Custom Visitor Registration: Why Not Every Guest Should Check In the Same Way

TL;DR:

Most offices greet every visitor with the same sign-in screen . The courier dropping a parcel answers the same questions as the contractor who’s about to work in the huddle room . One of them is standing there far too long. The other one hasn’t been asked nearly enough.

Custom visitor check-in flows fix that. Instead of one sign-in process for everyone, you build a few, one per type of visitor , and each person only sees the steps that actually apply to them.

Here’s why it’s worth doing, how it works in most visitor management systems, and what it looks like in YAROOMS.

The Problem With One Visitor Registration Flow for Everyone

When you have a single sign-in process, you’re forced to choose between two bad options:

• Make it short, and it works nicely for guests, but your contractor walks onto site without signing anything, watching a safety video, or proving they’re insured. You have no record if something goes wrong.
• Make it thorough, and you’re compliant , but now the delivery driver is tapping through a safety questionnaire and an NDA to hand over a box of printer paper.

Most organizations pick the short version and quietly accept the risk. Custom flows mean you don’t have to pick.

Benefits of a Custom Visitor Registration Flow

For Companies

Better records where it counts. The visitors who need documentation actually produce it, signed site rules, an uploaded insurance certificate, a completed safety induction. Not because reception chased them, but because they couldn’t get a QR code without it.

A faster lobby. Deliveries and routine guests move through in seconds instead of queuing behind someone filling in fields that don’t apply to them. Reception spends less time explaining the tablet.

Only the data you can justify. Asking every visitor for a car registration number when most arrive by train is hard to defend. Per-type flows let you ask the parking question only of people who park.

Something useful in an emergency. When the alarm goes off, a good visitor log tells you who’s in the building, what type of visitor they are, and whether they need an escort. That’s only true if the log was built properly at check-in.

Badges that mean something. If a contractor’s badge looks different from a client’s, any employee can spot someone in a place they shouldn’t be, without logging into anything.

For Visitors

Clients and guests get a short, welcoming arrival. Name, host, badge, done. A two-minute security process sends a message you probably don’t intend to send to someone you’re trying to sell to.

Interview candidates get to arrive without fuss. They’re already nervous. Being handed a tablet and asked to categorise themselves in front of a lobby full of people doesn’t help. Pre-register them and the whole thing takes ten seconds.

Contractors get to do the paperwork at their own desk, the night before, instead of standing at reception arguing about whether they really need to watch the video. When they arrive, they scan and go.

Couriers get out fast, which is all they want.

How Custom Visitor Registration Works

Almost every visitor management system handles this the same way, even if the wording differs. Envoy calls them “sign-in flows,” OfficeRnD call them “check-in flows,” YAROOMS calls them “visitor registration flows .” The idea is identical.

Here’s how it works:

1. You define your visitor types. Guest, contractor, courier, candidate, whatever matches who actually turns up at your building. Three or four is usually plenty to start.

2. You build a flow for each one by adding steps. The steps available are broadly the same everywhere:

• Visitor details, name, company, phone, car registration
• Purpose of visit
• A document to sign, NDA , site rules, waiver
• A checkbox to agree to something lighter, like a Wi-Fi policy
• A document to upload, insurance, certification, ID
• A photo to capture
• A video to watch, usually a safety induction
• A questionnaire
• A badge to print
• An access code or QR credential

3. You decide when each step happens. Most systems let you show a step during online pre-registration , at the reception device, or both. This matters more than it sounds, document uploads belong before arrival, because nobody has their insurance certificate on their phone while standing in your lobby.

4. The visitor sees only their steps. A contractor gets the video and the upload. A courier gets two fields and a notification to the facilities inbox. Neither one knows the other flow exists.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Four short examples, to make it concrete:

• Client: Name -> host -> badge. Under a minute.
• Candidate: Recruiter pre-registers them, NDA signed at home. They arrive, confirm their name, badge prints.
• Contractor: Insurance, safety video and site rules all done beforehand. Expired insurance blocks registration. On the day: photo, contractor badge, access to their work area only.
• Courier: Company, recipient, facilities notified. Twenty seconds, no badge.

How YAROOMS Supports Custom Visitor Registration Flows

In YAROOMS you build the registration flow under Settings -> Visitors, then pick a location and use + Add step to assemble it.

The steps you can add are:

• Visitor details, name, company, contact details, car plate, and other fields you choose
• Digital signature on a PDF, the visitor signs directly on the document
• Checkbox agreement, for confirming rules or policies
• Upload documents, photos or files
• Take photo
• Watch a video
• Fill a questionnaire
• Send an email with arrival details, access instructions, or a welcome message

Each step can be added more than once. If a contractor needs to sign three separate documents, that’s three signature steps, not one document crammed with everything.

Alongside the flow, purpose of visit can be switched on per location as a dropdown, interview, meeting, delivery, whatever you define. It’s stored on each visit rather than on the person, so a returning visitor can have a different reason each time, and you can filter the visits table by it later.

Custom steps in practice

A visitor flow can stay short for simple visits and add only the steps that matter for higher-risk arrivals.

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Scroll sideways to browse each registration step.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How Is a Visitor Type Different From a Purpose of Visit?

The visitor type decides which steps someone sees. The purpose of visit is just a field recording why they came. A client visiting for a contract signing and a client visiting for a tour are the same type, but different purposes.

How Many Visitor Registration Steps Is Too Many?

For a guest, anything over about four steps at the reception device is too many. For a contractor, a longer flow is fine, as long as most of it happens before they arrive.

Do Visitors Need to Download an App to Check In?

No. Pre-registration is a link in an email, and arrival is a QR code. Asking someone to install an app for a one-off visit is a good way to make sure they don’t do it.

What if Someone Refuses a Step?

That’s your policy call. You can make a step mandatory so registration can’t be completed without it, or leave it optional and let reception handle exceptions.

Can Different Offices Have Different Visitor Registration Flows?

Yes, in YAROOMS the flow is configured per location, so a head office and a manufacturing site can have completely different requirements.