Host approvals
How hosts approve, ask a visitor to wait or decline by push, WhatsApp, SMS link or email, and how delegates and timeouts keep nobody stuck at reception.
Agoo is in early access. This page describes the feature as it ships to early-access organisations; screens are illustrative.
When a visitor arrives, their host hears about it straight away, wherever they are. If your rules say the host must approve, the host answers from the alert itself: no app to open, no phone call to reception.
When approval is needed
You decide, per site, in Console → Settings → Sites → (site) → Check-in rules:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Walk-ins need approval | Always, only for certain visitor types, or never (the host is just told). |
| Invited guests need approval | Usually off: the host already invited them. Turn it on for high-security sites. |
| Wait for the host | How long the host has to answer, for example 5 minutes. |
| Then ask | Reception: the visit is flagged at the top of On site. Delegates come later. |
Requests from your request page always need the host's approval before a pass is sent, whatever these rules say. Approving a request before the visitor arrives doesn't check anyone in: the visit becomes expected, the visitor gets their pass with the news, and when they arrive the host isn't asked again. Approving a visitor who is already at reception checks them in.
A watchlist match always holds the check-in for your security team, never the host, whatever the rules say. Your site's security leads get an alert by SMS or email (by push once the apps ship); the host isn't told about the match. See Watchlist.
What the host receives
Agoo sends the alert on the channels you set in Console → Settings → Notifications, in order, moving to the next if the first isn't opened. A common order is push first, then WhatsApp or SMS after 60 seconds.
| Channel | What it looks like | Answer with |
|---|---|---|
| Push (Workspace app) | "Ama Owusu is at reception. Coastline Consult · Meeting at 10:30 am · Lobby iPad" | Buttons on the notification |
| The same message from your WhatsApp number | Buttons in the chat | |
| SMS | "Ama Owusu (Coastline Consult) is at Ridge HQ reception, 10:42 am. Let her in: voltabank.agoo.ardent.africa/a/7KQ2M9" | The link, which opens a page with the buttons |
| The visitor's details and photo | The link in the email |
Approvals by message use a link, not a text reply, so they work on every network and every phone with a browser, without signing in. Each link is unique to that visit and that host, works once, and stops working after 24 hours or as soon as the visit is answered another way. The answer is recorded in the host's name.
Answer from the link
The link opens a page on your organisation's Agoo address with the visitor's name and company, when and where, and who they're there to see.
- Let them in (or Approve, for a request before the visitor arrives) answers yes. Reception sends the visitor your way, or, for a request, the visitor gets their pass.
- Decline asks you to confirm, with a reason if you like. The visitor is told the visit can't go ahead; your reason stays with reception and the visit's record.
If someone has already answered another way, the page says so and there's nothing more to do. After 24 hours the link stops working: answer in Console → Visitors, or tell reception.
Ask to wait comes with the apps
The link offers Approve and Decline. Ask to wait, and buttons on push notifications, arrive with the Workspace app (iPhone P5, Android P6). Hosts who sign in to the Console can also answer there.
The host's answer
| Button | What happens | Visit status |
|---|---|---|
| Approve | The visitor is checked in and their badge prints. The kiosk or reception tells them the host is on the way. | Checked in |
| Ask to wait | The visitor is asked to take a seat; the host can add how long ("10 minutes"). Reception sees the note. The host approves when ready. | Awaiting approval |
| Decline | The visitor is asked, politely, to speak to reception. The host can add a reason, which only staff see. | Denied |
Whoever answers, the decision is recorded on the visit's timeline and in the audit trail: who, when, and on which channel.
Just letting the host know
When approval isn't needed, the host gets the same alert without buttons: "Ama Owusu has arrived." The visitor is checked in at once.
Delegates
A delegate is someone who can approve visitors for a host: an assistant, a deputy, a colleague in the same team. Directors and heads of department should always have one.
Add a delegate
In the Workspace app, go to Me → Delegates and add one or more colleagues. An admin can do the same in Console → People → (person) → Delegates.
Choose when they're asked
- At the same time: the delegate gets every alert with the host, and the first answer counts. Good for an assistant who manages the diary.
- If I don't answer: the delegate is asked only after the site's wait time passes. Good for a deputy.
A delegate's approval is recorded in their own name, "approved by Abena Asante for Kwame Mensah".
When nobody answers
If the host doesn't answer within the wait time, the visit goes to reception (delegates are asked first once they ship). In Console → Visitors → On site, visits awaiting approval are shown at the top with how long the visitor has waited, and flagged Host hasn't answered. The receptionist can:
- call or WhatsApp the host from the visit,
- approve on the host's behalf (recorded in the receptionist's name),
- decline, if the visitor can't be seen today.
Nobody is left standing at the desk without someone knowing.
Arrival notes from the visitor
Visitors with a pass can tell their host from it that they're running late, ask for another time, or say they can't make it. The host gets an alert on the channels they chose in Account → Notifications:
| Alert | When |
|---|---|
| Your visitor is running late | The visitor said about how late they'll be. |
| Your visitor can't make it | The visitor cancelled, with their note if they left one. |
| Your visitor asked for another time | The visitor proposed a new day and time. Answer it on the visit in the Console, or ask reception. |
The notes also show on the visit's timeline in the Console. See Invitations and passes.
Phases
| Feature | Delivered |
|---|---|
| Approve or decline from the link in SMS, WhatsApp and email alerts | P4 |
| Push alerts with Approve, Ask to wait and Decline buttons | With the Kiosk and Workspace apps: iPhone and iPad P5, Android P6 |
| Request a visit approvals | P4 |
| Delegates and escalation to reception | In stages, complete by P8 |
| Multi-step approval chains (host, then security, then facilities) | P9; custom chains on Enterprise |
Wallet passes
Visitors add their pass to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet with one tap, on every plan. It carries the same QR code, shows on the lock screen near your site and keeps itself up to date.
Front desk and guard mode
Check visitors in and out by hand, use the live on-site register, search and print, look after visitors without a phone, and run the gate in guard mode.