Pair the tablet
In Settings, Kiosks, add a kiosk for a site. You get a single-use pairing code that is valid for 15 minutes. Open kiosk.beckondesk.com on the tablet, enter the code, and the tablet stays paired to that site.
Feature
Visitor sign-in kiosk for iPad and Android tablets.
The BeckonDesk kiosk is a web app that runs in the browser on a tablet at reception. Visitors sign themselves in, sign your NDA, answer your safety questions and are checked against five public sanctions lists and your own watchlist before they are let in. Their host is told they have arrived. It is built for receptionists, facility managers and security leads who want a visitor book that checks people as they arrive.
Setting it up
Any tablet, paired to one site, no app to install.
Lock it to the kiosk
Add the kiosk to the home screen. On Android, Fully Kiosk Browser keeps the tablet on it; on iPad, turn on Guided Access. An iPad, Android or Windows tablet, or a spare laptop, all work.
Choose what it shows
Each kiosk can show or hide the contractor, delivery, staff and "Use your phone" buttons. Add your logo, background, accent color and welcome message, and a consent checkbox with your own privacy notice.
How a walk-in signs in
Six steps, and the kiosk skips the ones that don't apply.
Visitor type
The visitor picks what kind of visit it is, such as guest, interview or contractor. If you only have one type, this step is skipped.
Details
For each visitor type you decide whether email, company, phone and purpose are hidden, optional or required, and add up to 10 questions of your own.
Host
The visitor searches for the person they are seeing. Visitor types that don't need a host skip this step.
Agreement
If the visitor type requires your NDA or site rules, the visitor reads it and signs on the screen. The signature is stored with the visit.
Sign-in questions
Your screening questions, such as a safety declaration. You set which answers refuse entry and which hold the visitor until someone approves.
Screening and done
The name and company are checked against the sanctions lists and your watchlist. A clear visitor gets a badge number and a QR pass, and the host is notified.
A strong sanctions or watchlist match is refused at the kiosk with "We're unable to clear your visit. Please see the front desk." A possible match is held for an admin to review. The visitor is not told why, and the host, receptionists and admins are emailed without the match details. See sanctions screening for the lists and thresholds.
Other ways in and out
Phone sign-in, pass scanning and returning visitors.
- Sign in on your own phone. The kiosk can show a "Use your phone" QR code. It changes every 60 seconds and works for 2 minutes. Scanning it opens the same sign-in steps on the visitor's phone, for one sign-in at that site, so a queue can sign in at once and nobody has to touch the tablet.
- Scan your pass. One camera button reads every BeckonDesk QR code. An invitation QR signs a pre-registered visitor in. A badge QR signs a visitor out, or back in if they left earlier that day. A staff pass signs a member of staff in or out.
- Returning visitors. When a walk-in types a name that exactly matches someone who has visited before, the kiosk asks "Is this you?" and shows their email and phone partly hidden. If they confirm, their details are filled in, and they are not asked to sign again while their signature covers the current version of your agreement.
- Signing out. Visitors scan the QR on their badge or phone pass, type their badge number, or pick their name where the site allows it. You can have hosts emailed when a visitor is still signed in after 2, 4, 6 or 8 hours, with a button to sign them out. Anyone still signed in after your auto sign-out time (8 hours by default) is signed out and tagged "Auto signed-out" so you can check.
- One-tap feedback. As visitors sign out, the kiosk can ask how the visit was with four faces. Results by site are on Insights, and you can switch the question off.
Agreements, questions and approvals
NDAs with versions, and questions that can stop a visit.
- One agreement, versioned. Your workspace has one agreement (an NDA, site rules, or both). Each visitor type decides whether it must be signed. The agreement has a version number and a validity in months: 12 by default, or 0 for never expiring.
- Re-sign when the wording changes. When you edit the text, you can require everyone who signed the old version to sign again. They are told it has changed the next time they sign in.
- Questions that block or hold. Sign-in questions apply across the workspace. For each one you choose whether a given answer refuses entry or holds the visitor for approval.
- Approve from email, Teams or Slack. When a question holds a visitor, the host is emailed and your Teams or Slack channel gets a post, both with Approve and Deny buttons that work for 12 hours. Every hold is also listed in Approvals. Sanctions and watchlist holds can only be cleared there, by an admin, and overriding a refusal needs a written reason.
Sign-in questions are asked in the walk-in flow and on the emailed pass. They are not asked when a pre-registered visitor scans their invitation at the kiosk, so ask pre-registered visitors to answer them on their pass before they arrive (see visitor pre-registration).
Host notifications
The host hears first, and the visitor sees "on my way".
- Arrival email. The host gets an email with an "I'm on my way" button. Tapping it shows the message on the kiosk's finish screen and emails the visitor.
- Teams and Slack channels. Arrivals can also post to one Microsoft Teams channel (through a Teams Workflows link) or one Slack channel, with the same buttons. These are channel posts, not direct messages to the host.
- Copy reception in. Each site can add up to five extra addresses, such as reception or an assistant, that get every arrival email.
- Your wording. Every email can be switched off or rewritten, carries your logo and color, and can be sent from your own Microsoft 365 mailbox.
After sign-in and around the lobby
Wi-Fi, safety briefing, badge and lobby screen.
- Badge number and phone pass. Every visitor gets a badge number and a QR pass to keep on their phone. The pass shows the site's guest Wi-Fi only while they are signed in.
- Guest Wi-Fi. Set a Wi-Fi name and password per site. They appear on the kiosk after sign-in, on the phone pass and on the lobby screen. There is no captive-portal link.
- Safety message or video. Each site can show a message or a safety video straight after sign-in.
- Printed badge, if you want one. A Print badge button sends the badge to the tablet's normal print dialog, so any printer it can already use will work. See visitor badge printing for sizes and design.
- Lobby screen. Open kiosk.beckondesk.com/lobby on a paired screen in reception. It shows the time, your logo, a welcome message and the guest Wi-Fi. If the site turns it on, it also lists today's expected visitors by first name and company, up to 12. During an evacuation it shows only the evacuation notice.
- Site capacity. Set a maximum for each site and, if you choose, refuse sign-ins when it is full. The count includes visitors only, not contractors or staff.
- Emergencies. Pressing and holding the evacuation button on any kiosk starts a roll call and emails your admins (see evacuation roll call). A site lockdown stops kiosk sign-ins while sign-out and evacuation keep working (see lockdown and duress).
Accessibility, privacy and connection
What the kiosk does for the next person in line.
- Larger text and high contrast. Two buttons on the kiosk switch to larger text or a high-contrast display.
- Idle wipe. If nobody touches the screen for 50 seconds during a sign-in, the kiosk asks "Are you still there?". With no answer after 20 more seconds, it clears what was typed and goes back to the welcome screen. Details are also cleared after every finished sign-in.
- Offline sign-outs. If the connection drops, sign-outs scanned or typed on the Sign out screen are kept on the tablet (up to 200, for 24 hours) and sent with their real time when it comes back. Sign-ins need a connection, because each one needs the live sanctions and watchlist check.
- English only. The kiosk screens are in English. Other languages are not available.
The details
What buyers usually ask about.
| Topic | How it works |
|---|---|
| Hardware | Any tablet or laptop with a current browser. A 10-inch or larger screen is easier standing up. A camera is needed to scan QR passes. |
| Install | None. It is a web app you add to the home screen. There is no app-store app. |
| Pairing | Single-use code, valid 15 minutes. Each kiosk belongs to one site of one workspace; it cannot be shared between companies. |
| Connection | Needed for sign-in. Sign-outs on the Sign out screen queue offline (200 items, 24 hours). |
| Custom fields | Up to 10 per visitor type, plus email, company, phone and purpose set to hidden, optional or required. |
| Agreements | One per workspace, required per visitor type, with version number, validity in months and optional re-sign. Signed on the kiosk or on the emailed pass. |
| Host alerts | Email, plus a Teams or Slack channel post. Text messages are not available. |
| Photos and ID | No visitor photos, no face recognition and no ID scanning at the kiosk. |
| Language | English only. |
| Price | Included in the single plan at $79 per location per month, and in the 30-day free trial. See pricing. |
Frequently asked
Which tablets can run the BeckonDesk kiosk?
Any tablet with a current web browser: an iPad, an Android tablet, a Windows tablet or a spare laptop. Nothing is installed from an app store. A screen of 10 inches or more is comfortable to use standing up, and the tablet needs a camera if visitors will scan QR passes. Lock it to the kiosk with Fully Kiosk Browser on Android or Guided Access on iPad.
What happens if the kiosk loses its internet connection?
Sign-ins wait for the connection, because every sign-in needs a live sanctions and watchlist check. Sign-outs made on the Sign out screen are kept on the tablet, up to 200 for 24 hours, and sent with their real time when the connection returns.
Can the kiosk run in languages other than English?
No. The kiosk is in English only.
Does the kiosk take a photo of each visitor?
No. BeckonDesk does not capture visitor photos, and there is no face recognition.
Do I need a badge printer?
No. Every visitor gets a badge number and a QR pass they can keep on their phone. If you want paper badges, the kiosk has a Print badge button that uses the tablet's normal print dialog, so any printer the tablet can already print to will work.
Put the kiosk on a tablet you already have.
Start a 30-day trial with every feature and no card, pair a tablet, and sign yourself in. Or book a demo and we will walk you through the walk-in flow, the host email and sign-out.