How a visitor pass tracks itselfHow a visitor pass tracks itself

At 7:40 a.m. the person at the front desk wants to know who is actually on campus. A contractor was due at seven, and a parent is coming for an evening meeting. A visitor pass changes state when the driveway camera reads the vehicle, so nobody has to remember to click.

A pass lives in Vehicles as the saved view Visitors today. A staff member adds it with the same Add vehicle action as any other vehicle, with the type already set to visitor. The form asks for the plate, the state, the visitor’s name, the host, the dates, and an optional reason for the visit. The dates default to today until the school’s end-of-day time, and the field reads Today until 6:00 pm or whatever time the school has set, so the desk sees when the pass lapses.

The host can register the pass in advance, which is how a school handles the contractor who arrives at seven in the morning. Registering a pass is routine and is logged, and it needs no reason. If the pass starts tomorrow, a short notice says the vehicle was added and offers a link to it, so the desk is not left wondering where the row went.

A pass is Expected when it is created. It becomes On site when the driveway camera reads the visitor’s vehicle coming in, and Left when it reads the vehicle going out. If the pass runs out without an arrival, it becomes Expired. The list shows each visitor’s arrival time, and shows Not yet until there is one.

Because the camera drives those changes, the desk does not have to. The parent who pulls in at 6:55 p.m. for the evening meeting shows as On site on the desk’s list without anyone touching it.

Visitors today lists each pass with its plate, the visitor’s name, the host, the pass status, the time of arrival, and when the pass is valid until. The newest arrivals come first and the Expected passes come last, so the people who are here sit above the people who are still on their way. The host is on every row, so the desk knows whose visitor has arrived. On a morning with nothing scheduled the list says No visitors today, and that the visitors registered appear there with their arrival time.

On campus now shows the same vehicles by the time they came in and the driveway they used. The Overview page answers who is here right now from the same source, so there is no second list to keep in step with the first.

Some visitors have no pass and no vehicle to read: a delivery on foot, or a parent who was dropped off at the curb. The front desk checks that person in, and checks them out when they leave. They appear in the same list with the same words, so the desk reads one list.