Overview
Add an extra layer of security to your sign-in with ID scanning. Verify that a guest’s ID is genuine on your Visitors kiosk before inviting them into your building. If a visitor’s ID has expired or isn’t recognized as a real ID, Envoy notifies your administrators so they can approve or deny their entry.
Supported forms of ID
Through our partnership with AI-powered identity verification software, Veriff, Envoy can recognize several types of identification from over 230 countries and 48 unique languages. You can see the full list of supported IDs per country here.
How ID scanning works
ID Scanning is only supported by the Envoy Visitors Kiosk. Other sign-in methods (QR code, admin dashboard sign-in, mobile app sign-in) are not compatible.
You can enable ID scanning for all your visitors or only certain visitor types.
If a visitor selects a visitor type that requires them to scan their ID, the kiosk will prompt them to take out their ID on the next screen. The kiosk will then ask them to select the type of ID they are scanning. Once they’ve made a selection, the iPad’s camera (front or back, depending on your settings) will activate, and the kiosk will prompt them to scan the front and then the back of their ID by holding it in view of the camera. The visitor will then finish any remaining steps in your sign-in flow.
While the visitor finishes signing in, Veriff will verify if the ID is valid in the background, and send the response to Envoy. This generally takes no more than 1-3 minutes. Note: Envoy does not yet check IDs against government watch lists or other databases.
If an ID appears to be fake or the photo is too blurry, it will return as “rejected.” This will notify the people you’ve designated as ID scanning contacts in the dashboard and via email that a visitor needs their approval to enter the building.
The scan will not cross-reference the name on the ID against a name in the Visitor Log. The scan will verify that the ID is valid, and is not connected to any entry in the Visitor Log.
ID Scanning, Compliance and Data Storage
Veriff is GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and WCAG (V 2.0, Level AA) compliant. Envoy and Veriff have agreed upon a 1 year retention period. Envoy allows users to view those Veriff photos in the Visitor Log for each entry. You can also soft delete the documents so the images are no longer viewable.
Please note that there are some global data protection regulations that prohibit the collection of ID numbers in certain situations. Before enabling ID Scanning, please confirm the data protection regulations that may apply to your Visitors based on geographic region or industry.
The actual images of the ID are not stored in Envoy databases; they are stored by Veriff. The data does flow through Envoy services, but Envoy does not store the image itself.
Approving and denying visitors
Global, Location, or Front Desk Admins can approve or deny access to visitors with rejected IDs at any location. Location Admins can approve or deny visitors at their location. These administrators will not be alerted when a visitor’s ID is rejected unless they’re added as an ID scanning contact.
Setting up ID scanning
Step 1: Select Visitor Types that require ID scanning
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Security.
Find ID scanning and click Enable.
Check the box next to the visitor type that requires ID scanning.
Note: The visitor types shown are based on the types that were created in your sign-in flow settings.
Step 2: Add ID scanning contacts
Under ID scanning alerts, click Search administrators.
Note: The ID scanning contact must be a Global, Location, or Front Desk Admin. Learn more about Envoy’s roles and permissions.
Start typing the administrator’s name, and select the name when it appears.
Click Save. You can add as many admins as you find necessary.
Note: The admins added to the Alerts section will receive an email notification, but any admin logged into the dashboard will see the "approve/deny" modal.
The email sent to the desired admin as an alert.
Modal in the visitors log, visible to any global, location, or front desk admin.
Step 3: ID Scanning Settings within the Sign-in flows
Important note: You must configure the following settings (steps 4-6) within EACH visitor type that you selected in step 1 to require ID scanning.
Step 4: Access visitor ID
Allow admins to be able to view scanned images from Veriff. Envoy will not be storing photos or sensitive field data. Instead, we will load images directly from Veriff and temporarily cache field data when needed.
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Sign-in flow.
Click Edit next to the sign-in flow you would like to edit.
Click on Security at the top of the page.
Under ID Scanning click Edit.
Toggle on Access to visitor ID.
Click Save.
Step 5: Choose which camera to use on the Kiosk (iPad)
Choose if you want visitors to use the front or back-facing camera of the kiosk (tablet) for ID scanning
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Sign-in flow.
Click Edit next to the sign-in flow you would like to edit.
Click on Security at the top of the page.
Under ID Scanning click Edit.
Choose the Rear camera or Front camera.
Click Save.
Important Note: If you already have your visitor kiosk paired, you may have to remove and then re-pair your Visitors Kiosk for changes to take place. See this article for instructions on pairing your iPad.
Step 6: Reuse existing ID scans for returning visitors
Skip ID scanning for returning visitors.
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Sign-in Flow
Click Edit next to the sign-in flow you would like to edit.
Click on Security at the top of the page.
Under ID Scanning click Edit.
Choose an option for when returning visitors re-scan their IDs.
Rescan ID after a specified number of months
Rescan ID after document expiration
Rescan ID on every Visit
Click Save.
Note: You'll need to enable returning visitors in order to be able to choose when to rescan IDs for returning visitors.
Step 7: Automatically fill sign-in fields
Automatically fill sign-in fields with information pulled from scanned visitor IDs.
Important notes: We recommend hiding these fields from visitors since they will be populated by the scanned ID and be sure to set those fields as optional. Ensure your visitor kiosk (iPad) is updated to version 4.4.0 or higher.
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Sign-in flow.
Click Edit next to the sign-in flow you would like to edit.
Click on Add Field.
Select Short answer.
Add in a short answer field for each of the following data to be pulled from scanned ID's:
ID type (ex: driver's license)
first name
last name
ID expiration date
Make sure that Required is toggled off for each of the short answer fields added.
Click Save.
Click on Field Options > Respondents
Under Visitors, uncheck the box next to each of the fields so visitors can't respond to these fields when signing in on the kiosk.
Click Save.
Click on ID scanning under Field Options.
Match each Field to the Identification field by selecting from the drop-down box.
Be sure to click Save before navigating away from the page or your settings will not take effect.
The next time a visitor scans their ID you should see the information automatically populated in the fields you created.
Using the dashboard with ID scanning
A quick overview of what each status in the dashboard means.
✔️ ID accepted: The ID scanned by the visitor was deemed valid.
✔️ Access approved: The visitor scanned an ID that was determined invalid, and a Global or Location Admin approved their visit.
❌ Access denied: The visitor scanned an ID that was determined invalid, and a Global or Location Admin denied their visit.
− Not required: The visitor was not required to scan their ID at sign-in.
Viewing Scanned IDs
Navigate to the Visitor log.
You will see Visitor Entries for all of the visitors that have signed in. You can change the date and filter the list as needed.
Click on the name of the person for the ID you would like to view.
Scroll down to Documents.
Click View if you do not see the ID automatically.
Deleting Scanned IDs
Envoy and Veriff have agreed upon a 1 year retention period for IDs once scanned. The following steps will soft delete the ID from the Envoy dashboard.
Navigate to the Visitor log.
You will see Visitor Entries for all visitors who have signed in. You can change the date and filter the list as needed.
Click on the name of the person for the ID you would like to view.
Scroll down to Documents.
Click View if you do not see the ID automatically.
Click the trashcan icon next to Identification document.
Disable ID Scanning
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Security.
Find ID scanning and click Edit.
Click Disable in the bottom right of the ID scanning section.
Click Save.
