Set visitor and host notifications
Choose whether visitors and hosts get messages for each visitor type. For example, you can notify hosts when a Guest arrives but stay quiet for Delivery visitors.
Before you start
- You need to be an Admin or Location Admin to change visitor types.
- These switches work together with your location's channel settings (SMS, Email, Push, WhatsApp). See Manage location notifications. The location channels are under Location Settings > Notifications.
- Availability: if this option is greyed out or missing, contact your Vizmo account manager.
How the settings fit together
A message is sent only when all three layers allow it:
- The location. The channels switched on under Location Settings > Notifications.
- The visitor type. The switches on the visitor type's Notifications tab, described in this article. Invite messages use Visitors > Settings > Invites > Notification Channels instead.
- The person. Each employee has SMS Channel, Email Channel and Push Notifications Channel switches, and needs a phone number or email address on their profile. Visitors are messaged on the phone number or email address they gave at check-in.
Set notifications for a visitor type
- Sign in to the Vizmo portal and select your location.
- Go to Visitors > Settings > Visitor Types.
- Select the Edit (pencil) icon next to the visitor type you want to change.
- Open the Notifications tab.
- Turn on Visitor Notifications to send messages to visitors of this type.
- Turn on Host Notifications to tell hosts when their visitor arrives, by email, SMS, WhatsApp and Slack. This switch does not control Vizmo Pass app notifications.
- Turn on Forward Notifications if you also want a copy of the host's arrival email sent to other employees, for example reception or security. Select Add Employee, choose up to 3 employees in the Select Employees box, then select Ok. To remove someone, select the delete icon next to their name.
- Select Save at the top right of the page. Vizmo shows <visitor type name> visitor type has been saved successfully.
What must be on for a message to arrive
A message is sent only when every item in its row is in place.
| Message | What must be on |
|---|---|
| Email to the host | Host Notifications; location Email; the host's Email Channel; an email address on the host's profile |
| SMS to the host | Host Notifications; location SMS; the host's SMS Channel; a phone number on the host's profile |
| WhatsApp to the host | Host Notifications; location WhatsApp; a phone number on the host's profile. If WhatsApp cannot be delivered, Vizmo may send an SMS instead. |
| Slack message to the host | Host Notifications; location Push; the host's Push Notifications Channel; the Slack integration connected and the host matched to their Slack user |
| Vizmo Pass notification to the host | Location Push; the host's Push Notifications Channel. Host Notifications does not control this one. |
| Message to the visitor (SMS, email or WhatsApp) | Visitor Notifications; location SMS or Email switched on (keep one of them on even if you also use WhatsApp); the visitor's phone number for SMS or WhatsApp, or their email address for email. If WhatsApp cannot be delivered, Vizmo sends an SMS instead. The welcome email is sent once check-in is complete, so when an approval is needed it arrives after the approval is granted. |
| Invite message to an attendee | The matching SMS, Email or WhatsApp switch under Notification Channels in Visitors > Settings > Invites; the same channel on at the location; the attendee's phone number or email address. See Set up invites. |
To include a link to the visitor's digital badge in these messages, turn on Digital Badges on the visitor type's Badge tab.
Hosts set their own channels under Notification Channels on their Profile page. An admin can also change them on the employee's page in the Directory.
If the host has an assistant
- The arrival email goes to both the host and the assistant. Each of them needs an email address and their own Email Channel switched on.
- SMS, WhatsApp and Slack messages go to the assistant instead of the host, so the assistant's phone number and channel switches are the ones that count.
- The assistant has to be an active employee at the same location as the host.
How Forward Notifications work
- Only the email is forwarded. Forwarding does not send SMS, WhatsApp or Slack messages. The subject of the forwarded email starts with Forwarded:.
- The location Email channel must be on. Each selected employee needs an email address and their own Email Channel switched on.
- A host is not needed on the visit, and forwarding does not depend on the Host Notifications switch.
- If a selected employee is the host, or is the host's assistant and already gets the arrival email, they do not get a second copy.
Troubleshooting
- The host did not get a message. Check that a host was selected at check-in and that Host Notifications is on for the visitor type. If visitors can skip host selection for this type, messages only go out when a Fallback Host is set on the type's Host Screen tab. Then check the row for that channel in the table above. For Vizmo Pass notifications, also check the notification settings on the host's phone.
- The visitor did not get a message. Check Visitor Notifications, the visitor's phone number or email address, and that the location channel is on.
- "Please add at least 1 employee." Forward Notifications is on but nobody is selected. Add an employee or turn it off.
- Add Employee is greyed out. Three employees are already selected, or you only have view access.
- A selected employee did not get the forwarded email. Check the points under How Forward Notifications work, then check their spam folder.
- Can I change the SMS wording? No. Vizmo uses its standard SMS text. You can only turn each message on or off.
- A toggle is greyed out. Contact your Vizmo account manager.