> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.goguardian.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Use the Front Desk

> Check visitors and students in and out, print badges, and see who's on site from the GoGuardian Visitor Front Desk.

The GoGuardian Visitor **Front Desk** is where front office staff check visitors and students in and out, print badges, and see who's on site. Check-ins from your kiosks appear on the **Front Desk** right away, without refreshing the page. You see who's at each kiosk, what step they're on, and whether anything needs your review.

You can run every check-in and check-out from the **Front Desk**, with or without kiosks. Each check-in or check-out uses one of your school's forms.

A form is the list of steps for one kind of check-in or check-out, such as checking in a visitor or a guardian picking up a student. A visitor form might confirm the visitor's identity, ask for their host, and print a badge. Site Admins set up your school's forms, so the steps you see depend on the form you choose. See [Create and Manage Forms](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/create-and-manage-forms.md).

You can use the **Front Desk** for the check-in points you're assigned to. Site Admins can use it for every check-in point. Your check-in points appear at the top of the page next to **Check-In Points:**. For how access works, see [Users and Permissions](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/users-and-permissions.md).

## Get to Know the Front Desk

The **Front Desk** has these parts, from top to bottom:

* **Alert banners:** 1 for each alert that needs a staff decision, such as a possible watchlist match. See [Review Screening Alerts](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/review-screening-alerts.md).
* **Start a Check-In or Check-Out:** a button for each enabled form, such as **Visitor** or **Parent/Guardian Pickup**.
* **Kiosks:** the status of each kiosk at your check-in points. This card appears only if your check-in points have kiosks.
* **Currently Checked In:** visitors who are checked in and haven't checked out yet, with how long they've been on site.
* **Recent Activity:** the 5 latest check-ins and check-outs at your check-in points.

If your site isn't set up yet, the **Front Desk** shows only the **Set Up Visitor** checklist. After setup, a **Complete Setup** checklist may appear above **Start a Check-In or Check-Out** until every step is done or dismissed. See [Set Up GoGuardian Visitor](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/set-up-visitor.md).

![GoGuardian Visitor Front Desk with Start a Check-In or Check-Out, the Kiosks card, 3 visitors in Currently Checked In with their durations, and Recent Activity](https://mintcdn.com/goguardian/vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi/images/screenshots/front-desk/01-overview.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi\&q=85\&s=66638e63ae597e9b64c2d8be0c8ae614)

## Start a Check-In or Check-Out

Every check-in and check-out at the **Front Desk** follows the same pattern: choose a form, confirm who's checking in or out, then finish the rest of the form's steps.

1. Under **Start a Check-In or Check-Out**, click the form you need. The check-in panel opens.
2. Check the **Check-In Point**. The check-in point you used last is filled in. To use another one, select it from the list.
3. Under **Confirm Visitor Identity** or **Confirm Student Identity**, confirm who's checking in or out, then click **Run Security Screening** or **Confirm Identity**. The steps for each form type are in the sections below.
4. Fill out the rest of the form's steps, such as **Choose Destination** or **Sign Document**. For what each step does, see [Form Steps Reference](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/form-steps-reference.md).
5. Click the finish button, such as **Check In Visitor** or **Check Out Student**. For a pickup, you confirm the students first. See [Complete a Parent or Guardian Pickup](#complete-a-parent-or-guardian-pickup).
6. If the form has a **Print Badge** step, select a **Printer** and click **Print**, or click **Skip**. See [Print Badges](#print-badges).
7. Verify the result: The panel shows **Checked In** or **Checked Out**, with the name and time.

From the result, click **Start New** to begin another check-in or check-out, or **View in Activity Log** to see the details. Click **Close** to close the panel.

If you need to stop partway:

* **Step away:** After you confirm identity, close the panel and click **Leave**. The check-in stays **In Progress** in **Recent Activity**. To pick it up again, click the name.
* **Cancel:** Click **Cancel Check-in** (or **Cancel Check-out**) in the panel, then click it again to confirm. The visitor or student isn't checked in, and you can start a new check-in later.

![Front Desk Start a Check-In or Check-Out card with a button for each form, such as Visitor, Contractor, Volunteer, and Parent/Guardian Pickup](https://mintcdn.com/goguardian/vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi/images/screenshots/front-desk/02-start-card.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi\&q=85\&s=921cb1eb6a2ee0ca9ce0f4bf6fea5882)

## Check In a Visitor

Use a form made from the **Visitor** template for visitors, vendors, and volunteers. If your school screens visitors, screening runs as soon as you confirm the visitor's identity.

1. Under **Start a Check-In or Check-Out**, click your visitor form.
2. Check the **Check-In Point**.
3. Under **Confirm Visitor Identity**, enter the visitor's details from their government-issued ID: **First name**, **Last name**, and **Date of birth**, plus **Middle name** if they have one. Fill in any other details your form asks for, such as **Phone number**.
4. If your form scans IDs, you can click **Scan ID** instead and hold the front of the ID up to the camera. The details from the ID are filled in for you. Check them against the ID.
5. If your form asks for a photo, click **Take Photo**.
6. Click **Run Security Screening** (or **Confirm Identity** if your form doesn't screen visitors). Screening runs in the background while you fill out the rest of the form. If it finds something to review, an alert appears at the top of the panel. See [Review Screening Alerts](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/review-screening-alerts.md).
7. Fill out the rest of the steps, such as **Choose Host** and **Choose Destination**.
8. Click **Check In Visitor**. You can click it once screening finishes and any alerts are resolved.
9. If your form has a **Print Badge** step, the visitor is now checked in. Select a **Printer** and click **Print**. To skip the badge, click **Skip**.
10. Verify the result: The panel shows **Checked In**, and the visitor appears in **Currently Checked In**.

Hosts and staff at the visitor's destination receive a check-in notification. See [Notifications](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/notifications.md). For how Visitor protects ID images and photos, see [Understand Visitor Screening](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/visitor-screening.md#understand-how-visitor-protects-screening-data).

![Front Desk check-in panel for the Visitor form with the Front Office check-in point and Confirm Visitor Identity filled in for a fictional visitor, including a photo, above Run Security Screening](https://mintcdn.com/goguardian/vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi/images/screenshots/front-desk/03-visitor-identity.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi\&q=85\&s=70a2ea471724ee9119784567e3519d52)

## Complete a Parent or Guardian Pickup

Use a form made from the **Parent/Guardian Pickup** template when a parent, guardian, or other approved adult picks up a student. A pickup checks the student out, so the guardian doesn't appear in **Currently Checked In**.

1. Under **Start a Check-In or Check-Out**, click your pickup form.
2. Check the **Check-In Point**.
3. Under **Confirm Visitor Identity**, enter the guardian's details from their government-issued ID, or click **Scan ID**.
4. Click **Run Security Screening** (or **Confirm Identity**).
5. Under **Select Students**, select the students the guardian is picking up. Students associated with the guardian are listed first. To add another student, search for them by name.
6. If the form has a **Create Hall Pass** step, check where each student's pass starts. The pass brings the student from where they are, such as their class, to the check-in point.
7. Click **Check Out Student**.
8. Check the students listed under **Select Students** against your school's pickup records.
9. Choose what to do:
   * If the guardian is approved for every student, click **Confirm Students**, then click **Confirm Students** to confirm.
   * If not, follow your school's procedures. Click **Deny Check-Out**, then click it again to confirm.
10. Verify the result: The panel shows **Checked Out**, or **Check-Out Denied** if you denied it. If the form has a **Create Hall Pass** step, each student's pass appears in GoGuardian Hall Pass after a confirmed pickup.

When the student leaves with their guardian, end their pass. To find it, click the guardian's name in **Recent Activity** to open the pickup in the **Activity Log**, then click **View** next to the pass under **Create Hall Pass**. See [End a Pass](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/hall-pass/approve-reject-cancel-end-a-pass.md#end-a-pass).

Every pickup needs this confirmation, including pickups started at a kiosk. For those, a yellow **Confirm Students** banner appears on the **Front Desk**. See [Review Screening Alerts](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/review-screening-alerts.md#confirm-students-for-a-pickup).

## Check In a Student

Use a form made from the **Student Check-In** template to check a student in. Students aren't screened. If the form creates hall passes, your site also needs Hall Pass. For how passes work, see [Pass Statuses](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/hall-pass/pass-statuses.md).

1. Under **Start a Check-In or Check-Out**, click your student check-in form.
2. Check the **Check-In Point**.
3. Under **Confirm Student Identity**, search for the student by name, then click **Confirm Identity**.
4. Fill out the rest of the steps. If the form has a **Create Hall Pass** step, check where the pass goes. The pass brings the student from the check-in point to their destination, so you don't have to write a separate pass in Hall Pass.
5. Click **Check In Student**.
6. Verify the result: The panel shows **Checked In**. If the form has a **Create Hall Pass** step, the student's pass appears in Hall Pass.

To find a student check-in later, use **Recent Activity** or the [Activity Log](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/activity-log.md).

## Check Out a Student

Use a form made from the **Student Self Check-Out** template to check a student out. Students can use this form at a kiosk, and you can run it for them at the **Front Desk**.

1. Under **Start a Check-In or Check-Out**, click your student check-out form.
2. Check the **Check-In Point**.
3. Under **Confirm Student Identity**, search for the student by name, then click **Confirm Identity**.
4. Fill out the rest of the steps.
5. Click **Check Out Student**.
6. Verify the result: The panel shows **Checked Out**.

## Record a Past Check-In

If a visitor checked in on paper, such as while your kiosk was down, you can add the check-in afterward with the time it happened.

1. Start the check-in as usual.
2. At the top of the check-in panel, next to **Check-In Time: Now**, click **Edit** and enter when the visitor arrived.
3. If the visitor already left, select **Already checked out** and enter the **Check-Out Time**.
4. Finish the check-in.
5. Verify the result: **Recent Activity** shows the check-in at the time you entered.

Past entries don't create hall passes. The **Create Hall Pass** step shows "Hall passes are not created for past entries."

## See Who's Checked In

**Currently Checked In** lists every visitor who checked in at your check-in points, from the **Front Desk** or a kiosk, and hasn't checked out. The number next to the title is how many are on site. **Duration** shows how long each visitor has been there.

Only check-ins made with a visitor form appear here. Student check-ins and check-outs, including pickups, don't.

Click a visitor's name to open their details in the **Activity Log**.

![Front Desk Currently Checked In listing 4 fictional visitors with their forms, how long each has been on site, and Check Out](https://mintcdn.com/goguardian/vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi/images/screenshots/front-desk/04-currently-checked-in.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi\&q=85\&s=6a357f2927b0c4c8bd63fc7749ab30bd)

## Check Out Visitors

Check out visitors when they leave, so **Currently Checked In** shows who's still on site.

1. In **Currently Checked In**, click **Check Out** next to the visitor. To check out several visitors at once, select them and click **Check Out** above the list.
2. Click **Check Out** to confirm. A check-out can't be undone, but you can change the check-out time later from the visitor's **Activity Log** details.
3. Verify the result: The visitor no longer appears in **Currently Checked In**.

If your form allows it, visitors can also check themselves out at a kiosk. See [The Kiosk Check-In Experience](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/kiosk-check-in-experience.md).

Visitors still checked in at the end of the day are checked out automatically at midnight, in your site's time zone. If a visitor left earlier, change their check-out time in the [Activity Log](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/activity-log.md#change-check-in-and-check-out-times).

![Currently Checked In with 2 visitors selected and Print Badges, Check Out, and Clear above the list, highlighted](https://mintcdn.com/goguardian/vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi/images/screenshots/front-desk/05-currently-checked-in-selected.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi\&q=85\&s=145a242de72153c247f9ff01c52bad89)

## Print Badges

You can print a badge for any checked-in visitor whose form has a **Print Badge** step. The **Front Desk** prints to a printer connected to your computer or to a kiosk's printer. To set up printers, see [Badge Printers](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/badge-printers.md).

When you check a visitor in from the **Front Desk**, you're asked to print their badge before you see the result. See [Start a Check-In or Check-Out](#start-a-check-in-or-check-out). To print or reprint a badge later:

1. In **Currently Checked In**, click **More actions** (⋮) next to the visitor, then select **Print Badge**.
2. Select a **Printer**. The printer you last used in this browser is selected for you. To see printers at another check-in point, change the check-in point next to it.
3. Click **Print**.
4. Verify the result: The badge prints, and a green check appears next to it.

To print badges for several visitors, select them in **Currently Checked In**, click **Print Badges**, and follow the same steps. Badges print 1 at a time. If one fails, printing stops so you can fix the printer, then click **Retry**. To stop printing the rest, click **Stop**, then click **Resume** to continue later.

If a badge doesn't print, check that the printer is on and has labels, then click **Retry** or choose another printer. If it still doesn't print, tell your IT team which printer and check-in point. See [Troubleshoot Badge Printing](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/troubleshoot-badge-printing.md).

![Front Desk Print Badge panel with the Front Office check-in point and a front desk printer selected and Ready, next to a kiosk printer that's Not Connected](https://mintcdn.com/goguardian/vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi/images/screenshots/front-desk/06-print-badge-panel.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi\&q=85\&s=1bd098542a096f9e3199e5e5141c35b5)

## Watch Your Kiosks

The **Kiosks** card shows each kiosk at your check-in points and updates as visitors and students use them.

| Status | What it means |
| - | - |
| **Active** | A check-in or check-out is in progress. The card shows the name (or "Not identified yet" before identity is confirmed), the form, and the **Current Step**. |
| **Inactive** | The kiosk is online, and no one is using it. The card shows when it was last used. |
| **Offline** | The kiosk isn't connected. Check that the device is on, awake, and connected to the internet. |
| **Needs Review** | A possible match or flagged answer needs a staff decision. Click **Review Alerts**. |
| **Needs Confirmation** | Students selected for a pickup need confirmation. Click **Review**. |
| **Screening Error** | A screening check didn't run. Click **Review**. |

If you need to take over a check-in from the kiosk, such as for a visitor or student who's stuck, click **Edit Check-In** (or **Edit Check-Out**) on the card. Their check-in opens in your panel, where you can finish it on their behalf. When the kiosk has an alert, the same button is **View Details**.

If a kiosk is offline and you can't get it back, check visitors and students in from the **Front Desk** until it's fixed, and tell your IT team the kiosk's name and check-in point. See [Troubleshoot Kiosks](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/troubleshoot-kiosks.md).

![Front Desk Kiosks card with the Front Office Kiosk Active, showing a visitor's name, Screening Passed, and Current Step 2: Choose Host, next to an Inactive Gym Entrance Kiosk](https://mintcdn.com/goguardian/vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi/images/screenshots/front-desk/07-kiosks-card.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=vbbcOHBdrxzrcZoi\&q=85\&s=5cbfd5ec30f7d6021ad318d1acc63316)

## Review Alerts

When a check-in or check-out needs a staff decision, a banner appears at the top of the **Front Desk**, such as "**Possible Watchlist Match** for JANE DOE at Front Office Kiosk." Click **Review Alerts** or **Review** on the banner. For how to decide on each alert, see [Review Screening Alerts](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/review-screening-alerts.md).

## Review Recent Activity

**Recent Activity** shows the 5 latest check-ins and check-outs at your check-in points, with the time, name, check-in point or kiosk, form, and status. A red alert icon next to the status means the check-in or check-out had a screening alert or flagged answer.

* Click a name to open the details in the **Activity Log**. For a check-in that's still **In Progress**, the name opens it in your panel instead.
* To print a badge or check out a visitor from here, click **More actions** (⋮).
* To see everything, click **View All**. See [Activity Log](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/activity-log.md).

## Troubleshoot the Front Desk

| Problem | Cause | Fix |
| - | - | - |
| The **Front Desk** shows only the **Set Up Visitor** checklist | Your site is missing a form, a notification list, or a check-in point. | Ask a Site Admin to finish setup. See [Set Up GoGuardian Visitor](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/set-up-visitor.md). |
| **Check-In Points:** shows **None** | You aren't assigned to a check-in point. | Ask a Site Admin to assign you. See [Check-In Points](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/check-in-points.md). |
| A form is missing from **Start a Check-In or Check-Out** | The form is disabled or archived. | Ask a Site Admin to enable it. See [Create and Manage Forms](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/create-and-manage-forms.md). |
| You can't click **Check In Visitor** | Screening is still running, or an alert needs a decision. | Wait for screening to finish, or review the alert at the top of the panel. See [Review Screening Alerts](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/review-screening-alerts.md). |
| A badge doesn't print | The printer is off, out of labels, or not connected. | Check the printer, then click **Retry** or choose another printer. If it still fails, tell your IT team. See [Troubleshoot Badge Printing](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/troubleshoot-badge-printing.md). |
| A kiosk shows **Offline** | The device is off, asleep, or not connected to the internet. | Check the device, and check visitors and students in from the **Front Desk** meanwhile. If it stays offline, tell your IT team. See [Troubleshoot Kiosks](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/troubleshoot-kiosks.md). |
| A student check-in isn't in **Currently Checked In** | Only visitor check-ins appear there. | Find it in **Recent Activity** or the **Activity Log**. |
| **Print Badge** is missing for a visitor | The form the visitor checked in with had no **Print Badge** step. | Ask a Site Admin to add the step to the form. It applies to visitors who check in after the change. |

## Resources

* [Review Screening Alerts](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/review-screening-alerts.md)
* [The Kiosk Check-In Experience](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/kiosk-check-in-experience.md)
* [Activity Log](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/activity-log.md)
* [Badge Printers](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/badge-printers.md)
* [Troubleshoot Badge Printing](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/troubleshoot-badge-printing.md)
* [Kiosks](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/kiosks.md)
* [Troubleshoot Kiosks](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/troubleshoot-kiosks.md)
* [Form Steps Reference](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/form-steps-reference.md)
* [Notifications](https://docs.goguardian.com/products/visitor/notifications.md)


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