Create a Visitor at the Gate

Add a guest, vendor or resident who has no record yet, then record their entry in Mission Control.

Sometimes a visitor arrives at the gate with no record in MyWatchtower. In Mission Control, gate staff can add the visitor and record the entry in one flow.

Before you start

To open Mission Control, your role needs Gates set to Add & edit. By default, the Admin, Supervisor and Gate Attendant roles have it.

Search for the visitor first. If the visitor already has a record, select it, and do not add the person again.

If the visitor gives you a driver's license, scan it first with the scan button at the top right. MyWatchtower fills in the first and last name from the scan. See *Scanning Driver's Licenses*.

Find the property

1. On the dashboard, select Mission Control.

2. In the list, select the property that the visitor wants to go to. Step 2, Visitor, opens with the residents, guests and vendors of that property.

3. Type the name of the visitor in the search field. If the visitor is in the list, select the visitor. You do not need a new record.

4. If nobody matches, select Create new visitor. You can also select Create visitor at any time on this step.

The dialog opens only after you choose a property.

Mission Control at step 2 for 101 Heron Bend Lane. The list shows the residents, guests and vendors of the property, and the Create visitor button is at the top right.

A search for Nora Bellamy that finds nobody. The notice shows a Create new visitor button.

Fill in the dialog

1. Choose the type: Guest, Vendor or Resident. A line under the choice tells you what each type is for.

2. For a guest or a resident, type the First name and the Last name. For a vendor, type the Company name.

3. If you want to add a photo, select the tile at the left of the name. Until you add a photo, the tile shows the initials of the name. The tile shows only when your role can add profile photos.

4. For a guest or a vendor, type anything the gate should know in Notes. Notes are optional.

5. For a guest or a vendor, choose the Access window:

Temporary: set From and Until. Both start at today. To set the end date, you can also select Today, This week or 30 days.

Permanent: the visitor has no end date.

6. Select Add guest, Add vendor or Add resident.

A resident has permanent access to the property, so the dialog shows no notes, deny list or access window for a resident.

The add button stays unavailable until the required fields are complete. The line next to the buttons tells you what is missing. When the form is complete, the line reads Saved when the entry is recorded.

The New guest dialog for 101 Heron Bend Lane with the name Nora Bellamy, the deny list switch off, and a Temporary access window from today to today.

Add a visitor to the deny list

Use the deny list when your community tells you that a person must not get in.

1. In the dialog, turn on Add to the deny list. The title changes to New restricted guest or New restricted vendor.

2. Choose Temporary or Permanent. Until you choose one, Choose one to continue shows in red, and you cannot add the visitor.

3. Select Add restricted guest or Add restricted vendor.

A temporary record ends after its Until date, also on the deny list. MyWatchtower removes it within one day after that date. To keep a person on the deny list, choose Permanent.

The New restricted guest dialog with Add to the deny list turned on. Choose one to continue shows above the access window, and Add restricted guest is not available.

When MyWatchtower saves the visitor

The add button does not save the visitor. It puts the visitor on the entry with a New chip and takes you to step 3, Entry. MyWatchtower saves the visitor only when you record the entry:

A new visitor is saved when you select Approve entry.

A new restricted visitor is saved when you select Deny entry. You cannot approve the entry of a restricted visitor. Write the reason in Notes.

If you deny the entry of a new visitor who is not restricted, MyWatchtower does not save the visitor. The entry keeps the name.

To record the entry, see *Record an Entry in Mission Control*. If you chose a gate in Select Access Point, MyWatchtower also opens that gate when you approve the entry. The members of the property get a notice of each entry.

Step 3 for Nora Bellamy at 101 Heron Bend Lane. The Record entry card shows the guest with a New chip, and the contacts of the property are at the left.

If you leave without an entry, MyWatchtower saves nothing. You leave when you select Start over, clear the property or the visitor with its X, or go back to an earlier step. After a license scan, MyWatchtower also clears the scan and the new visitor when you record no entry within 10 minutes.

If an error shows when you record the entry, do not select the button again. MyWatchtower can already have saved the visitor. If the message starts with Entry recorded, the entry is saved, and only the gate did not open. Otherwise, select Start over, find the visitor in the list, and record the entry from that record.

You cannot add a new visitor in offline mode.

Add a visitor at the gate, or ask the resident

Add a visitor at the gate when the person is at the gate now and needs an answer. For a visitor who will come again, ask the household to add the visitor from their own account. A guest or a vendor that a household adds can have an entry schedule, an entry QR code or a kiosk PIN, so the next entry is fast.

If you are not sure what to do, call the contacts of the property in the sequence that Mission Control shows, and follow their answer. Then ask the resident to add the visitor. See *How to Add Guests in MyWatchtower*.