Pre-Register Visitors

Can I schedule visitors prior to their arrival?

Hannah avatar
Written by Hannah
Updated yesterday

The Receptionist has two ways to track visitors that may not have physically checked into your location yet. If you're primarily hoping to inform your employees that they have an expected visitor, pre-registering visitors is the best solution. However, pre-registration is not a tool to expedite visitor check-in; it is designed for internal use to track expected visitors. If you want visitors to begin check-in remotely or are looking to expedite the check-in process, then Contactless Check-In may better fit your needs.

When you pre-register visitors, you will pre-load those visitors into your Visit Log so that their basic information is stored and completed upon arrival. Visitors will find their pre-registration when the email they enter during check-in matches the email you enter while preregistering them.

Start on your buttons page to the left of your account dashboard. Select 'Existing buttons' on the right of your buttons page then click to edit your check-in button. Scroll down to the ‘Select Employee Contacts’ section and turn on ‘Pre-Register Visitors’. Don’t forget to save your changes!

An image of the Select Employee Contacts section of the Button Editing screen. Pre-Register Visitors has been toggled on.

Now that you have enabled Pre-Registration, navigate to your Visitor Log. This is where we will hold their check-in until arrival.

Once you open your visitor log, you can select the Actions button in the upper right-hand corner of the page and then +Add Visit.

An image of the Visit Log of the web portal.

If you have enabled visitor pre-registration on multiple buttons, your first selection when you click ‘Add Visitor’ will be which button you want to save this visitor for. You will then be asked to enter the email address of your visitor.  There are also optional areas for Estimated Check-in Time, sending a Pre-Registration Email, and Additional Instructions - this information will be included in the email visitors receive, so any vital info that can guide them towards parking, check-in process, or any other instructions you would like to convey prior to their arrival should be included here. 

If the estimated check-in time is sooner than 30 minutes, the email is sent right away. If an estimated check-in time is not provided, the email won't be sent for 30 minutes. Within 30 minutes of adding a pre-registration, you can edit the entry, but after that time, we send the email out to your expected visitor with the details, so we lock out any additional edits.

An image of a Pre-Registration theme, prompting the User for an Email Address and additional information.

Once added, Account Owners can view the pre-registered visits in the log. Visitors will receive an email alerting them to their scheduled visit with instructions on checking in when they arrive. That email looks something like this:

An image of the email visitors will receive upon being pre-registered.

When your visitor arrives and enters an email address that matches one created during pre-registration, they’ll be asked to confirm (continue with check-in) or edit their information.

An image of The Receptionist app when a pre-registered visitor enters their pre-registered email address, prompting the visitor to edit their information if needed.

Please note that, if the pre-registration was entered more than three days ago and the estimated time of arrival was more than three days ago, the pre-registered visit will no longer display in the visit log. Visit information is still stored in the system, so pre-registered visitors can still check in as normal, even if the pre-registered visits have expired on the log.

You can also pre-register visitors in bulk! Check out this article to learn more.

Have questions or need assistance? Try clicking on the orange chat bubble in the lower right corner to livechat with a member of the team!

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