Our block list can prevent unwanted guests from visiting by adding them to your block list. If a person on your block list tries to sign in or a teammate inadvertently invites them, your team is notified and can take quick action to approve or deny their visit.
How block list works
Blocking people
You can block individual people or, if you want to block anyone who works at a specific company, for example, you can also block keywords.
Your block list is shared by all locations within your company, so if you block someone at one location, they will also be blocked at any other location.
Screening visitors
Whenever a visitor is invited or signs in, Envoy automatically checks if they are on your block list. Only exact matches will trigger an alert to your team. This includes punctuation and the order of words; however, matching is not case sensitive.
Matching works slightly differently by field.
Full name and aliases. A visitor’s full name will be checked against the full names and aliases of people on your block list. Be sure to list nicknames or common misspellings of the blocked person’s name in the “Aliases” field.
Email address and phone. A visitor’s email address and phone number will be checked against the email addresses and phone numbers, respectively, of people on your block list.
Keywords. All information provided by a visitor will be checked against the keywords listed for people on your block list.
Alerts
When a visitor matches someone on your block list, your team is alerted in a few ways.
Visitor log and Invites log
All administrators will see alerts in the Invites and Visitor logs when an invited or signed in visitor matches to your block list, respectively. Global and Location Admin will see buttons to approve or deny entry to visitors, whereas all other administrators will see that the visitor is under review.
If a visitor has filled out their registration email and an answer matches something on your blocklist you will see be prompted to approve or deny the invite at that point. You can click on View details and see what matches the block list specifically.
Email, SMS, and Slack
Administrators subscribed to block list alerts will receive alerts via email by default, and can also receive alerts through Slack and SMS. Each administrator can set their preferred notification methods under Profile > Notification settings. To receive alerts via Slack, the Slack integration must be enabled for your company. To receive alerts via SMS, administrators must have a phone number listed within their Profile, not just in the Employee Directory.
Approving and denying visitors
Administrators can see more information on the visitor and the person on your block who they matched by clicking “View details.” Here, you can see why the person was blocked and the exact information that matched, highlighted in yellow.
Who can approve and deny visitors
By default, a Global Admin can approve or deny visitors at any location, and a Location Admin can approve or deny matching visitors at their location. These administrators will not receive block list alerts outside of the dashboard unless they subscribe to block list alerts.
Approving and denying invited visitors
If you approve an invited visitor, they will receive an invitation email, if enabled, and sign in normally on the kiosk when they arrive.
If you deny an invited visitor, they will not receive an invitation email, if enabled. Their host will be notified that the invitation was canceled and that they can contact the administrator who denied the invite if they have questions
Approving and denying signed-in visitors
If you approve a signed-in visitor, Envoy prints the visitor’s badge and notifies the visitor’s host of their arrival.
If you deny a signed-in visitor, Envoy will not print a visitor badge or notify the visitor’s host of their arrival. We also recommend that you initiate security procedures to ensure the visitor does not enter.
Logging block list approvals and denials
You can see whether a visitor matched to your block list and if they were approved or denied by adding the block list column to your visitor log.
Each visitor will have one of the following statuses.
✔️Access approved: An administrator manually approved the visitor’s entry
❌Access denied: An administrator manually denied the visitor’s entry
✔️No match: Visitor didn’t match someone on your block list.
− Not enabled: The block list was not enabled at the time of the sign in.
Once an administrator approves or denies entry to a visitor, that administrator’s name will be listed within the invite details or visitor details, stating that they approved or denied access to the visitor.
Enable your Block list
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Security.
Find Block list and click Enable.
Alert Admins
Under Alerts, input which admins to alert when a visitor matches your block list. Start typing the administrator’s name, and select it when it appears.
Note: Only Global, Location, and Front Desk Admin can receive block list alerts. Adding a Front Desk Admin will give them permission to approve and deny visitors who match to your block list. Learn more about admin roles and permissions.
Click Save contacts.
Adding block list entries
You have the option to add block entries individually or via a CSV upload.
Add individual block list entries
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Security.
Click Add records then select Add a single record
Fill out the form with key information about the person you do not want allowed to visit your workplace.
Visitors will be checked against any information you include under “Matching fields.”
The information you include under “Details” will not be checked, but can help your team determine if a visitor is, in fact, the person you blocked.
You can upload a photo of the person you want to block. Photos can be up to 10MB, and can be jpg, png, or animated gif.
Enter the reason you’re adding this person to the block list.
Click Save.
Repeat the above steps to add more people.
To edit someone you block, click the pencil icon to the right of the table.
Add block list entries via CSV
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Security.
Click Edit (or Enable, if Block list is currently disabled) next to Block list.
Click on Add records.
Select Import from CSV. (If you do not have a CSV file created already, please see steps below on how to format your CSV.)
Drag and drop a CSV file or click on "or select a file from your computer".
Upload the list and click Import X records.
Note: A CSV upload will overwrite your current block list. If you don’t already keep a CSV master file on hand, export your current list and add to it.
Formatting your CSV
The CSV needs to have the first row match the record details.
Example CSV:
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You can name the rows yourself in a CSV or download this template and simply fill in the rows underneath with the Block List records needed.
Exporting your Block list
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Security.
Click Edit on Block list.
Click on Export at the top of the list of blocked people.
Note: The CSV will have all fields plus the ID of the block list entry. If you want to edit the export to include new people and re-upload, simply delete the “ID” column and continue to edit.
Searching Block list
If you have more than 20 entries on your blocklist you can utilize our search function
You can search via any field collected. If you search a portion of a word or phone number anything matching will filter through.
Important notes
Block list is managed globally, which means that anyone added to your block list is listed on the block list at all locations
Block list must be turned on at a location level, to do this go to Visitors > Settings > Security and click Enable on Block list.
You must set Block list admins on a location level. You can have the same admin listed at each location, but you have to set that manually at each location. There is no currently a "Bulk" setup for who to alert. First you will need to enable your Block list, assign admins to receive notifications and then add entries to your block list which can be done individually or via CSV.