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How to invite external guests to the workplace

Learn the different ways to invite guests so they can register before they come onsite.

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Creating invites

Any employee in your directory can create and edit invites for their own visitors or on behalf of another employee. Employees can only access their invites and those they create for others. Admins can see all invites at their available location(s).

Types of invites

Note: Any employee can send invites as long as an administrator has turned registration on.

Single Invites

Web

Video: Inviting Visitors on the web dashboard

  1. Click “New invite".

  2. Choose the Visitor type, which decides which sign-in flow your guest will use.

  3. Designate a Host. Optional - Add other hosts.

  4. Fill in the form. Fields with a red dot are required to create the invite.

    1. Optional: Set an invite to repeat. Choose how often an invite should repeat.

    2. Select an end date if you don’t want the invite to extend past a certain date.

    3. Optional: Leave a private note. This will be visible to Envoy administrators but not the visitor.

    4. Optional: Check the Send an invite email box to send an email that prompts visitors to register. 

  5. Click “Invite".

  6. After you create an invite, you can go back and edit the arrival date, arrival time, private notes, and any other sign-in fields your visitor flow might require.

Invite again

You can quickly invite someone again without having to enter all their details right from the invites log.

  1. Find the person on the list you want to invite again and click the ellipses (...) to the far right.

  2. Click Invite again.

  3. Select the new date and new time (if applicable) that you want to invite them again.

  4. Click Invite.

Mobile

iOS

  1. Open the Envoy app.

  2. Tap the + symbol and then Add a visitor.

  3. Fill in the invite form with all the required information.

  4. Toggle on 'Send invite email' (optional).

  5. You can view the created invite under the Visitors log in mobile.

Invite from contacts

  1. Open Envoy Mobile.

  2. Tap the "+" button

  3. Tap “Add a visitor” and fill out the invite form.

  4. You can choose to fill out the form manually or add from contacts.

  5. Toggle on 'Send invite email' (optional).

Invite again

  1. Tap on Visitors.

  2. Find the Visitor you want to invite again.

  3. Tap on their name, scroll to the bottom, and tap Invite again.

Android

  1. Open Envoy Mobile on your phone.

  2. Go to the Visitors tab at the bottom and the Invites tab at the top.

  3. Tap the plus sign (+).

  4. Fill in the invite form, and tap the checkmark (✓) in the top right.

  5. On the confirm invite screen, tap the checkmark to invite the visitor.

Recurring invites [Web]

Available for single invites for up to one year, and group invites for up to 3 months.

  1. Click “New invite".

  2. Find "Repeat" and select your interval, you can choose from:

    1. Daily

    2. Weekly on that specific day

    3. Monthly on that specific day

    4. Annually on that specific day

    5. Every weekday (Monday to Friday)

  3. Select your End date.

    1. Choose a Custom date or one year from now. If something changes in the future and you need to make changes, just Edit the end date on the invite.

  4. Fill in rest of your invitation. Fields with a red dot are required to create the invite. Click Invite to create.

To delete a recurring invite, click on the invite itself and click Delete. This will bring up a box asking if you want to delete just that specific day's invite or all future invites tied to it.

Note: If you have an old recurring invite that was created prior to June 2025 (when End date became required), you might have selected "Never" as an end date. These invites will end 1 year after the creation date. You will need to recreate the invite to extend it.

Group Invites [Web]

Available on Premium and Enterprise

See main article: Group invites

  1. Click New invite. You’ll be taken to the invite form.

  2. Select Group invite from the top navigation.

  3. Enter a Group name that you can use to reference and organize these visitors in the logs.

  4. By default, the Group name will be included in invite emails. Uncheck this box to hide the group name from visitors.

  5. Select a Location and Visitor type.

    1. You'll only be able to invite visitors to the locations you have access to.

  6. Enter the Arrival date and time.

    1. Optional: Decide if you want the invite to Repeat. If so, select your interval:

      1. Daily

      2. Weekly on that specific day

      3. Monthly on that specific day

      4. Annually on that specific day

      5. Every weekday (Monday to Friday)

    2. Select your End date. Recurring group invites are only available for a maximum of 3 months.

  7. Add a Host, if required.

    1. Tip: When selecting the host name, it needs to match the formatting in the Employee Directory. Start typing the host's name in the box and then select from the options in the drop-down menu.✨

      1. Optional: Add additional hosts. Not available for recurring group invites.

  8. Optional: Check the Send invite email box if you want to send these people an email confirming their upcoming visit. Only available for direct invites.

  9. Now that you've entered the details for your group, decide how you want to invite people to this group: by direct invite or signup link. You can select one or both of these options.

  10. Select Send direct invites to specific people to open the invitee grid.

  11. You can type in or paste the invite details in the grid below.

    1. If you're pasting the information from Excel, be sure the columns match the order of the Group invite fields.

    2. Tip: You can drag the edges of the cells to fill out multiple invitees if they have the same information.

  12. Click Create invites.

For more information and instructions on how to edit a group invite, see Using invites for group sign-in.

✨ Important Notes:

  • Groups are shown together within Envoy, but all visitors will be given individual invites. No personal information is shared among group invitees.

  • Any invites without errors will be created and accessible on your Invites page for the date you invited them to visit. If any fields contain errors, you’ll be able to view the error, adjust the invite, and resubmit. 

Single invites using your calendar [Web]

Available on Premium and Enterprise plans

You can create invites from any work calendar, like Google Calendar, Outlook, and more. Your calendar must be associated with the email address listed in the Envoy employee directory.

Using Google Calendar

Step 1: Create a calendar event

  1. Download the Envoy for Google Calendar Chrome extension.

  2. Click the Envoy icon and login using your Envoy email and password. 

  3. When creating a calendar event, in the "add guest" section type [email protected] then click the register visitors in Envoy button. 

  4. Optionally select the Envoy workplace and visitor type using the sidebar. 

  5. Click Save to create the event.

  6. When prompted, choose to send invitations to your attendees. 

Step 2: Create Envoy invites for event attendees

  1. Check your inbox. You’ll have an email from Envoy. Click Complete visitor pre-registration. A new browser window will open.

  2. Fill in the form. Double-check you’re creating invites for the correct location and visitor type.

  3. To create an invite for a visitor, turn the toggle on their row to the on position.

    1. Optional: Check the Send an invitation and calendar invite to the visitor box to send a registration email. 

  4. Click Add.

Tip: Attendees within your organization will be off by default.

Using Outlook Calendar

Step 1: Install the Outlook add-in

  1. In your Outlook inbox, look for “Get Add-ins” in the toolbar.

  2. In the new window that opens, search for “Envoy” in the top right corner.

  3. Click “Add” on the Envoy for Outlook add-in.

Step 2: Create a calendar event and invite guests

  1. Open your calendar that’s associated with your work email.

  2. Create an event as you normally would—schedule the date, time, event name, etc.

  3. Add your attendees. You can add emails from outside of your organization.

  4. You will see the Envoy add-in when you click New meeting in Outlook.

  5. Log in with the credentials you use with Envoy. 

  6. Then, select your location and visitor type from the drop-down. These will be pre-populated, but you can change them!

    1. The date and time are pre-populated from the meeting invite, so any changes must be made on the invite email.

  7. The host field will default to you, but you can change this.

  8. Custom sign-in fields from the selected visitor type will populate under Visitor Details. Fill out any required fields.

  9. Click on Create invites to create an Envoy invitation. You should see a confirmation screen.

  10. Remember to Send the Outlook invite as well!

  11. Optional: In Envoy, you can view the newly-created invitation.

Tip: Attendees within your organization will appear "off" by default, since Envoy assumes they do not need an invite.

Editing calendar events and invites

  • Adding event attendees: If you need to add someone to an existing event, just add them to your calendar event. Then, you must make an additional edit. We recommend making a small change to the description such as adding a space to the event description.

  • Change event time or date: Invites will not automatically update within Envoy to reflect time or date changes made on your calendar. If you need to edit the time or date on your Envoy invite, you must remember to open the Envoy add-in alongside the outlook invitation.

  • Delete event or attendees: Invites will not be automatically deleted from Envoy. If you’d like to remove them, you must do so from your dashboard or the Envoy mobile app.

Invites via Slack

Available on paid plans, on your mobile or desktop slack app.

You can create invites while you work in Slack using the Envoy + Slack integration. 

  1. Head to the integrations page in your dashboard and install the Slack integration.

  2. Once installed, open Slack and type /envoy-invite in the message field of any channel. Press enter.

  3. Select Make invite.

  4. Choose the location of the visit, the visitor type, and the date and time of the visit.

  5. Select Fill invite details.

  6. Add the visitor's full name and any other information your sign-in requires.

  7. Click Invite to create the invite in Envoy.

FAQ

  • You can edit existing invites. Just go to Visitors > Invites and click on the name of the invite you want to edit. When you invite a recurring invite, you will be asked if you want to change that invite-only or all invites in the series.

  • Hosts/admins do not get notified when a visitor pre-registers. However, if the visitor signs a legal document during pre-registration, you can see that in the dashboard and that will confirm that they have pre-registered (unless the company has returning visitors turned on, and this visitor has been there before and they are within the re-sign time, or they do not need to re-sign).

  • Additionally, if there were fields that were not filled out when the invite was created, and they are now filled out - it can be assumed that the visitor has pre-registered.

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