QR code check-in for events: how it works

The printed guest list has one advantage: it never runs out of battery. Everything else about it is slow. QR check-in replaces the list with a code on the guest’s phone and a camera on yours. This is what happens in between, what goes wrong on the night, and how to set up the door so it does not.

What is in the code

The QR code on a ticket is a short link to the ticket page, with a code that identifies one registration. It is not the guest’s name or email; those stay on the server. Scanning the code asks the server whether this registration is confirmed, whether it has been used, and whether it belongs to tonight’s event. The answer comes back in well under a second on a normal mobile connection.

The guest gets the code twice: on the ticket page they can open anytime, and in the confirmation mail. A screenshot of the mail works as well as the page. A printout works too.

What the scanner does

In Mission Support, the scanner is a web page, not an app. A staff member opens it in the phone’s browser, signs in once, and picks the event. The camera fills the screen.

• A valid ticket is checked in the moment it is read. The frame turns green, a short tone plays, the guest’s name and ticket category show for five seconds, and the camera is ready for the next code.
• A used ticket turns the frame red. The banner says when it was first scanned. The guest is not checked in again.
• A ticket that is pending or cancelled turns the frame orange. Staff cannot check it in. An admin can, with a button that records who overrode what.
• The same code in front of the camera is ignored for five seconds after the last read, so a guest fumbling with the phone does not trigger a red frame on their own ticket.

Two phones scanning at the same door do not conflict: the server records the first scan, the second one sees a used ticket.

When the guest has no code

Somebody always arrives without the mail. The scanner has a name search: type two letters, pick the guest, press Check in. If the guest brought companions with their own tickets, they can be checked in together. For free events, admins and event managers can register a guest at the door, with or without checking them in, even when the event is full.

Who may scan

Three roles cover the door. Check-in staff can only scan and search; they see no guest data beyond the name and category, and they cannot change anything. Event managers can also register at the door and see the live view. Tenant admins can override an orange frame. A temp with a phone gets the first role and nothing else.

The live view in the back office

While the door scans, the guest list in the admin shows a live tab: how many have arrived, who, and when. It updates by itself. A guest who leaves early can be checked out from there, with a confirmation, which frees the count for a waiting list. The activity log records who checked in whom, which matters the morning after when someone asks.

What goes wrong on the night, and the fix

• No mobile signal in the basement. Test the venue a day before. If the signal is poor, put the phone on the venue’s Wi-Fi, or station the scanner where there is signal and let the guest walk the last metres.
• Dark entrance, glossy phone screens. The camera needs light on the code. A small lamp pointed at the guest’s phone does more than a brighter scanner screen.
• The guest opens the wrong event. The scanner is scoped to one event; a ticket from another event turns the frame red with a clear message. Check the event name at the top before the doors open.
• The phone locks. Set the scanner phone to never sleep for the evening, and bring a power bank.
• Sound in a quiet room. The tones have a switch in the corner. On Android the phone also vibrates.

Do you need hardware

No. Any iPhone with Safari or Android phone with Chrome from the last few years scans a QR code fast enough. Dedicated scanners are quicker per code, but at a reception the bottleneck is the greeting, not the scan.

Which plan

QR tickets and the scanner are on Plus and above, and on the single event pass. The live view and the activity log are on Pro. The Free plan has a guest list and an Excel export, which is enough for a printed list if you want to start there. The check-in feature page has the details, including the door register and check-out.