Inviting a Guest

Add a guest or a vendor to your property with the guest wizard, so that gate staff can find the person when the person arrives.

Guests

Add a guest to MyWatchtower before the guest arrives. Gate staff then find the guest at once, and each visit shows in the entry history of your property. You add a guest in one wizard with three steps. This article is for residents.

Step 1: Start the wizard

You can start the wizard in two places:

On your dashboard, select the Add Guest tile, Register a new guest or vendor.

Open your property and select the Visitors tab. Under Show, select Guests, then select Add Guest. For a vendor, select Vendors, then Add Vendor.

From the Visitors tab, the wizard knows the property and the type. It opens on the details step.

The Visitors tab of 101 Heron Bend Lane on a phone, with Guests selected under Show and the Add Guest button

Step 2: Choose the property and the type

The dashboard tile opens the Add a guest step.

1. If you have more than one property, choose the property in Property.

2. Under Type, choose who comes to the gate:

Visitor: a friend or a relative.

Vendor: a business or a delivery service. Vendors use the same wizard. See *Managing Vendors*.

3. Select Next.

The Add a guest step on a phone, with the Property field and the Visitor and Vendor cards

Step 3: Type the details of the guest

On the Guest Details step:

1. Type the First Name and the Last Name. Use the name on the ID of the guest. A nickname or a wrong spelling can stop gate staff from finding the guest. For a vendor, type the Vendor Name.

2. Optional: in Associate Vehicle (Optional), link a vehicle of your property, so that gate staff know the car. You can also add a new vehicle there.

3. Optional: in Notes (Optional), type instructions for the gate, for example "Only allow M-F 8-5". Gate staff see the notes when they process the visitor.

4. Optional: select the camera icon on the picture to add a photo of the guest. A photo helps gate staff match the person at the gate with the record.

5. Select Next. Next is available after you type both names.

A photo can be a JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or HEIC file, up to 5 MB. Each person has one photo. The photo shows in place of the initials of the guest. If you do not see the camera icon, your role does not include photos.

The Guest Details step on a phone, with the photo, name, vehicle and notes fields

Step 4: Set when the guest can enter

On the Access step, under Access period:

For a guest with no end date, select This is a permanent guest. See *Making a Guest or Vendor Permanent*.

Otherwise, set the Start Date and the End Date. Both are today until you change them. The guest can enter from the start of the first day to the end of the last day, in the time zone of your community.

To limit the days or the hours of entry, open Advanced schedule (optional). See *Setting a Guest's Entry Schedule*.

The Access step on a phone, with the permanent guest box, the start and end dates and the advanced schedule

Step 5: Optional entry codes

If your community uses QR codes or kiosk PIN codes, the Access step also has an Access controls section:

Enable QR Code Access: see *Issuing a QR Code When Creating a Guest*.

Enable kiosk pin access: see *Giving a Guest a Kiosk PIN*.

If you do not see these options, your community does not use the codes, or your role does not include them. Contact the management office of your community.

Step 6: Submit

Select Submit. MyWatchtower shows a message, for example Guest Priya Raman created successfully. If you added a QR code, the message says that the QR code was created too. The Visitors tab of your property then opens.

After you add the guest

To change the details or the dates, restrict the guest, or delete the guest, see *Edit or Remove a Guest*.

To send a QR code to your guest, see *Sharing and Downloading a QR Code*.