Overview

If you're just getting started with Approval workflows, you'll need to understand the basic terms used when building your policy. Knowing these terms helps you build the policy you intend, based on your entry requirements.

Visitors basics

If you're new to Envoy, you might not be as familiar with how Visitors works. These are terms you need to know before approvals make sense. If you've been using our Visitors product previously, just skip to The container section, which details our new functionality.

Term	What it means
Location	One site in your Envoy account. Most settings are per location.
Global overview	The dashboard view that spans every location. Policies live here.
Host	The employee a visitor is coming to see. Usually the person who creates the invite.
Invite	A host registers a visitor in advance. Approvals start when the host creates the invite.
Walk-up	A visitor who arrives without an invite and signs in at the iPad.
Sign-in flow	The set of questions and steps for one type of visitor, such as Contractor or Interview. Policies attach to sign-in flows.
Global sign-in flow	A sign-in flow shared across all locations instead of set up location by location.
Pre-registration	A link sent to an invited visitor to fill in their details before arrival.
iPad (kiosk)	The device in the lobby where visitors sign in.
Visitor log	The record of every visit at a location: who came, when, and who they visited.

Approval Workflows basics

Approval workflows are powered by policies. Tracking these policies relies on versions, which are then associated with sign-in flows.

Term	What it means
Policy	The set of rules that decides who approves which visits, when, and in what order. Built once, then linked to sign-in flows.
Policy builder	The canvas where you build a policy by adding steps and connecting them.
Version	Each publish creates a new version of the policy. Linked sign-in flows stay on their current version until you move them.
Linking (association)	Connecting a published policy to a sign-in flow. From then on, every invite through that flow follows the policy.

What the policy asks

Like a sign-in flow, policies depend on the information collected about each visit, and who provides it. Unlike a sign-in flow, however, Policy fields should be used to determine routing and visit eligibility.

Term	What it means
Policy field	A question the policy needs answered, such as "Will the visitor need restricted access?" The host, the visitor, or an approver answers it.
Approver policy field	A policy field only reviewers fill in, such as an escort name. Visitors never see it.
Conditional policy field	A follow-up question that appears only under certain conditions, similar to a conditional sign-in field.

Policy logic

These steps route the visit/invite through the policy, enabling automation instead of manual outreach to the next approver.

Term	What it means
Workflow trigger	The first step in every policy. Controls whether walk-ups are allowed (invite-only by default).
Condition	A step that creates a split path based on an answer. IF an answer is (or isn't) something, go one way; ELSE go another.
Decision table	One step that holds many routing rules as rows. Checked top to bottom; the first match wins.
Concurrent path	A concurrent path allows approval steps to run at the same time. This helps save time when approvals are not dependent on other teams.

Policy actions

These steps require input from a member of your team. This can be an approval, or simply a piece of information about the visit that needs to be recorded.

Term	What it means
Approval step	A step where a named person or group approves or denies the visit.
Approver	The admin, or SCIM group, assigned to an approval step. If several are listed, any one of them can approve.
Location override approver	A different approver for a specific location, used in place of the default approver there.
Data Collection step	A step where a reviewer fills in approver fields before the workflow continues.
Risk Intel step	A step that runs an automated screener, such as Visit Frequency or Identity Screening.

How visits end

Once the visit or invite completes the steps detailed in the policy (or is denied at any point), the policy has concluded.

Term	What it means
Approved	The default ending step of a policy. This is when the invite is sent, or the visitor is cleared to sign in.
Automatic Deny	An end step that denies matching visits automatically, with no review.
Denial	If any approval step is denied, the whole visit is denied. A new invite is needed.
Approval reason	An optional note an approver adds when approving or denying. It can't be edited or deleted after submission.
Automated re-evaluation	An optional setting that re-runs the policy when an approved visit's details change. Off by default. This was formerly named "Continuous Approval."

Approval Workflows: Glossary of terms