Questions to ask a check-in app before the doors open

The door is where every earlier decision is tested

Check-in looks simple: scan a code, see a green tick, wave someone in. It is also the moment when every earlier decision is tested at once, under time pressure, in a room where the Wi-Fi was promised and may not arrive. A check-in app that works beautifully in a demo can still fail you at the door, and the failure is rarely the scan itself.

The questions below focus on what happens when conditions are not perfect, because on event day they rarely are.

What happens when the internet drops

Ask every vendor to show you the app with the device in airplane mode. Can staff keep scanning? Is the guest list stored on the device beforehand, and is it protected if a phone is lost? Can staff see that they are working offline, and how many scans are waiting to sync?

Then ask about the hard part. When several doors are working offline, no device knows what the others have scanned. A single pass could, in principle, be admitted at two doors before either reconnects. A good app is honest about this: it keeps every scan, marks provisional admissions clearly, and shows any duplicate as a conflict when devices sync, so a person resolves it. An app that silently drops the second scan hides exactly the problem you need to know about.

No offline system can guarantee that a pass is used only once across disconnected doors. The right question is how the app makes duplicates visible, not whether it claims they cannot happen.

Duplicate and invalid passes

Online, a repeat scan should be caught instantly, with the time and door of the first admission so staff can handle it kindly. Passes for refunded or cancelled orders should stop working, and you should know how recently the device list was refreshed so a refund issued an hour before the doors open is respected.

Screenshots and forwarded codes are a fact of life. The app should treat the pass as the proof, and the order record as the source of truth, never a screenshot of a payment.

Staff, devices and permissions

Door staff need to admit guests, not browse your guest list. Look for scoped staff access: each device sees only the event, function and door it is assigned to, and only the details needed at the door. Lost or borrowed devices should be revocable remotely.

For larger events, ask whether you can see every door at once: arrivals by door, which devices are online, and any conflicts waiting to be resolved.

Guests at the door

A check-in screen can reveal a lot. Staff should see what they need, such as a name, the table and a short note like "step-free route from the side entrance", and nothing more. Reasons behind access needs, meal choices for other functions and contact details do not belong on a door device.

Think about the moments that matter to guests: a guest of honour whose hosts want to know they have arrived, a guest who needs an escort, a family arriving together. A good app surfaces these at the right moment without making anyone wait.

Badges, kiosks and session scanning

Conferences and exhibitions add layers that a wedding door never sees. Attendees may collect a printed badge, enter several session rooms through the day, and visit exhibitors who want to scan them. Each of those is a check-in of its own, with its own rules.

Ask whether badges can be printed on arrival or in advance, and whether the badge carries the same pass the door uses. Ask whether session rooms can enforce capacity and record attendance, so a full workshop turns people away politely and certificates reflect who actually attended. If exhibitors scan badges, a visitor’s details should be shared only when that visitor has agreed, and the visitor should be able to see who received them. Finally, if you plan self-service kiosks, ask how they are locked down, so a kiosk cannot be used to browse the attendee list.

Questions to ask in a demo

1. Put the device in airplane mode. Can staff keep scanning, and can they tell they are offline?
2. Scan the same pass on two offline devices, then reconnect. What do you see?
3. Refund an order. How quickly does its pass stop working on a device?
4. What does a door device show about a guest, and what does it never show?
5. How do I limit a device to one door or function, and revoke it if it is lost?
6. Can I see arrivals by door and function as they happen?
7. How does a seat lookup work for a guest who has lost their pass?

A worked example: three doors, one weak signal

Imagine an example gala with three entrances and a venue network that struggles once the room fills. At 19:05 the side door loses its connection. Staff keep scanning; the device shows that it is offline and counts the scans waiting to sync. A guest who already came in through the main door tries the side door to fetch a coat and is scanned again. When the side door reconnects, the repeat scan appears as a conflict to review rather than a second admission, and the headcount stays correct. Nobody at the door had to make a judgement call in the dark.

Test it before the day

Run a rehearsal a few days before with the real devices and real staff. Scan sample passes online and offline, deliberately create a duplicate, refund a test order and confirm the pass stops working. Ten minutes of rehearsal is the cheapest insurance you will buy for the event.