful if you want to allow your receptionist/greeter to check people in/out, and you can set up a second tablet/phone at your front desk for the receptionist/greeter to quickly scan and walk through check-in/out with your visitors).
If the PIN expires, you can request a new PIN by clicking, 'Pair a tablet' (for security, all PINs have a 5-minute expiration time on them, and you need to complete pairing before this timer runs out).
'Visits' page
This is where your users will be able to view their upcoming visits and add new ones, when necessary. They can use this page for the following:
Filtering by date range (to focus on a specific visit selection)
Filter by 'Host' (To allow Admins to manage the full list of visits at your venue)
Review visit details (Review the details for a specific visit, including the check-in statuses of your visitors to make sure your users know where their visitors are at all times: Checked in, Checked out, Invited)
Admins can export your Visit data (for further processing / compliance purposes)
Check-in statuses explained
Your visitors will have "check-in" statuses in relation to their visits to your premises. This will enable your hosts to track their arrivals and departures to provide a seamless experience for them:
Invited | The visitor has been invited to your premises but has not performed any check-in/out actions |
Checked in | Visitor has arrived at your premises and has completed the check-in process |
Checked out | Visitor's visit has ended and they have checked out, either deliberately via one of the pathways offered, or the check-out window has closed and they have been checked out automatically |
FAQs
This section includes answers to a number of frequently asked questions about how Skedda's visitor management feature works.
Can I book a space for my visitor as part of this process?
Skedda's visitor management feature focuses solely on the issuance of an invite to your premises and the management of the check-in/out process involved. If a dedicated space is required for your visitor, we recommend having your hosts book the intended space for them in addition to the actual visit creation.
Can I perform visitor registrations via Google/Microsoft that sync to Skedda?
Google/Microsoft doesn't provide the required functionality to support visitor management processes that would sync to Skedda. Visitor management is best managed directly via Skedda to ensure a seamless visitor experience for all externals who visit your premises.
How long do we keep visitor data in Skedda?
We retain all visitor data in our logs for as long as you've set your Booking and Visitor Data retention period to be stored in your 'Data retention' settings page.
Can visits span midnight?
As with bookings, visits cannot span midnight, i.e. have a duration that crosses from one day into the next. We recommend creating two separate visits for the rare case where you need to host a visitor over midnight, to cover the durations across both days.
Can I schedule a repeating visit?
Visits in Skedda are single-occurrence only. You need to create new visits for each unique time you plan to host your guests at your premises.
Can we edit visits once a visitor has checked in?
Once a visit has been checked in, it cannot be edited. This is to prevent "admin errors" where a visit time is changed or a visitor is removed from a visit after they've already arrived - the perfect recipe for confusion!
To work around this, consider creating a new visit that includes the revised visit details instead, in these cases.
Can visitors check in before midnight and check out after midnight?
Yes, visitors will be able to check in/out for visits that have check-in/out windows that cross over midnight.
For example... For an 11:00 PM - 11:45 PM visit with a check-out window that closes "30 minutes" after the visit ends, the visitor will be able to check out up until 12:15 AM the next day.
Can visitors have more than one visit scheduled for a given day?
Yes, when they provide their email address after scanning the QR code on the check-in tablet, they will be presented with a list of available visits and their associated check-in/out actions, if they have more than one visit scheduled for the day.
Can an attendee decline an invite?
If any attendee receives an invite to a visit they don't want to attend, they'll need to contact the visit 'Host' (the person who invited them) directly to inform them that they won't be attending. RSVPs are not supported in Skedda's visitor management feature.
What subscription is required to use visitor management?
Skedda's visitor management feature is a paid add-on for all Premium-tier subscriptions - be sure to check out our pricing page for more information. Reach out to our Support Team if you have more questions about getting this added to your account!
What happens if a user is deleted, but they are the host for visits?
We treat this case similarly to how we handle the case when a user is deleted who is the holder for any bookings on the system. We'll delete all the users and all references to the user from the system, and we'll assign all the visits they hosted to 'No host'.
It's important that you don't leave things like this, though! Once you delete a user who is the host for one or more visits, you should navigate to the 'Visits' page and reassign these 'No host' visits to a new host, or cancel the visits entirely by removing them.
If you reassign a visit to a new host, we'll send an email to the associated visitors to inform them of this change. If you cancel a visit, we'll also let your visitors know!
Which tablets can we use with Skedda?
Check out our article that explains more about the tablets you can use for this feature.
Can I add default custom information to all visit confirmation emails?
Yes! This functionality allows you to add a custom note that is included in all visit confirmation emails to your visitors and hosts. You're able to add this note via the 'Visitor Management' settings page, and the note will appear in the visit-confirmation email:
Can visitors check-in/out using the physical tablet itself?
Yes! Visitors can also choose to check in our out via the physical tablet, if desired. All they need to do is tap the, 'Use the tablet' button shown beneath the QR code!
Can I specify additional email addresses to be CC'ed into visit-related notifications?
You may wish to CC additional email addresses into all visit-related emails for your venue (like your Security Team) so that additional parties are kept up to date on all visitor activities on your premises. We support this!
All you need to do is click the 'Add new email address' button in the 'Visitor Management' settings page and then provide the email address you'd like to CC to visit-related emails. Once this is completed, you'll need to check the inbox of this email address to provide consent to Skedda to send emails to this address.
Once you've granted consent, you'll be set!
