Before setting up your visitor badge printer, consider which printing method best suits your needs. While both printing methods work with Envoy Visitors, there are a few differences in how the visitor data is sent to the printer.

These two Brother printers connect directly to your iPad kiosk and print black-and-white visitor badges. You must have a connected iPad kiosk in order for these to work. The Brother QL-820NWB can connect to the iPad via bluetooth, wifi, or ethernet. The Brother QL-720NW will connect via ethernet or wireless via device installation.

When a guest signs in on the iPad, their visitor information is sent directly to the printer over an Internet connection (because of this, the iPad and printer must be on the same network). Once the printer “receives” the message, the badge will print in about one second.

Learn more: Set up Brother QL-820NWB or Brother QL-720NW

Envoy Print relies on the standard connection set up via your computer. This means the visitor's badge data is sent from the connected computer, not from the iPad. You will install your printer according to the manufacturer's instructions and set the device to the default printer, so Envoy can connect. You can use any badge printer with Envoy print, making this a great option for workplaces that already own one.

Many workplaces operate without an iPad kiosk and rely on a receptionist to sign in visitors, so this direct connection is often used with the "standard" Brother printers.

Learn more: Setting up Envoy Print

For Standard and Premium plans, you can connect one printer per location (no matter how many iPads you have paired). As visitors sign in, the badges will print in the order their entries were created.

On the Enterprise Plan, you have the option to connect multiple printers at any location.

You can see the printer that is paired at a given location—and see if it’s operational or offline—from any location’s devices page.

Tip: If you're a Global admin, you can view at-a-glance device status for all locations from Global overview > Devices.