Streamline sign-in for your busy lobby

No matter what type of sign-in process you have, things can get hectic when lots of visitors arrive at once. But with a few simple tips, you can help your front desk be prepared and avoid the front desk traffic jam.Ready to be more prepared when lots of visitors arrive? Here’s how:

Add more sign-in kiosks

Envoy lets you pair unlimited iPads to any location, so you can create as many sign-in kiosks as you need. If your front desk is always busy, keep multiple kiosks set up at all times (the record we’ve heard is eight!). Or, if you have more sporadic groups of visitors, keep a few extra iPads on hand for when you need them.When multiple iPads are paired to the same location, all visitor details will appear on your dashboard and all badges will print from the same printer. Using extra iPads is simply an easy way to let multiple guests sign in at once.Pair extra iPads now, or learn how to pair an iPad.

Be prepared for groups

Signing in and accounting for large visitor groups can cause some of the biggest traffic jams in the lobby. And Envoy has some specific recommendations just for group sign-in.Create a special visitor typeIf your site has regular groups, events, or tours, you could create a specific visitor type to suit that group’s needs. Creating a separate visitor type lets you customize the flow, remove any unnecessary or time-consuming steps, and easily sort guests who came in a group. Plus, you can choose to only hide this visitor type from the iPad on days you won’t be hosting groups. Add a visitor type now, or learn more about visitor types.Assign a group representativeEnvoy’s plus one sign-in feature allows one visitor to sign in with additional unspecified visitors. The group leader will simply enter their sign-in details, choose how many plus ones are in their group, and sign in on behalf of everyone. Badges print with the group representative’s name. This way, it’s easy to direct any individual who get separated back to the group. Learn more about plus one sign-in.

Make the most of pre-registration

No matter how you use it, pre-registration is the easiest way to speed up sign-in. Anytime you pre-register a guest, you’ll provide their name and their host. So even if that’s all you do, they’ll still skip one step during sign-in.But you can do even more to save time. By sending guests the pre-registration email, they have the chance to provide all of their visitor details and sign your legal document in advance. When they arrive, they’ll breeze through sign-in since they’ll skip the steps they did in advance.Plus, you can pre-register multiple guests at a time, making it perfect for groups. Learn more about pre-registration or using pre-registration for groups.

Let VIPs skip the line

You can let visitors skip the iPad altogether when you record their details directly from the dashboard. Keep in mind that they will not sign your legal documents or provide a photo, so this feature is especially helpful for returning, pre-registered, or VIP visitors. Learn more creating entries without an iPad.

Mix and match tips

The best part of streamlining group sign-in is that you can combine these tips to make your workflow even more powerful. Here are just a few examples:

• When you pre-register visitors, you can check who has signed your legal documents before they arrived. If they did, simply sign them in from the dashboard to save time.
• Create a special “group” visitor type for facility tours, and enable the plus one sign-in feature. Display this visitor type on days with regularly scheduled tours. Let the group leader sign in on behalf of the whole group.
• Create an “event” visitor type, hide all other visitor types, and pair extra iPads for after hours events or meetups. The next day, reset your standard visitor type screen, unpair extra iPads, and store them until your next event.

Have you developed other helpful tips on how to manage your busy lobby? We’d love to hear from you.