Guest and Visitor Management: Admin Portal Guide

The guest and visitor management module gives housing administrators complete oversight and control of campus visitor policies, from configuring invitation rules to tracking visitor history and managing banned individuals. This guide covers all admin portal capabilities for the guest module at /admin/visitors.

Enabling Guest Management

The guest and visitor module is controlled by a feature flag. If you don't see visitor options in your admin portal, contact Housing.Cloud support to enable the GUEST_MANAGEMENT feature for your institution.

Accessing Visitor Management

Navigate to /admin/visitors to access the main visitor management dashboard. You'll see:

• Visitor List — Searchable grid of all visitors with name, email, phone, and visit count

• Filter and Export — Filter by status, date range, or host; export to CSV for reporting

• Visitor Details — Click any visitor to view full profile with visit history and notes

• Invitation Management — View all invitations at /admin/invitations with status tracking

Managing Visitors

Viewing Visitor Details

Click any visitor in the list to open their detail page at /admin/visitors/[visitorId]. You'll see:

• Profile information (name, email, phone, date of birth, age)

• Current status (Invited, Checked-In, Checked-Out, Banned)

• Complete visit history with dates, hosts, and check-in/check-out times

• Number of total visits to campus

• Administrative notes

Banning and Unbanning Visitors

If a visitor violates campus policies, you can ban them from future visits:

1. Navigate to the visitor's detail page

2. Click Ban Visitor

3. Enter a reason for the ban (required for record-keeping)

4. Confirm the action

Banned visitors cannot receive new invitations. Their status will show as Banned across all portals. To unban a visitor, open their profile and click Unban Visitor.

Configuring Guest Policies

Navigate to /admin/visitors/config to set institution-wide visitor policies:

Invitation Time Limits

maxInvitationTimeInHours — Set the maximum duration for a single visitor invitation (default: 48 hours). This controls how long a guest can stay on campus per invitation. Residents cannot create invitations exceeding this limit.

Visitor Schedule

Define when visitors are allowed on campus using the visitorSchedule configuration:

• Set allowed days of the week

• Define time slots for each day (e.g., 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM)

• Multiple time slots per day supported

Residents can only create invitations that fall within the configured schedule. Invitations outside these hours will be blocked.

Exclusion Dates

Use visitorExclusionDates to block visitors during specific periods:

• Final exam weeks

• Move-in/move-out periods

• Campus closure dates

• Special events requiring restricted access

Add dates in the admin config panel. Residents will see these dates grayed out when creating invitations.

Phone Number Requirements

Toggle requirePhone to make phone numbers mandatory for all visitor invitations. This improves contact tracing and emergency communication capabilities.

Automatic Check-Out

Enable autoCheckOut to automatically check out visitors when their invitation period expires. This keeps visitor lists accurate without requiring manual check-out by front desk staff.

Managing Guest Forms

Navigate to /admin/setup/forms/guest to create and manage custom forms for the guest workflow. Two form types are available:

Guest Invitation Form Template

This form appears when residents create visitor invitations in the resident portal. Use it to collect:

• Emergency contact information

• Vehicle details for parking

• Dietary restrictions for dining access

• Health screening questions

• Purpose of visit

Responses are saved with the invitation and visible to operations staff during check-in.

Guest Check-In Form Template

This form appears when operations staff check in a visitor at the front desk. Use it to collect:

• Photo ID verification

• Health attestations

• Liability waivers

• Building access acknowledgments

Responses are saved with the visitor record and visible in the admin portal.

Form Management

In the forms table:

• Click New Form to create a new template

• Edit existing forms to update questions

• Toggle forms between Published and Archived

• Only one form per type can be published at a time

Customizing Email Templates

Edit the invitationEmailTemplate to customize the email sent to visitors when they receive an invitation. The template editor supports:

• Dynamic variables (guest name, host name, dates, QR code link)

• Rich text formatting

• Institution branding

• Custom instructions for visitors

Visitors receive this email with a link to their QR code for front desk check-in.

Exporting Visitor Data

Export visitor lists from the main visitor grid:

1. Apply any filters (date range, status, host)

2. Click the export button

3. Download CSV file with visitor data

Export data includes visitor names, contact information, visit counts, current status, and host information. Use exports for:

• Compliance reporting

• Occupancy tracking

• Security audits

• Policy analysis

Permissions and Access Control

Control who can invite visitors on a per-resident basis. In any resident's profile:

1. Navigate to the resident's profile page

2. Locate the canInviteVisitors toggle

3. Enable or disable visitor invitation privileges

When disabled, residents see a banner in the portal: "You are not allowed to invite visitors." Use this for:

• Residents on conduct probation

• Temporary restrictions during investigations

• Specific housing agreements or contracts

Notifications

The guest module automatically sends notifications at key points:

• GUEST_INVITATION_REQUESTED — Sent to visitor when resident creates invitation (includes QR code link)

• GUEST_ARRIVED — Sent to host resident when operations staff checks in their guest

• GUEST_WAITING — Sent to host if guest is waiting at front desk

Notifications are delivered via in-app alerts, email, and SMS based on tenant communication settings.

Common Administrative Tasks

Reviewing Pending Invitations

Navigate to /admin/invitations to see all invitations across all statuses (invited, checked-in, checked-out, canceled). Use filters to identify:

• Upcoming visitors in the next 24-48 hours

• Currently checked-in guests on campus

• Overdue check-outs (if auto-checkout is disabled)

Investigating Incidents

When investigating a visitor-related incident:

1. Search for the visitor by name in /admin/visitors

2. Open their visitor detail page

3. Review complete visit history with dates and hosts

4. Check invitation details and form responses

5. Export visitor data for incident reports

Auditing Visitor Activity

Run regular audits by:

1. Filtering visitor list by date range

2. Exporting data to CSV

3. Reviewing check-in/check-out patterns

4. Identifying frequent visitors or unusual patterns

Troubleshooting

Feature Not Visible

If you don't see /admin/visitors in your navigation, the GUEST_MANAGEMENT feature flag may not be enabled. Contact Housing.Cloud support to enable it for your institution.

Staff Cannot Check In Guests

Verify that operations staff have the checkInGuests permission enabled in their role configuration.

Residents Cannot Create Invitations

Check:

• The resident's canInviteVisitors profile setting is enabled

• The invitation dates fall within configured visitorSchedule

• The invitation duration doesn't exceed maxInvitationTimeInHours

• The dates aren't in the visitorExclusionDates list

Related Resources

• Resident Portal: Guest Invitation Guide (for students)

• Operations Portal: Visitor Check-In and Management (for front desk staff)

• Glossary: Guest Status Definitions