Scanning Driver's Licenses

The License Scan station gives gate staff a fast way to check in visitors who present a driver's license. Found at the /license-scan page, it reads the license, shows the visitor's history and the property's call list, and records an approved or denied entry in one flow. This guide is for gate staff with entry-recording permissions.

Scanning a License

The page is built for a hardware license scanner connected to your gate computer.

• Step 1: Open the License Scan page. The status pill should read "Ready to scan. Please scan a license now." If it says "Click anywhere to enable scanning.", click the page once.
• Step 2: Scan the license. When the scan is read, you'll see "License data successfully scanned" and the identification form fills in with the name, ID number, and other details from the license.

No scanner handy? Click Scan License Photo instead and take or upload a photo of the back of the license. The barcode is read entirely on your device — the photo is never uploaded. If the barcode can't be read, make sure it is in focus and well lit, then try again.

Scanning handles older and abbreviated license formats, so a legacy-format license should fill the form just like a current one.

License History

Once an ID number is entered (at least 3 characters), the License History panel lists that license's prior entries, each with its date, notes, and an Approved or Denied chip. History is a reference only — the form is never auto-filled from past scans, so the details always come from the license physically in front of you.

Choosing the Property and Deciding

• Step 1: In Property Information, search for the property the visitor is going to.
• Step 2: Review the Call List — the property's contact priority list with names and phone numbers — if you need to call the resident to confirm.
• Step 3: Add any context in the Notes field.
• Step 4: Click Approve (green) or Deny (red).

The ID number, issuing state, first name, and last name are required, and a property must be selected — otherwise you'll see "Please complete all required fields".

Scanning Licenses in Mission Control

Mission Control's Scan License / QR Code dialog also reads driver's licenses, so you can look up and process a visitor without leaving the gate workspace:

• On a gate computer, use a connected keyboard-wedge scanner or type the data manually.
• On tablets and phones running the MyWatchtower app, a live camera scanner reads the license barcode, with the flashlight on by default so licenses scan in the dark. The scanner recovers by itself if the preview stalls, and if the app has been refused camera permission, the dialog says so and offers an Open Settings shortcut.
• A recognized visitor loads into the entry panel. If the scan can't be matched or fully parsed, the raw scanned data is handed to the manual dialog so you can still work with it.
• For a first-time visitor, Create Visitor opens pre-filled from the scanned license, and you can attach a photo of the visitor while creating the record.

What Gets Saved

Approving or denying creates an entry record for the property, tied to a guest record for the visitor (an existing one is reused when the license has been scanned before; otherwise one is created). Of everything shown on screen, only the visitor's name and ID number are kept, and the ID number is stored hashed rather than as the readable number. The other license details — address, birth date, physical description — are display-only and are not saved. You'll see "License approved successfully" or "License denied successfully", and the form resets for the next visitor.

Need Help?

If the scanner status pill won't turn green or scans aren't registering, click anywhere on the page to restore focus, or use Scan License Photo as a fallback. For access to the License Scan page, contact your community's management office.