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GoGuardian Visitor notifies staff when a visitor or student checks in to see them or is headed to their room, so a host or teacher knows they’re on the way without a call from the front office. Each staff member chooses how they get these notifications (email, push, SMS, or none) in their own Account Settings. Everyday notifications are separate from escalation alerts. When staff confirm a possible match from screening, Visitor alerts your notification lists, and staff can’t turn those alerts off in Account Settings. See Compare Escalation Alerts.

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Review the Notifications Visitor Sends

If your school also uses GoGuardian Hall Pass, a form’s Create Hall Pass step creates a pass, and Hall Pass notifies involved staff based on each staff member’s Pass events setting.

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Understand Check-In Notifications

These staff members get a check-in notification:
  • Hosts: the staff members chosen in the form’s Choose Host step.
  • Destination staff: staff assigned to the room chosen in the form’s Choose Destination step, so the teacher or staff member in that room knows the visitor or student is on the way.
Each staff member gets 1 notification per check-in. A host who is also assigned to the destination room gets the host version. The student who checks in isn’t notified, and neither are deactivated accounts. If no host is chosen and nobody is assigned to the destination room, Visitor sends no check-in notification. Each notification says who checked in and where. Destination staff also see where the visitor or student is headed.
  • Email: sent from visitor-noreply@goguardiannotifications.com with the subject “Jordan Sample checked in at Lincoln Middle School”. The email shows the Visitor or Student, Checked in at (the check-in point), Destination (if there is one), Site, and Time. For a visitor, a host’s email is titled “Your visitor checked in.”
  • Push: titled “Visitor Checked In - Lincoln Middle School” or “Student Checked In - Lincoln Middle School,” with the same message as the SMS.
  • SMS: a short message signed ”- GoGuardian Visitor.”
A host gets this text:
Destination staff get this text:
Notifications use each recipient’s GoGuardian language preference. Host check-in email titled Your visitor checked in, saying a fictional visitor checked in at Front Office and you're listed as their host, with Visitor, Checked in at, Destination, Site, and Time

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Turn Notifications On or Off

Check-in notifications are on for email, push, and SMS by default. Each staff member sets their own preferences, and the settings apply at every site they belong to. Admins can’t change them for someone else. The setting is called Visitor Check-in Host Notifications, but it covers every check-in notification, including ones you get as destination staff. It appears only for staff and admins at a site that uses Visitor.
  1. Click your name in the top-right corner, then select Account Settings.
  2. Under Notification preferences, find Visitor Check-in Host Notifications.
  3. Turn Email, Push, and SMS on or off.
  4. Click Submit.
  5. Verify the result: The switches stay as you set them when you reopen Account Settings.
Account Settings with Notification preferences listing Pass events, Writeups, Smart Reports, Site Scans, and a highlighted Visitor Check-in Host Notifications group with Email, Push, and SMS switched on, above Submit

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Set Up Push and SMS Notifications

Push notifications go to each browser where you’ve allowed notifications from GoGuardian. When you open GoGuardian, your browser asks whether to allow notifications. Click Allow in every browser where you want them. If you blocked notifications, turn them back on in the browser’s site settings. SMS notifications go to the phone number on your account in GoGuardian Org Management. Visitor can text a number only if it has 10 digits (or 11 starting with 1) and no extension. Use a mobile number, because a landline passes this check but can’t receive texts. If your number is missing or isn’t in a format Visitor can text, a warning icon appears next to SMS in Account Settings. Point to it to see “Your account does not have an SMS-capable phone number. Ask your administrator to update your account phone number.” A Super User can update the number in Org Management. See Edit Account Permissions.

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Compare Escalation Alerts

Escalation alerts go to notification lists, not hosts, and individuals can’t turn them off. To choose who gets escalation alerts, see Notification Lists. For what an alert contains and what to do with it, see Respond to a Visitor Alert.

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Troubleshoot Notifications

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Resources

Last modified on November 3, 2026