Kiosk check-in by choosing who you visit
At a kiosk in the lobby, the visitor answers "Who are you visiting?" by typing a few letters. They tap the person from the staff directory: name, office and floor only. The visit is recorded with the right company, and the person, their office or reception is asked to approve.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Visitors type a name the kiosk cannot match, and the request goes nowhere.
- A lobby kiosk that lists everyone's phone and email is a privacy problem.
- In a building with several tenants, the visitor does not know which company the person works for.
- The person visited has no login, so the kiosk has nobody to ask.
How it works
- Fill the staff directory and choose the Kiosk Directory mode on the entity's Visitors tab: Search only (the default) or Show the list.
- The visitor presses No pass? Register here and chooses the kind of visit.
- At Who are you visiting?, they type at least three letters of a name, office or floor and tap the person. Some sites show the whole list, by office.
- They fill in name and mobile, any other details asked, take a photo if the type needs one, accept the terms and send.
- The kiosk shows whom it is asking: the person, their office, or reception. The visitor can press Ask guard to call on intercom while waiting.
- When approved, the kiosk shows the gate pass number. If not, it says Please see the guard, without a reason.
Everything it does
The directory on the kiosk
- Search only: names appear once the visitor typed the site's number of letters (3 to start with), 20 at most
- Show the list: everyone, by office, up to 500 people
- Every word typed must match the name, office, department or floor
- The kiosk shows name, office and floor; never phone or email
- Without a directory, the visitor types a name; it counts when it matches exactly one staff member
Whom the kiosk asks
- The person's own login or host account
- A tenant's person without one: the host accounts of their office (Growth, with the host portal)
- Your own staff without one, or nobody to ask: reception
- If nobody answers in time, the request goes to reception (10 minutes to start with)
A kiosk at a shared gate
- The directory covers every entity and tenant office the gate serves
- The kinds of visit offered are those of every entity served
- The terms, privacy link and notice for minors shown are those of the person's entity
- The visit is recorded in the person's entity, with the kiosk's gate
Safety on a public screen
- After 10 codes that match nothing within 5 minutes, the kiosk sends people to the guard until the window passes
- A refused or blacklisted visitor sees only Please see the guard
- Visitor types that need an ID proof are not offered; those visitors see the guard
Who uses it
VisitorFinds the person they visit, registers and waits for the answer.
HostApproves or rejects on their phone, the host portal or the Host app.
Office admin (tenant)Keeps the office's people in the directory, so visitors find them.
Reception / ManagerDecides for people without a login and when nobody answers.
AdministratorSets the kiosk link, the directory mode and the letters before a search.
Where you use it
- The kiosk in a tablet's browser, from the gate's Kiosk Link
- The SmartMy VMS Kiosk app on an iPad or Android tablet, paired with the link (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Web: Visitors > Configuration > Gates and Visitors > Gates (Create Kiosk Link, New Kiosk Link, Turn Off Kiosk) and the entity's Visitors tab
- Not a voice or video call: the intercom button asks the guard to phone the host
What you control
Settings
- Kiosk Directory: Search only
- Letters Before a Search: 3 (at least 1)
- Host Approval Timeout: 10 minutes; When the Host Does Not Answer: Escalate to Reception
- Self-service on each visitor type: off until you switch it on
Approvals
- Visitor at the gate: the person's host account, else their office's host accounts, else reception; levels you add apply after them
Notifications
- Visitor Waiting for Approval: to whoever decides, by app push, WhatsApp, SMS, email and in-app
- Visitor Approval Escalated: to reception when nobody answers in time
- Visitor Asks for a Call: to the gate's guards and reception, by app push, SMS and in-app
- Visitor Arrived: to the person visited when the visitor is let in
Works with
SmartMy HRMSEmployees are in the directory, so visitors find them at the kiosk.
Questions
Can visitors see staff phone numbers on the kiosk?
No. The kiosk shows name, office and floor only. Phone and email are used to tell the person, never shown.What if the person has no login?
A tenant's host accounts approve for their office on Growth. For your own staff without a login, reception decides.Can the kiosk list everyone instead of searching?
Yes. Set Kiosk Directory to Show the list. The kiosk then shows everyone by office, up to 500 people.Why does the kiosk not say why a visit was refused?
On purpose. A refused or blacklisted visitor is asked to see the guard, so the reason is not shown on a public screen.Related features
GATE, KIOSK AND GUARD TOOLSSelf check-in kioskA tablet at the gate or at reception where visitors check themselves in and out. They scan a pass or type its code. Without a pass, they register with a photo and accept your terms, while the guard deals with the next person.SHARED SITETenant offices and staff directoryIn a shared building or tech park, list the tenant offices and everyone visitors come to see: name, office and floor. The staff directory is free and has no limit. The guard, reception and the kiosk pick the person visited from it, and each tenant's office admin can keep their own list.SHARED SITEShared gates for several entitiesOne entity's gate can serve the other entities of your group in the same building. Each visit, pass, goods vehicle and work permit is recorded in the entity being visited, with the shared gate as its gate. Guards work by gate, every entity's blacklist is checked, and the gate's owner sees only the traffic counts.HOST APPROVALHost approval from the phoneA visitor without a pass waits at the gate while the host is asked on the phone. The host approves or rejects from the link, the app or the back office. If nobody answers in time, reception or the guard decides, and an alternate host covers for anyone away.VISITORS AND CHECK-INVisitor types with their own rulesEach kind of visitor, such as a guest, a vendor, a contractor or an interview candidate, has its own rules. They cover photo and ID, how long they may stay, which gates they may use and whether they may register at the kiosk. Whether a walk-in of that type waits for the host is set in the approval chain.
See it on your own gate.
Tell us how many gates you have, who comes through them and how visitors are approved today. We will show you SmartMy VMS set up that way.