The moment a visitor arrives, one question decides everything: does the person they're here to see actually know? In too many offices the answer involves a receptionist making a phone call, leaving a voicemail, and asking the guest to take a seat. Host notifications close that gap by telling the right employee instantly — and letting them approve or deny from wherever they already are.
What a host notification does
When a visitor checks in (or is pre-registered), the system alerts their host automatically — by email, SMS or a chat tool like Teams or Slack — with who has arrived, why, and where. No manual lookup, no chasing. The host acknowledges, and reception moves on to the next arrival.
Approvals: control without a bottleneck
Notifications tell someone a visitor is here; approvals let them decide what happens next. A host can approve or deny from the notification itself, so a walk-in isn't admitted until the person they claim to be visiting confirms the meeting. That keeps the receptionist out of the awkward position of vetting strangers, and keeps unapproved visitors out of the building.
Where it matters most
- Walk-ins — no pre-registration, so host confirmation is the control.
- Busy lobbies — many arrivals at once, where manual chasing would create a queue.
- Sensitive sites — where an unapproved visitor should never get past reception.
- Distributed teams — hosts who are in a meeting, on another floor, or working remotely.
Getting the workflow right
- Route to the channel people actually watch — email alone is easy to miss.
- Set a fallback: if the host doesn't respond, notify a delegate or reception.
- Make approve/deny one tap, so it isn't a chore.
- Log the decision — who approved whom, and when — as part of the visit record.
Part of a bigger flow
Notifications and approvals sit between check-in and the badge. Combine them with pre-registration so expected guests are pre-approved, and kiosk check-in for the arrival itself. It's the difference between merely recording a visit and actually managing one.
Host approvals with Certopact
Instant host notifications and approve/deny workflows are built into Certopact Access and the wider visitor management system — so no visitor waits on a manual phone call, and no one gets in unapproved.