5 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.

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)

#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.

What it is: The basic check-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 basic check-in:

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 staff member reads the "who signs in" panel as they open 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 note (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 note (what to do if there's no host around)

#3 - With a signature

Who it's for: Businesses where a visitor's acknowledgement needs to be captured on the record, with a name and a signature against it.

What it is: The basic check-in plus a signature step at the end. The visitor or host signs to confirm their presence on site. The record then holds four things: the time, the typed details, 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.

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, hands the phone to the visitor, and the visitor signs to confirm they have read the rules. If the supplier later has an accident on the floor, the plant has a signed, time-stamped record that the rules were put in front of them and acknowledged before they went in.

What it adds to the basic check-in:

1. A signature step at the end of the sign-in, capturing the visitor's or host's acknowledgement.
2. A signed record that holds up if a visit is ever questioned by an auditor or an insurer.
3. Proof of informed consent on the same timestamp as the arrival.

Why it works: The signature is what closes the loop. The typed details say a named person was here at this time and this is why they came. The signature adds: and this person confirms they were here and acknowledged what was in front of them. Captured on the same device, at the same moment, in the same record, they stand up together.

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)
• 1 signature (sign-off)

#4 - 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.

What it is: The basic check-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 basic check-in:

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 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 photo of the visitor or their ID

#5 - With Poppi checking the photo

Who it's for: Reception teams where visitor photos get taken but nobody looks at them again. Multi-site businesses where each location logs visitors but head office can't review every photo.

What it is: A photo-checked sign-in is the basic check-in plus a photo that Poppi (AI) reviews the moment it's saved. Poppi answers one question about the image, set by you: Does the photo clearly show the visitor's face, or the ID or badge they presented? If the answer is no, Poppi posts what it spotted to the team chat, so you know the photo needs to be retaken before the visitor leaves.

In practice: A four-site professional services firm logs all visitors by photo. At 9:30am a client's consultant arrives at the Birmingham office. The receptionist runs the sign-in: "Arriving", names them, fills the host, types "quarterly review meeting". Then snaps a photo of their passport. Poppi reads it instantly: face clear, passport visible, details legible. Verdict yes, and nothing changes. Later that week at the Leeds office, a delivery driver shows up, the photo is taken but the lighting is poor and the ID is at an angle. Poppi answers no and posts to the team chat ("The photo doesn't clearly show the ID presented"). The receptionist knows right then to ask the driver for another photo while they're still at the desk, not to find a blurry shot in the log next month.

What it adds to the basic check-in:

1. A photo of the visitor or their ID that gets checked the moment it's saved, not just stored
2. A team chat message with Poppi's reason the moment a photo fails the check
3. Head office stops being the only person who ever looks at visitor photos

Why it works: The check happens in the seconds between the photo being taken and the visitor moving on. That's the only moment you can ask for a better shot. A manager reviewing photos later can only note that one is useless; Poppi catching it at the desk gets it fixed while the visitor is still there.

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)
• 1 photo of the visitor or their ID
• 1 Poppi decision (judges the photo against your question)
• 1 Poppi action (posts to the team chat if the photo fails the check)

How to pick the right version

You don't need to know how the canvas builder works to pick the right version. Every version here is the basic check-in plus one addition, so pick the additions your site actually needs.

Do other people run the sign-in, or do they rotate?

If one person handles reception 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. If anyone else might sign a visitor in, go to #2. The guidance panels are what stop awkward cases being handled differently every time.

Do you need the visitor to sign off at the point of entry?

If signing in is purely a record and the typed name is all you need, skip this one. If visitors need to acknowledge something like site rules, a safety briefing, or informed consent, #3 adds the signature.

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. If you would want to put a face to the name later, or confirm who actually came in, #4 adds a photo of the visitor or their ID.

Does anyone actually look at the photos?

If a receptionist or manager genuinely reviews every photo, #4's record is enough. If photos get taken and filed unseen, #5 has Poppi (AI) check each one as it's saved, and tell the team chat when something's wrong.

Need more than one addition? Open the version with the addition that matters most in the playground and add the others as steps. That's how the product works anyway: every option here is one step added to the same check-in.

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 and why. Every version above is the same four-field check-in plus one addition: guidance panels, a signature, a photo, or an AI check on the photo. Pick the ones your site needs and combine them in the playground.

→ Build your own visitor sign-in on Pilla.