To strengthen customers’ oversight of their campuses and sites, Verkada Guest now offers an optional security screen feature. Within Guest, administrators can enable additional screening for sex offenders, allowing staff to deny entry and alert relevant personnel via email and SMS.

The security screen feature is an option for each Guest Type that is defined under a given Guest Site. You will need to have Guest Administrator or Guest Site Manager permissions to edit this feature.

Select the Guest tab All Products menu

Then, click on Guest Settings on the left-hand sidebar.

In the Guest Settings menu, select Guest Types > Manage Guest Types

Select the Guest Type that should be required to complete the security screen

Check the box next to Security Screening. This should automatically enable the Deny List and Check Offender Database checkboxes, and require this Guest Type to complete the security screen. Then click the X in the top right to close out of the site settings.

Repeat the last two steps for any other Guest Type that should be required to complete the security screen.

From this point on, these Guest Types will be prompted to scan their driver's license or U.S. state-issued ID.

Whether the guest uses the iPad kiosk or they've scanned the QR code on their mobile device, if the guest selects a reason for visit that requires the security screen, they'll be prompted to consent to scanning their photo ID.

The following table shows the list of support iPads:

If the lighting in the area of the iPad kiosk is poor, the guest can tap the lightning bolt icon in the top right of the screen to temporarily brighten the screen of the iPad to better illuminate the ID card.

While precision isn't required, the ID card should be centered in the frame, take up approximately half of the framed area, and be held steady. Once detected the ID will be scanned automatically and pre-fill the following check-in page with the person's name. The guest will then be able to proceed with the rest of the check-in process.

If there is no match, then the visitor will continue with the check-in process as usual. Should there be a potential match, Verkada Guest will prompt front desk personnel to review the event.

Note: The Offender Match Violation feature only works with US citizens.

The front desk personnel must then visually inspect the ID card provided by the guest against the information returned from the aggregated local/state sex offender registries, indicate whether or not it is a match, and provide final confirmation.

If the visitor does not match the offender, then the front desk personnel will press No and the check-in will continue as normal.

If the visitor does match the offender, then the front desk personnel will press Yes and then Confirm. The guest will be denied entry at the iPad kiosk (or their mobile browser) and, if the checkbox is selected, Command will notify the host and/or other contacts as configured on the Guest site.

If however, it is necessary to admit someone that is flagged as a known offender, the Guest administrator can click on Allow guest to enter. The guest badge will print and the entry log will say “Guest was allowed to enter by [user name]”.

If a guest is denied entry to the site, the iPad kiosk will display a denied entry message and notify specific contacts as configured in the site settings. To change these settings for a particular Guest site, click the Guest Settings tab in the left-hand sidebar.

Then select the correct site using the dropdown menu in the upper left-hand corner of the Guest Settings page.

Click on (or scroll down to) Staff notifications and Denied Entry sections to update the contact list and entry denied message.

If your organization has multiple Guest sites be sure to set these settings appropriately for each Guest site.

The security screen feature maintains privacy with several strict security measures.

Verkada Guest saves confirmed offender records in Command for 30 days by default (1 - 90 days supported). To access this retention setting, click on Guest Settings tab in the left hand sidebar

In the Guest Settings menu ensure that Organization is selected. Select (or scroll down to) Security & Data and set the Expire after value accordingly.

If you have not yet set up Verkada Guest, see Getting Started with Verkada Guest.