Set up visitor management for your office

Calven Visitor Management enables you to welcome visitors into your office with a seamless entry and sign-in experience. Pair sign-in kiosks using the Calven visitors iPad app, send customized email invites and pre-register visitors ahead of time, and manage visits in Backoffice.

Table of contents:

• Initial setup and creating visitor types
• Connecting a visitor iPad kiosk, capturing photo, label printing(optional)
• Admin performing sign-in on behalf of pre-registered visitor
• Sign-out and visitor log
• Creating invites for pre-registered visitors ahead of time

• Connecting to a building system

 

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Creating visitor types

Visitor types are used to create specific processes for different types of people that come into your office. Some examples of different visitor types are:

To configure visitor types, go to Calven Backoffice and click Actions > Create visitor type. 

Name your visitor type, give them an icon and pick which offices the visitor type should be displayed at for invites and sign-in.

1. Configure the visitor type settings:

   1. Enabled - if a visitor type is disabled, it will not be available for selection when inviting guests ahead of time, or shown on the kiosks for sign-in.

   2. Host required:

      1. When enabled, a host must be selected from the dropdown menu when inviting guests ahead of time, and used on the kiosks for sign-in.

      2. When not enabled, the guest will still be prompted to select the host from the dropdown menu when signing-in via kiosk. If "I don't know my host" is selected, then Additional Notification Recipients (see item 3 below) will be notified if host notifications are enabled (see item 1c below).

   3. Notify host of sign-in updates - the host will be notified when the visitor signs in or out. They will be notified via the channels configured in visitor settings.

2. Update messaging for the visitor if you want to override the default messages. The messages available to be configured are:

   1. Invite message - text that will be shown on email invites that are sent to visitors before they arrive.

   2. Sign in success message - message shown on the kiosk when a visitor completes their sign in.

3. List any Additional Notification Recipients
   1. You can add extra recipients, such as front-desk reception or an assistant, to also receive notifications (in addition to the host) when a visitor completes sign-in on iPad kiosk. Any email address can be listed, including a shared inbox address such as reception@acme.com

 

Configuring sign-in questions

Sign-in questions allow different questions to be shown on the kiosk for different visitor types; each has their own set of sign-in questions and settings.

Available question types

The following question types are available

• Text input: this can have a minimum and maximum number of characters available.

• Option: this can be single or multiple choice. A minimum and maximum number of selections can be set.

• Document (future release, not available today): this shows a document to the visitor.

Sign-in flows & Conditional logic

Each question can have conditional logic layered onto it so that it is not asked each time to each visitor.

Response required. When enabled, a visitor signing in cannot bypass this question, it must be answered.

Ask returning visitors. When disabled, a visitor that is signing in and has already answered this question on a previous sign-in will not see or answer this question.

Conditional logic. When conditional logic is enabled for a question, an earlier option question is used to determine if this question will be shown.

 

Connecting a visitor iPad kiosk (optional)

A visitor kiosk can be paired which enables guests to sign-in upon arrival. A label printer can also be connected to the kiosk.

1. Download the Calven Visitors app on an iPad.

2. When you open the Visitors app, you will be able to generate a pairing code. Generate the code and write it down. The code will expire in 1 hour - you can generate another one if you need to.

3. Go to Backoffice and click Actions > Pair new kiosk

4. Enter the kiosk name, which office the iPad is located in and a welcome message to be displayed on the iPad. When you click save, the kiosk will now be running. If you had already configured visitors previously for that office, you are done. Otherwise, continue onto Creating Visitor Types.

5. We recommend enabling Guided Access on the iPad so it acts like a dedicated appliance. More information is available at: Use Guided Access with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

 

Updating the iPad kiosk configuration with Security Code

When you update your visitor types or any other configurations in Backoffice, these changes will have to be pushed through to paired devices using the kiosk app. Here's how to apply changes:

• Click on the Configure button in the bottom right corner of the iPad
• Enter the Security Code (refer to Kiosks tab in Backoffice) to access the settings page
• Press the 'refresh' button to apply the latest changes to your kiosk

 

Capturing sign-in photos

Within the Settings for each visitor type, you can choose to prompt visitors to capture a sign-in photo using the kiosk. When enabled, visitors will be prompted to take a photo of themselves when signing in at the visitor kiosk. This will appear in Backoffice next to visitor names in the log and within each specific visit, as well as host notifications (if enabled).

If you have a badge printer connected to your visitor kiosk, for each visitor type, you can choose whether to include visitor photos on badges when they're printed.

 

Configuring sign-in photos on your kiosk

1. Click the Configure button on the kiosk, and enter the Security Code unique to the iPad device (this can be found on the Kiosks page). 

2. Click on Camera Configuration. 

3. The first time you configure your camera, you'll be prompted to allow camera permissions on the iPad. It's important that you complete this step before you receive any visitors!

4. Configure your camera to capture the perfect headshot of your visitor by zooming in/out accordingly. This can always be adjusted once the kiosk is in position. 

5. Adjust the camera countdown if desired. This is off by default.

 

Printing visitor badges during sign-in

You can configure a label printer to print badges when a visitor completes their sign-in at the iPad kiosk. Photo will be included on the badge if photo capture has been enabled for the visitor type. 

To connect a printer, follow the steps below:

1. Plug in the printer and make sure it's powered on. Follow the Brother quick setup guide to connect the printer to your office network.
2. Go into the printer settings (WLAN) and get the IP address.
3. In Backoffice on the kiosk page: select the kiosk to connect to your printer, navigate to the printing tab, and enter the IP address for the printer. Press save to save your configuration. Refresh this page in Backoffice for the new configuration to appear. 
   
   
4. On the kiosk: go to configuration > refresh device to load the config with the newly added IP address.
5. On the kiosk: go to configuration > printer configuration and tap print example badge.
6. The first time you try to print, you'll be prompted to enable network permissions for the Calven Visitors app; Calven requires these permissions in order to print badges.
7. Once you've enabled network permissions, your kiosk should be ready to print visitor badges!

Administrators can view the print history, and also have the option to re-print a specific label (in the event of label replacement or temporary printer failure):

1. On the kiosk: go to configuration > printer history
2. View a list of recent labels, and select to re-print

 

Admin performing sign-in on behalf of pre-registered visitor

Admin steps to perform in Backoffice:

1. Within the Invites page, click on the visitor
2. Check the box under Registrations for the visitor/s you want to sign in
3. Click Actions
4. Click Sign in visitor

 

Sign-out flows

Visitors can use the iPad to sign-out, or an administrator can manually perform this on their behalf via the Visit Log page. If no manual sign-out is performed then the auto sign-out will be triggered at the time specified in the General Settings page.

 

Visit Log records

Access the Visit Log to view the details of visitors that have arrived. Use the date range selector to view more records for a specific date range, and the office filter chip to only view visitors at a specific office. 

This screen is useful for front desk administrators for a record of who's in the office when!