4 ways to automate visitor sign-ins

#1 - The basic check-in

Who it's for: Single-site businesses logging the occasional visitor, where someone at the door can capture a few details and move on.

Available on: Basic.

What it is: A visitor sign-in is a stamped record of who came onto site, who they came to see, and why. This version is four steps on a phone: pick whether the person is arriving or leaving, type the visitor's name, type who they are here to see, and type a one-line reason. Each completion is one stamped record. The server captures the time, so the log builds itself as the day goes on.

In practice: Take a three-site garden centre. The till staff keep a phone by the entrance. A seed rep walks in, the cashier opens the canvas, picks "Arriving", types "Priya Shah", types "no host", and types "selling bulb stock for autumn". Submitted. Time captured. When the rep leaves, the cashier fires it again on "Leaving". Two stamped records for one visit, no clipboard, no half-legible visitor book that the next person cannot read.

Why it works: The record is the point. Nobody has to change how they greet a visitor. What changes is that there is now a server-side, time-stamped entry for every person who walked in, with a name, a host, and a reason attached. If anyone asks "who was on site at 2pm?", the answer is a list of completions, not a guess.

Steps included:

• 1 single-choice step (Arriving or Leaving)
• 1 text input (visitor name)
• 1 text input (who they are here to see)
• 1 text input (reason for the visit)

When to upgrade:

1. Add written guidance (#2) once more than one person mans the door, so everyone signs the same people in the same way.
2. Add photo evidence (#3) once you want to be able to put a face to a name on the record.
3. Add a signature (#4) once visitors need to acknowledge site rules at the point of entry.

#2 - With written guidance

Who it's for: Sites with rotating reception or no dedicated front desk, where whoever is nearest signs the visitor in.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The basic sign-in plus two guidance panels woven through the canvas. One panel sits at the top and spells out who counts as a visitor. Another sits lower down and tells the person what to do when the host is not around or was not expecting anyone. A staff member who has never signed a visitor in before gets the same instruction as someone who has done it a hundred times, without anyone having to stand over them.

In practice: Take a busy dental practice with no permanent receptionist. Whoever is free greets people. A courier arrives with a delivery for the practice manager, who is out at lunch. The first guidance panel has already reminded the nurse that couriers count as visitors and should be signed in. The second panel tells her exactly what to do: call the duty manager, sign the courier in anyway, write "no host" in the host field, and do not leave them alone in a treatment area. The nurse follows the steps on screen and the record is clean, even though the usual host was nowhere to be seen.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A "who needs to sign in" panel at the start that names the people staff often forget: delivery drivers, contractors, friends of staff, anyone who is not an employee.
2. A "what to do if there's no host around" panel that gives a clear fallback: call the duty manager, sign them in anyway, write "no host", do not leave them unattended.
3. Consistent handling across whoever happens to be on the door that day.

Why it works: Written guidance sits inline at the moment the person is about to act. The nurse reads the "who signs in" panel as she opens the canvas, and the "no host" panel is right there when the awkward case actually happens. It is not a policy document filed in a drawer. It is on the screen at the moment of the task, so the decision gets made the same way every time.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (who needs to sign in)
• 1 single-choice step (Arriving or Leaving)
• 1 text input (visitor name)
• 1 text input (who they are here to see)
• 1 text input (reason for the visit)
• 1 guidance panel (what to do if there's no host around)

When to upgrade: Move to Visitor Sign-in #3 once a name on the record is not enough. Once you would want to put a face to the person, or check later who actually came in, the typed name on its own starts to look thin.

#3 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Multi-site businesses wanting a visual record of every visitor, so the name on the log is backed by a face.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The guided sign-in plus a photo step taken as the visitor checks in. The staff member takes a quick portrait, or a shot of the visitor's badge or ID if they have one, and it stays attached to the record for the visit. A typed name says who they claimed to be. A photo shows who actually walked in.

In practice: Take a regional logistics firm with four depots. Drivers and agency staff come and go all day, and head office wants the same standard at every gate. A subcontracted driver pulls in at the Leeds depot, gives a name, and the gatehouse takes a photo of the driver's licence as part of the sign-in. The same canvas runs at the other three depots, so every site builds a visual log the same way. If a load goes missing weeks later, the depot does not have a name that may or may not be real. It has a photo of the person and the licence they showed at the gate.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A photo step after the typed details, capturing the visitor or their ID.
2. A visual record that backs up the typed name, so an entry is harder to fake or mistype.
3. A consistent visual standard across every site running the same canvas.

Why it works: A name is a claim. A photo is evidence. The two together stand up in a way the name alone does not. The typed details say who the visitor said they were; the photo shows who was actually at the door. Captured at the same moment, on the same device, the photo cannot be added or swapped after the visit is over.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (who needs to sign in)
• 1 single-choice step (Arriving or Leaving)
• 1 text input (visitor name)
• 1 text input (who they are here to see)
• 1 text input (reason for the visit)
• 1 guidance panel (what to do if there's no host around)
• 1 photo step (visitor or their ID)

When to upgrade: Move to Visitor Sign-in #4 once visitors need to acknowledge something at the point of entry, such as site rules, a safety briefing, or a confidentiality notice, and you want their signature against it.

#4 - With photo and signature

Who it's for: Security-conscious or audited sites needing a signed acknowledgement that the visitor has read the site rules.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The photo-evidenced sign-in plus a visitor signature at the end. The phone is passed to the visitor, who signs to confirm they have read the site rules. That gives four things on one record: the time, the typed details, a photo, and a signature. An auditor or an insurer would accept this as a contemporaneous sign-in at the level expected from a signed paper register, captured in under a minute at the door.

In practice: Take a manufacturing plant that runs visitor inductions for safety reasons. Anyone stepping onto the factory floor has to acknowledge the rules first: high-vis required, no phones near the line, follow your host at all times. A machinery supplier arrives for a service visit. The host signs them in, takes a photo, then hands the phone over. The supplier signs to say they have read the rules. If the supplier later has an accident on the floor, the plant has a signed, time-stamped, photographed record that the rules were put in front of them and acknowledged before they went in.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A signature step at the end of the sign-in.
2. A signed acknowledgement that the visitor has read the site rules, on the same record as the time, the typed details, and the photo.
3. A defensible entry that stands up if a visit is ever questioned by an auditor or an insurer.

Why it works: The signature is what closes the loop. The other three pieces say a named person was here, at this time, and this is what they looked like. The signature adds: and this visitor confirms they were told the rules. Captured on the same device, at the same moment, in the same record, the four together are what an auditor or an insurer expects to see.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (who needs to sign in)
• 1 single-choice step (Arriving or Leaving)
• 1 text input (visitor name)
• 1 text input (who they are here to see)
• 1 text input (reason for the visit)
• 1 guidance panel (what to do if there's no host around)
• 1 photo step (visitor or their ID)
• 1 signature step (visitor sign-off)

When to upgrade: The next variations layer Poppi on top. A Poppi briefing that flags which visitors are expected today from the calendar. A Poppi gate that decides whether a visitor needs the full induction or a quick log. A Poppi action that pings the host the moment their visitor signs in. Coming in the next post update.

How to pick the right version

You do not need to know how the canvas builder works to pick the right version. You only need to answer three questions about how your site runs.

Is it just you signing people in, or do other people run it too?

If one person handles the door and knows the drill, the basic check-in (#1) is enough. You know who counts as a visitor and what to do when a host is missing, so you do not need the canvas to coach you.

If anyone else might sign a visitor in (a rotating reception, whoever is nearest, a new starter), go to #2 onwards. The guidance panels are what stop the awkward cases being handled differently every time. You write the guidance once; everyone reads it inline.

Do you need a photo as proof, or is the typed record enough?

If a name and a reason on the log is all you would ever need, the typed record is enough. Go to #1 or #2.

If you would want to put a face to the name later, or confirm who actually came in, go to #3. The photo at the moment of sign-in gives a visual record the typed name cannot.

Do you need the visitor to sign off at the end?

If signing in is purely a record and nobody needs the visitor to acknowledge anything, stick at #3.

If visitors have to confirm they have read the site rules or a safety briefing, the signature is the lock. Go to #4. The signature closes the loop with the visitor's own confirmation on the same record as the time, the typed details, and the photo.

Related workflows

• Contractor sign-in
• Lone worker check-ins
• Delivery received
• Tool and asset checkout
• Lost and found log

Conclusion

A visitor sign-in is a stamped record of who came onto site, who they came to see, and why. The version a multi-site business runs turns a stack of unreadable visitor books into one searchable log, with a photo and a signed acknowledgement on every entry that holds up if a visit is ever questioned.

Pick the version that matches how your site runs today, not the most thorough one you can imagine running someday. Open each template in the playground above and try it on a real visitor this week.