Once you’ve set up your watchlist, either through our internal system or through a 3rd party integration, there are multiple ways to embed it into your workflows. This article covers the most common implementation method, leveraging watchlist alerts and the Watchlist Check Page.
How a Watchlist is Triggered
Internal Watchlists
To trigger an internal watchlist, the guest's information must match either the name or the email that you've entered in the watchlist entry. For example, let's say you've created a watchlist entry with the name John Smith and the email [email protected]. To trigger the watchlist, either John Smith or [email protected] will need to be entered into the system.
Internal watchlists will also match on any first name alias included in the watchlist record.
3rd Party Watchlists
Each 3rd Party Watchlist has a different trigger criteria depending on the provider.
For example, one of our most commonly used watchlists is Visual Compliance. VC will look for matches based on visitor name or company, with the fuzziness level being controlled from your Visual Compliance account. If you're unsure of which fuzziness level to choose, consult your VC representative.
Within your Visitor Management account, the watchlist color associated to those records is set up within the Integrations Page. For example, if you'd like Visual Compliance watchlist hits to be assigned a red watchlist color, you must do so from the Visual Compliance tile in the Integrations tab.
Check out THIS article for details on all 3rd Party Integrations.
After your 3rd Party Watchlist flags an invite or sign-in record, it is up to you to determine how Visitor Management reacts.
Where to View Watchlist Records
After an invite or sign-in record has been created, you will see an indicator next to the visitor's record - within the Guest Book or Locations page - if they've triggered a watchlist.
Internal Watchlist hits are indicated by a flag icon. 3rd Party Watchlist hits, like Visual Compliance, are indicated by an exclamation mark icon.
Click the icon to view more details about what triggered the watchlist. Below is an example of a visitor who triggered two different 3rd Party Watchlists:
Watchlist Alerts
After setting up a watchlist, we highly recommend setting up watchlist alerts for each location, specific to each watchlist color you're using in your account. Using the Visual Compliance example above, you should set up red watchlist alerts as Visual Compliance is configured to trigger the red watchlist specifically.
Watchlist Alerts will automatically send email notifications to designated individuals immediately after a watchlisted visitor is invited or signs-in. This is configured on a per-location basis, so it's a good idea to identify the best security/facility candidates for each site.
By default, watchlist alerts will come from [email protected]
For detailed setup instructions, check out this knowledge article: How do I set up Emails to Receive Watchlist Notifications
Watchlist Check Page
Within your Sign-In Experience, you can route watchlisted visitors through an alternate branch using a Watchlist Check Page. This allows you to create a more tailored experience for flagged individuals and ensures that additional steps or alerts are in place when needed. Normal visitors will continue through the regular sign-in paths, whereas watchlisted visitors are silently routed through another.
Where this alternate branch occurs and what happens afterwards are up to you. Some organizations choose to end the sign-in flow immediately, while others include follow-up questions or display specific instructions. You can also insert a Notify Action to alert a designated team member whenever someone is flagged.
To help you get started, below is a basic setup for a Kiosk Experience:
1. Create an Experience that collects any visitor data that is relevant to the watchlist (eg. About You Page, Identity Page, or Form Page).
Internal watchlists look for name and email
3rd party watchlists look for different criteria (eg. Visual Compliance and ITA look for name and company. Risk Insights looks for name and DOB).
2. Add your Watchlist Check Page immediately afterwards.
Placing the Watchlist Check Page immediately after the About You Page assumes that the sign-in processes will be fully distinct after you've captured the visitor's data.
If your use-case contains only slight differences between the two paths, we recommend placing the Watchlist Check Page after the similarities end. This way, you're not creating the exact same pages for each path. Rather, visitors will continue on the same path until you determine there needs to be a split.
3. Click on each Watchlist Color that needs a separate path. For example, if you've set Visual Compliance to trigger red watchlists, create a red watchlist path.
4. Optional: Down your red watchlist path, add any additional notifications that need to be sent to relevant parties.
Host Selection Page: Select an email template that lets hosts know that their visitor has been watchlisted.
Notify Action: Send an alert to any other designated individuals. This is a good method to send SMS alerts in addition to any watchlist alerts configured from the location level
5. To end the red watchlist path, add a message in your Thank You Page, letting the visitor know that someone will be in touch shortly. To prevent a badge from automatically printing, ensure the Print Badge option is turned off.
Don't forget to configure your No Match Path. This is the regular sign-in flow for non-watchlisted visitors and will be your most commonly used path.
