Know when a customer has arrived for their booking

Before you start

• The owner's sign-in for the portal. Anyone else sees “Only the owner can change this.”
• For the front desk: a tablet or a second screen with a web browser, where you can sign in to the portal with the owner's sign-in.
• For the poster code: a web page address. Without one, the poster part says “Your web page has no address yet. Set one up under Webpage to get a poster code.”

Steps

Turn check-in on

1. In the portal, open Calendar, then Arrival check-in.
2. Tick Turn on arrival check-in. It saves at once. You should see “Check-in is on.” and more settings below it.
3. Under Tell me when a customer arrives, pick In the portal, or By email too if you want an email as well. The email goes to your business's alert address, and to the person the visit is booked with if they have an email address.

Set up the front desk screen

1. Optional: type four digits in Staff PIN for the check-in screen (optional) and press Set PIN. You should see “Staff PIN saved.” With a PIN set, nobody can sign out of the check-in screen without it, even by pressing Escape.
2. On the tablet at your desk, sign in to the portal, open Calendar, then Arrival check-in, and press Open the check-in screen. The screen fills with “Welcome to your business name. Enter your phone number to check in.” and a big keypad.
3. Leave it there. A customer types the phone number they booked with and presses Check in. They see “Thanks, their first name. You're checked in. We've let them know you're here. Please have a seat.” The screen goes back to the start by itself.
4. The check-in screen shows nothing of your line or your bookings, only the customer's first name after they check in.

Put up the poster code

1. Under Poster QR code, pick the Code color, Background color and Corner style if you want to.
2. Press Print the poster, or Download PNG, Download SVG or Download PDF, and put it where customers wait.
3. A customer scans it with their phone, types the number they booked with and presses Check in. The poster only checks in people who already have a booking.

Let customers check in from their booking page

1. Nothing to set up. With check-in on, on the day of the visit, the customer's own booking page (the one their confirmation email links to under Need to move or cancel it?) shows an I'm here button.
2. When they press it, they see that you know they are here, and they show up in your line like any other check-in.

Work the line

1. Keep Calendar, then Arrival check-in, open on your own screen. The line shows Here now (people who have checked in, in order), and Coming up (bookings not here yet).
2. When someone checks in, a banner appears over whatever portal screen you are on, with See the line and Dismiss.
3. If a customer tells you in person, press Here next to their booking under Coming up. If someone was marked by mistake, press Not here.
4. A booked visit is finished in your calendar, the way it always was. Checking in does not close it.

When customers can check in

• From 90 minutes before the booking starts until it ends. Earlier, the booking page says “It is too early to check in. Try again closer to your time.”
• Only for a booking that is still on, and only with the phone number on the booking. If no booking is found, the customer is asked to check the number or ask at the front desk.

It worked when

Book yourself in for a visit starting within the next hour, with your own phone number, the way you book a customer in yourself. Type that number on the check-in screen and press Check in. You should see the thank-you message on the tablet, and your test booking under Here now in The line on your own screen.

Good to know

• The alert works only while the portal is open. The portal looks for new arrivals every few seconds on a screen that has it open. You do not see the alert on a tablet that is showing the check-in screen, or on a screen that is asleep. To hear about arrivals anywhere, choose By email too.
• Signing out of the check-in screen. Press Staff: sign out in the corner. This signs that tablet out of the portal, so sign in again to use it. With a PIN set, it asks “Staff PIN to sign out of this screen:” first.
• Forgot the PIN? Change it from the portal on another device. To change or remove it, type the current PIN in Current PIN first, then press Change PIN or Remove PIN.
• English only for now. The check-in screen, the poster page and the I'm here button are in English.
• Customers without a booking. If you keep a line for people who come in without a booking, the check-in screen also shows a code they scan and an I don't have a booking button, and they appear in the same line.

Related help

• Book a customer in myself
• Try a test booking
• All help pages