Set up multi-level approvals for visitors, invites and attendees

Use multi-level approvals when one person's decision is not enough. For example, an invite for a contractor can go first to the host's department head and then to your security lead. Each approval is a separate step, and a step starts only after the step before it has been approved.

This article covers chaining approvals, choosing approvers, what happens when nobody responds, and the messages you may see. To create a single approval, see Set up approvals for visitors and invites.

Before you start

You need to be an Admin or a Location Admin.
Availability: if this option is greyed out or missing, contact your Vizmo account manager.
Decide the module for the chain: Visitors, Invites or Attendees. You can only connect approvals that belong to the same module.
Decide who approves each step and in what order.
If a step uses Host's Department Head or Host's Department Deputy Head, check that each department has a head and a deputy head. Go to Directory > Departments and open the department. See Set up department leaders, booking limits and desk zone priorities.

How multi-level approvals work

Each approval is a box on the canvas at Visitors > Settings > Approvals.
An arrow from one box to another means the second approval starts only when the first one is Approved.
A request is fully approved when every approval that applies to it is approved. If any approval is rejected, the request counts as rejected.
You can see every approval for a request, and its status, on the request's own Approvals list (see Approval statuses below).

Build a two-step chain

Sign in to the Vizmo portal, select your location and go to Visitors > Settings > Approvals.
Use the drop-down above the canvas (All, Visitors, Invites, Attendees) to choose the module. New approvals are then created for that module.
Drag New Approval from the bar at the top onto the canvas. The Workflow Details panel opens.
On the Details tab, enter a Workflow Name, check the Module and choose the Event. Add conditions if the approval should apply only to some requests. Select Next.
On the Notifications tab, choose the approver, set the times and select Save. The next two sections explain these fields.
Drag a second New Approval onto the canvas and fill it in the same way. Select Save.
Point at the first box and drag from its connection dot to the second box. An arrow appears and the Workflow Details panel of the second box opens.
On the Details tab of the second box, Vizmo has added a condition for you: the name of the first approval, Is, Approved. Leave it in place. This condition is what makes the second approval wait.
Select Next, then Save. The arrow becomes permanent only after you save.

Approvals page with two approval boxes joined by an arrow

Workflow Details, Details tab with the condition that the first approval Is Approved

Vizmo ignores a connection between approvals for different modules, and a connection that runs in the opposite direction to an existing arrow. To build a longer chain, connect each new box to the one before it.

A box can have more than one arrow pointing at it. Vizmo adds one condition for each arrow, and the approval starts only when all of them are met.

Remove a connection or an approval

Connection: select the arrow, press Backspace and select Delete in the Delete Connection dialog. Vizmo shows The workflows connection has been deleted successfully.
Approval: select the box, press Backspace and select Delete in the Delete Workflow dialog. You can also open the box and select the bin icon at the top of the panel.

Choose the approvers

On the Notifications tab, select the Workflow Approver field. A menu opens with a checkbox for each person or group you can choose, and a Search Employee box for named employees. You can choose more than one.

Workflow Approver menu with the department head options and Search Employee

Module	Who you can choose as approver
Visitors, Host Approval	The visitor's host. This cannot be changed.
Visitors, New Approval	Host's Department Head, Host's Department Deputy Head, or named employees.
Invites	Host's Department Head, Host's Department Deputy Head, or named employees.
Attendees	Host (the host of the invite), Host's Department Head, Host's Department Deputy Head, or named employees.

The Host option is available for the notification fields in every module.

Set up the department head first

Vizmo finds the department head from the host's department. If the host has no department, or the department has no head or deputy head, Vizmo cannot find an approver for that step.

Note: when Vizmo cannot find any approver for a step, the step is marked Skipped and counts as approved. The next step in the chain then starts straight away. Always set the head and deputy head for every department that your approvals use, and add a second approver if you want a person to see every request.

If an approver has a Personal Assistant on their employee profile, Vizmo also sends the approval request to the assistant, and the assistant can approve or reject it. See Assign a personal assistant to an employee.

Set the times and the fallback approver

These fields are on the Notifications tab.

Field	What it does
No Response Time (in mins)	Required. How long Vizmo waits for a decision. When the time passes, the approval is marked No response.
No Response Notification	Required. Who is told when nobody responds, for example the host and a manager.
Fallback Approver and Fallback Approval Timeout (in mins)	Optional. If nobody has decided when the fallback time passes, Vizmo sends the same request to the fallback approver as well. Both fields are needed together.
Approval Notification and Rejection Notification	Optional. Who is told when the approval is approved or rejected.

The No Response Time must be longer than the Fallback Approval Timeout. If it is not, Vizmo shows No response time must be greater than fallback approval timeout. For example, set a fallback time of 60 and a no response time of 120: after an hour the fallback approver is asked, and after two hours the approval is marked No response.

Workflow Details, Notifications tab

What happens after No response

The link in the approver's email stops working. The approver sees This visitor approval has expired or already been completed and can no longer be updated.
An Admin or Location Admin can still approve or reject from the portal. See Approval statuses below.
Later steps in the chain do not start, because they wait for Approved.

What approvers and visitors see

Approvers get an email with a link to a page that shows the request with Reject and Approve buttons. They can also decide in the portal, and hosts can decide in Vizmo Pass. For a visit that needs the host's approval, Vizmo can also notify the host by SMS, WhatsApp, push notification or Slack if those channels are switched on for your location. See Approve or reject visitor and invite requests and Emails and messages Vizmo sends, and who receives them.

Approval page with the visitor's details and the Reject and Approve buttons

Visitors see the state of each approval on their check-in screen or invite status page, with the approver's name:

Waiting for Alex Morgan's approval
Alex Morgan has approved your visit
Alex Morgan is unavailable to meet. Please visit some other time
Alex Morgan is not reachable. Please contact receptionist or security for assistance

Steps that Vizmo skipped are not shown to the visitor. For an approval that is not a host approval, the screen shows Admin until someone decides.

Approval statuses

To see the approvals for a visit, go to Visitors > Visitor Log, open the visit and select the Approvals & More tab. For an invite, open it from Visitors > Invites and select the Approvals tab.

Visit details panel, Approvals and More tab

Status	What it means
Pending	The approver has not decided yet.
Approved	The approver accepted. Steps that wait for this approval can start.
Rejected	The approver declined. The request counts as rejected. The reason, if any, is shown as the message.
No response	The time ran out before anyone decided.
Skipped	Vizmo found no approver, so the step counts as approved. The reason is shown, for example The department has no department head assigned.

Decide on someone's behalf

Admins and Location Admins can decide a Pending or No response approval from the portal. Select the pencil icon (Edit approval) next to the approval, then select Approve or Reject. The pencil is not shown once the request is closed, for example after the visitor has checked out.

Messages you may see

When you save an approval

Message	What to do
Please enter the required details	A required field on the Details or Notifications tab is empty. Check Workflow Name, Workflow Approver, No Response Time and No Response Notification.
No response time must be greater than fallback approval timeout	Make the No Response Time longer than the Fallback Approval Timeout.
Workflow details saved successfully	The approval is saved.

When someone tries to decide

Message	What it means
You are not authorized to approve this request	The person is not one of the approvers for this step. Admins and Location Admins can still decide in the portal.
This visitor approval has expired or already been completed and can no longer be updated	The request was already decided, or the No Response Time passed. The word visitor changes to invite, desk booking or another type for other requests. An Admin or Location Admin can still decide from the portal if the status is No response.
Approval cannot be completed as the visitor has checked-out	You cannot decide after the visit has ended.
Approval cannot be done as the invite has been cancelled	Cancelled invites cannot be approved.
Approval cannot be done as the invite has expired	An attendee approval cannot be decided after the invite has ended.

Reasons shown for a skipped step

Reason	What to do
The department has no department head assigned.	Set the Department Head in Directory > Departments.
The department has no deputy head assigned.	Set the Department Deputy Head in Directory > Departments.
No eligible approver was found for the host's department head.	The host has no department or the head cannot be found. Check the host's department and the department's leaders.
The configured approver is unavailable.	The employee chosen as approver can no longer be found. Open the approval and choose someone else.
No eligible approver could be resolved for this workflow.	Vizmo found no approver for the step. Check the approvers on the Notifications tab.

Things to know

The older Accept/Reject, invite approver and health declaration approver settings have been replaced by approvals on this page.
For desk, room and parking bookings, see Set up multi-level approvals for desk, room and parking bookings. For Digital Register entries, see Configure approvals for Digital Register entries.
To send an email or webhook after an approval is decided, see Run an email alert or webhook after an approval.