The Kiosk Check-In Experience

At a GoGuardian Visitor kiosk, visitors, guardians, and students check themselves in and out by following the steps on screen. Knowing what they see helps front office staff answer questions at the counter and helps Site Admins plan forms that are quick to finish. The steps come from your school’s forms, so what a visitor or student sees depends on the form they choose. To set up kiosks, see Kiosks. To change the steps, see Create and Manage Forms.

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Follow a Check-In from Start to Finish

Every kiosk check-in follows the same path. Steps that a form doesn’t include are skipped. Visitors checking out with their badge take a shorter path. See Check Out at a Kiosk.

1. Welcome: The visitor or student taps who they are, then the form they need.
2. Identity: Visitors and guardians scan their government ID or enter their details. Students scan their badge, enter their student ID, or search for their name.
3. Photo: If the form asks for one, they take a photo.
4. Form steps: They answer the form’s other steps, such as choosing a destination or host, answering questions, or agreeing to a document.
5. Review: If something needs a staff decision, the kiosk asks the visitor or student to wait. Most check-ins skip this, but pickups always wait for staff to confirm the students.
6. Done: The kiosk confirms they’re done and prints their badge if the form includes one.

While a visitor or student moves through the form, the Front Desk shows their name and current step under Kiosks. See Watch Your Kiosks.

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Start at the Welcome Screen

The welcome screen shows “Welcome to” and your site’s name, with your site’s logo and colors. See Brand Your Kiosks. Below the greeting, visitors and students tap who they are:

• I’m a Student
• I’m a Parent, Guardian, or Visitor

The kiosk shows only the choices its forms cover. A kiosk with only visitor forms shows only the second choice. Next, “What do you need to do?” lists the forms for that choice by name, such as “Visitor Check-In” or “Volunteer Check-In.” The list appears even when there’s only 1 form, so when you create forms, name each one for what the visitor or student is there to do. If any of the kiosk’s visitor forms allow self check-out, a Visitor Checkout button appears below the choices. See Check Out at a Kiosk.

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Use the Buttons at the Top

The bar at the top of the kiosk has these buttons:

• Back arrow: Returns to the previous step. From the first step, it goes back to the form list. It doesn’t appear on the welcome screen or after the last step.
• Language: Shows the current language. Tap it to switch. See Choose a Language.
• More (⋮): Start Over cancels the check-in and returns to the welcome screen. It isn’t available while the kiosk asks the visitor or student to wait for staff. Edit Kiosk Settings asks for a Site Admin’s PIN, and Sign Out asks for a staff member’s PIN. See Change Kiosk Settings.

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Choose a Language

Visitors and students can use the kiosk in English, Español, 中文, Tiếng Việt, or العربية, depending on the languages your forms include.

• On the welcome screen and form list, the language menu offers every language from the kiosk’s forms.
• After they choose a form, the menu offers only that form’s languages. If the form doesn’t include the language they chose, the kiosk switches to English.

The kiosk’s buttons and labels change language, and so does the text your school wrote for the form, such as headlines, questions, and choices. Documents in Sign Document steps stay as uploaded. To add languages to a form, see Translate a Form.

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Confirm Who’s Checking In

The first step of every form confirms who’s checking in or out. Visitors and guardians confirm their identity one way, and students another.

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Check In as a Visitor or Guardian

Visitors and guardians confirm their identity with the Confirm Visitor Identity step. Depending on the form, they scan a government ID, enter their details, or choose either one. To scan an ID:

1. The kiosk asks the visitor to hold the front of their ID, photo side facing the camera.
2. They tap Ready, and the kiosk counts down while they hold the ID steady, then takes a picture.
3. They check the picture. Try Again retakes it, and Looks Good reads the ID.
4. The kiosk fills in their name and date of birth from the ID.

If the kiosk can’t read the ID, it shows “Could not read your ID. Please try again or enter your information manually.” When the form allows manual entry, the visitor can tap Enter Manually (or Enter ID information instead after taking a picture) at any time. Then they confirm their details: Every visitor and guardian checks their details before continuing. The kiosk asks for their information as it appears on their government-issued ID: first name, middle name (optional), last name, and date of birth. Some forms also ask for a phone number. Details read from an ID are already filled in, and the visitor can correct them before tapping Confirm. Visitors must be 16 or older. The kiosk shows “You must be 16 or older” and won’t continue for a younger visitor. GoGuardian Visitor doesn’t save the ID image of a visitor under 16. Screening runs in the background as soon as the visitor finishes the identity step, after their photo if the form takes one. Visitors don’t see that it’s running or what it finds. See Understand Visitor Screening.

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Check In as a Student

Students confirm their identity with the Confirm Student Identity step. When the form allows more than 1 way, the kiosk asks them to choose one:

• Scan Badge: They hold their student badge up to the camera. The kiosk reads the QR code or barcode, then shows “Signed in as” and their name.
• Enter Student ID: They enter their student ID and tap Continue.
• Search: They search for their name, tap it, and tap Continue.

Students use the badges and student IDs they already have. Scan Badge accepts badges from Settings → Badges, the same badges students use at GoGuardian Hall Pass kiosks, and school ID cards whose barcode or QR code holds the student’s ID. Student IDs are the ones synced from your roster, such as through Clever, ClassLink, or OneRoster. For setup, see Set Up QR Codes and Badges and Sync Rosters with Clever, ClassLink, or OneRoster. If a badge doesn’t match a student at your site, the kiosk asks them to try again. If a student ID doesn’t match, it asks them to try again or ask a staff member for help. Students aren’t screened.

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Take a Photo

If the form’s identity step has Capture Photo on, the kiosk takes a photo next.

1. The kiosk shows a circle on the camera view and asks the visitor or student to align their face in it.
2. When it finds their face, it counts down and takes the photo. If it can’t, a Take Photo button appears after 5 seconds.
3. They check the photo. Try Again retakes it, and Looks Good continues.

Site Admins and staff assigned to the check-in point see the photo on the Front Desk and in the Activity Log, and it prints on the badge if the form includes it. Photos and ID images are encrypted when stored. See Understand How Visitor Protects Screening Data.

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Complete the Form’s Steps

After identity, visitors and students answer the form’s other steps in order. Each step shows the headline or instructions your school wrote for it. Searches open full screen with the device’s keyboard. A step with Save answer and skip for future visits on is skipped for returning visitors and students who already answered it on that form. See Save Answers for Returning Visitors. If a guardian has no associated students and the form doesn’t allow searching, the kiosk shows “No Students Found” and asks them to see the front desk. It returns to the welcome screen after 20 seconds. Print Badge isn’t a step visitors see. The badge prints when they finish. For every option on each step, see Form Steps Reference.

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Wait for Staff Review

Most check-ins finish as soon as the last step is done, sometimes after a moment of “Please wait.” The kiosk asks the visitor or student to keep waiting only when something needs a staff decision or screening hasn’t finished:

• A possible sex offender registry or watchlist match
• A flagged answer
• Students selected for a pickup, which staff confirm every time
• A screening check that didn’t run, which staff retry or skip

The kiosk shows “Please wait” and “A staff member is reviewing your check-in. You can continue when they’re finished.” It doesn’t say why. The same message appears for pickups and check-outs. On the Front Desk, Site Admins and staff assigned to the check-in point see the alert right away. When they decide, the kiosk updates on its own. See Review Screening Alerts.

• If staff approve, the kiosk shows the done screen.
• If staff deny the check-in, the kiosk shows “You could not check in” and “Please see the front desk.” It returns to the welcome screen after 20 seconds. The kiosk never shows the reason, so the conversation happens at the counter.

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Finish and Print a Badge

When the check-in or check-out is complete, the kiosk shows “You’re all done!” and returns to the welcome screen after 20 seconds. Return to Start returns right away. If the form prints a badge, the done screen also shows a preview of the badge, “Printing your badge…,” and the instructions from the form’s Print Badge step, such as where to wear it. If the print fails, the kiosk shows “Print failed. Please see the front desk.” Staff can reprint it from the Front Desk. See Print Badges. With Staff Print Only on in the form’s Print Badge step, the kiosk doesn’t print, and staff print the badge from the Front Desk. A check-in from the kiosk appears on the Front Desk under Currently Checked In right away, and the host is notified if the form has a Choose Host step. See Notifications.

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Check Out at a Kiosk

Visitors and students check out at a kiosk in different ways. Visitors: If their form has Allow Self Check-Out on, their badge has a QR code.

1. On the welcome screen, the visitor taps Visitor Checkout.
2. They hold the QR code on their badge up to the camera.
3. The kiosk shows “You’re checked out” and returns to the welcome screen after 20 seconds.

The Activity Log shows “Checked out by scanning their badge.” Visitors can’t check out by name at a kiosk, so staff check out a visitor without their badge from the Front Desk. A badge works for 1 check-out. See Allow Self Check-Out. Students: Students check out with a form made from the Student Self Check-Out template. They tap I’m a Student, choose the form, and confirm their identity. Guardians picking up a student use a Parent/Guardian Pickup form, which checks the students out after staff confirm them.

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Help Visitors and Students at the Kiosk

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Resources

• Kiosks
• Use the Front Desk
• Form Steps Reference
• Create and Manage Forms
• Understand Visitor Screening
• Review Screening Alerts
• Troubleshoot Kiosks