Guest management policies control when visitors are allowed on campus, how long they can stay, and what information they must provide. Configure these settings once in the admin portal to establish institution-wide rules that apply to all resident invitations automatically.
The system enforces these policies when residents create invitations. If a resident tries to invite someone during blocked times or for too long, the invitation form prevents submission and displays an error message.
You need the manageGuestManagement permission to configure visitor policies. Click Visitors in the admin portal navigation, then click Configuration to access all settings.
Before You Configure
The GUEST_MANAGEMENT feature must be enabled for your institution. If you don't see visitor options in your admin portal, contact Housing.Cloud support to activate the feature flag.
Gather your institution's visitor policies before starting configuration. You'll need to know allowed visiting hours, maximum visit duration, blocked dates like finals week, and any special requirements like mandatory phone numbers.
Maximum Invitation Duration
The maxInvitationTimeInHours setting controls the longest period a guest can stay per invitation. The default is 48 hours, which accommodates most overnight visits.
Open the visitor configuration page and locate the maximum invitation time field. Enter the number of hours based on your policy.
When residents create invitations with arrival and departure times that exceed this limit, the form displays an error and prevents submission. Residents must either shorten the visit or create multiple back-to-back invitations.
Common settings: 24 hours for day-only policies, 48 hours for weekend guests, 72 hours for extended family visits. Consult your residence life policies before changing the default.
Visitor Schedule
The visitorSchedule setting defines which days and times visitors are allowed on campus. Configure this to match your building access policies and staffing availability.
Defining Allowed Days
For each day of the week, you can allow or block visitors entirely. Use this to restrict visitors during specific days, such as blocking all weekday visitors in exam-focused housing.
Setting Time Slots
For each allowed day, define one or more time slots when visitors can be on campus. For example, you might allow visitors Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and all day Saturday and Sunday.
The system validates both arrival and departure times. If either falls outside your configured schedule, the resident cannot submit the invitation.
Multiple Time Slots Per Day
Some institutions allow visitors during multiple windows on the same day, such as lunch hours and evening hours with a gap in between. Add multiple time slots for a single day to accommodate these policies.
Residents see allowed time slots grayed out in the date picker when creating invitations. Clear communication about your visitor schedule reduces confusion and support requests.
Visitor Exclusion Dates
The visitorExclusionDates setting blocks visitors during specific date ranges regardless of your normal schedule. Use this for periods when campus policies prohibit guests.
Common exclusion dates include finals week, winter break, spring break, move-in and move-out days, and campus-wide events that restrict building access.
Adding Exclusion Dates
Scroll to the visitor exclusion dates section on the configuration page. Add each blocked period by entering the start and end dates. The system prevents invitations that overlap with any exclusion date range.
Managing Exclusion Dates
Review and update exclusion dates at the start of each academic term. Remove expired dates to keep the list current and avoid blocking dates unnecessarily.
When a resident tries to create an invitation during an exclusion period, they see a message explaining that visitors aren't allowed during those dates. The date picker displays exclusion dates grayed out or marked as unavailable.
Add exclusion dates well before the blocked period starts. This gives residents time to plan visits around restricted dates and reduces last-minute cancellations.
Phone Number Requirements
The requirePhone toggle controls whether residents must provide phone numbers for all visitors. Enable this setting if your campus safety or contact tracing policies require phone contact for every guest.
When enabled, the phone number field becomes required on the invitation form. Residents cannot submit invitations without entering a valid phone number for each visitor.
When disabled, phone numbers are optional. This gives residents flexibility for guests who may not have U.S. phone numbers or prefer not to share them.
Contact Tracing and Emergency Communication
Required phone numbers improve your ability to contact guests in emergencies or for contact tracing during health incidents. Weigh this benefit against potential barriers for international visitors or those without mobile phones.
Automatic Check-Out
The autoCheckOut setting determines whether guests are automatically checked out at their scheduled departure time.
When enabled, the system changes the guest status from Checked-In to Checked-Out automatically when the invitation end time passes. This keeps visitor lists accurate without requiring front desk staff to manually check out every guest.
When disabled, guests remain in Checked-In status until staff manually scan their QR code and click Check Out. This gives you more control but requires additional staff action.
Choosing the Right Setting
Enable automatic check-out if your front desk is not staffed 24/7 or if you want to reduce staff workload. This works well for institutions with clear visit end times and minimal overnight guests.
Disable automatic check-out if you want to verify that guests actually left the building or if your security policies require manual sign-out. This is common for institutions with strict visitor accountability.
Even with automatic check-out enabled, staff can still manually check out guests early if they leave before their scheduled departure time. The automatic process only runs at the scheduled end time.
Testing Your Configuration
After configuring policies, test the complete workflow to verify everything works as expected.
Ask a test resident to create an invitation during allowed hours. Verify that the date picker shows your configured schedule and exclusion dates correctly.
Have the test resident try to create an invitation that violates your policies. Try exceeding the maximum duration, selecting blocked dates, or choosing times outside allowed hours. Each attempt should display a clear error message explaining why the invitation cannot be created.
Walk through check-in with front desk staff to confirm the QR code workflow functions properly. If you enabled automatic check-out, wait until the scheduled departure time and verify the status changes to Checked-Out.
Communicating Policies to Residents
Once policies are configured, communicate the visitor rules to residents. Include information about allowed visiting hours, maximum stay duration, and any blocked dates in your residence life handbook or welcome materials.
Consider creating a simple guide for residents that explains how to check if their desired dates are allowed before filling out the invitation form. This reduces frustration and incomplete invitations.
Updating Policies Mid-Year
You can change visitor policies at any time. Updated settings apply immediately to new invitations but do not affect existing invitations that were already created.
If you need to add an emergency exclusion date, navigate to /admin/visitors/config and add the date range. Residents with existing invitations during that period may need to cancel and reschedule.
If you need to add an emergency exclusion date, open the visitor configuration page and add the date range. Residents with existing invitations during that period may need to cancel and reschedule.
When making policy changes, notify residents through email or portal announcements. Explain what changed and how it affects their ability to invite guests.
Related Settings
Visitor policies work alongside other guest management features. After configuring basic policies, you may want to set up custom forms to collect additional information from visitors, or customize the email template that guests receive when invited.
Related Articles
Managing Guest Forms and Email Templates
Guest and Visitor Management Overview
Guest Invitation Permissions and Restrictions (For Students)
Viewing and Exporting Visitor Records