Running check-in on several phones

Several desks, several session doors, one attendee list — how WebMobi keeps them consistent, and the one habit that keeps walk-ins from being counted twice.

In short

In WebMobi, any number of phones can check people in to the same event at the same time, online or offline. Phones never exchange data with each other: each keeps its own saved attendee list and its own queue of check-ins, and everything meets on WebMobi's server when each phone syncs. A person is counted once however many phones check them in.

Walk-ins are the one case that needs a habit from your staff: a walk-in has no QR code, so their email is how every phone recognises them. Same email on every desk means one registration.

For how offline check-in fits into running an event, see Offline event check-in.

Which phones can do what. Scanning QR badges works online and offline on iPhone and Android. Checking in by name without a connection and adding walk-ins in the app need the WebMobi app version 452.0.0 or later. That version is on the App Store; Google Play currently serves 451.0.0, so on Android those two tasks are not available yet — use iPhones for them, or the web Walk-in button while connected.

1. How the phones share work

Picture each phone as a notebook that is copied from, and later handed back to, one master list on the server:

1Before the doors open, each phone downloads the attendee list and the session list while connected. The scan screen shows N cached when the list is on the phone.
2At the door, each phone checks people in against its own copy. Offline, check-ins wait on that phone, with the time they happened.
3When a phone reconnects, it sends its walk-ins, then its check-ins. The server applies the same rules as for an online check-in: the right event, one arrival per person, one visit per session at a time.
4After a phone syncs, the other phones pick up the changes the next time they refresh their saved list while connected.

Online, there is nothing to reconcile: every check-in goes straight to the server, and a search by name on any phone asks the server, so it finds everyone registered so far.

2. What is shared, what is not

Item	Across phones
Registrations made before the phone downloaded its list	On every phone that downloaded the list.
People who registered after a phone downloaded	Not on that phone until it refreshes while connected. Offline, add them as a walk-in with the email they registered with — they are matched to their registration on sync, not duplicated.
Who is already inside	Each phone starts from who was inside when it downloaded, plus its own check-ins. Offline, phone A does not know phone B just checked someone in; the server counts them once when both sync.
Check-ins made on another phone while offline	Not visible until that phone syncs.
Walk-ins added on another phone while offline	Not findable by name until that phone syncs and yours refreshes. Offline, the search tells you what to do: Registered at another phone while offline? Add them with the same email — they'll be matched when the phones sync.
The session each phone is scanning into	Set per phone, with Scanning into. Each door chooses its own.
Check-ins waiting to sync	Only on the phone that made them. Deleting the app deletes them.

Good to know

While a check-in screen is open and connected, the phone refreshes its saved list after every sync and every few minutes, so walk-ins added elsewhere become searchable without anyone re-opening the screen.
Offline, the Manual Check-In screen shows how many people this phone can search: N attendees saved for offline search.

3. Email is the walk-in key

A person who registered in advance has a QR code, and the code identifies them on every phone. A walk-in added at the door is not given a QR code. So when the phones cannot talk to the server, the only thing that tells two phones they have the same walk-in is the email address typed at each desk.

The app requires an email for a walk-in added offline. Online, the email is optional.
The same email on two phones → one registration, with every check-in from both phones on it.
A different email, or a typo → two registrations. Names are never matched: two people can share a name.
An email that already belongs to someone registered → that person is checked in, not a second registration. Online the app says Already registered and offers to check that person in.

At every desk: search by name first. Add a walk-in only when the person is not found, and ask them to type their email or read it back to you.

4. One walk-in, three phones: a worked example

No signal anywhere. Priya arrives unregistered, then attends two sessions at doors staffed by other phones.

Where	What staff do
Phone A — entrance	Walk-in: name and email → Saved offline.
Phone B — Session A door	Manual Check-In → search “Priya” → not found (she is not in B's list) → Add as walk-in with the same email → Saved offline.
Phone B — Session B, later	Search “Priya” → found (B added her) → Confirm Check-In → Checked in (offline). No second walk-in.
Phone C — Session B	Same as phone B's first step: Add as walk-in with the same email.

When the phones reconnect, in any order, the first to sync creates Priya's registration. Every later walk-in with her email is recognised as Priya, and each phone's check-ins are attached to her with the times and sessions they were made at. The result: one registration, her arrival, and her attendance in Session A and Session B. Phone C's Session B check-in is a repeat and is not counted twice.

5. Laying out your desks

Desk	Set up
Badge desks (entrance)	Scanning into → Whole event. Scan badges; use the magnifier for people without one.
Session doors	Scanning into → the session. Scanning mode In only is simplest at a door.
Walk-in desk	One desk, on an iPhone with app 452.0.0 or later, when you expect no signal. All walk-ins get the same careful email capture there.

Good to know

The session is chosen on each phone every time the scan screen opens; it starts at Whole event. Check the button under the camera before you scan.
A session check-in counts the person as attended but is not an entrance check-in, so scan at the entrance too if you want a record of who came through the door.
Rehearse with two phones in airplane mode before the event — the no-signal drill walks through it.

6. When the phones reconnect

1Syncing starts on its own when a phone reconnects. To send now, tap Pending: N on the scan screen, or the list icon → Sync Status → Sync Now.
2Walk-ins go first, oldest first. A check-in for a walk-in is never sent before the person exists on the server.
3Check-ins follow, each with the time it happened at the desk.

How to confirm it worked

On each phone, Sync Status shows Pending 0.
On the web, the event's Attended and Check-ins counts include every phone's check-ins.

Good to know

Sending twice is safe: a check-in that already arrived is not recorded again.
If two phones sync the same walk-in at the same instant, one wins and the other retries on its next sync — it joins the same registration.
If confirmation emails are on for the event, a walk-in added offline gets one email, when their registration is created on sync.
A walk-in the server refuses (ticket sold out, event full, plan limit) stays pending on that phone. Add the person on the web, where the reason is shown.

7. Checking the result on the web

History → Check-ins: each check-in with the staff member, the device and an Offline label where it was made offline.
Walk-ins added on the same tab: each walk-in once. A person listed twice was given two different emails.
On Enterprise plans, the Check-in Console's Active Devices lists each phone or computer that scanned for the event, with when its check-ins last reached WebMobi in the event's time zone, for example Last synced 14:02 (3 h ago).
Under a device, N scans arrived late today counts its scans from the last 24 hours that reached WebMobi more than 2 minutes after they were made.
The list reminds you that A device that hasn't synced may still hold scans.

Found a walk-in listed twice? Email support@webmobi.com with both addresses and we'll help you tidy it up — there is no merge button.

What it does not do

Phones do not sync with each other directly, over Bluetooth or a local network. Every exchange goes through the server, so an offline phone knows only its own work.
Walk-ins are matched on email only. Different emails for one person make two registrations, and there is no merge button.
A walk-in added offline is not given a QR code; at other desks they are checked in by name, or added again with the same email.
Walk-ins added in the app have no ticket type. To choose a ticket, add the person on the web while connected.
A walk-in the server refuses on sync stays pending on the phone without the reason on screen.
On Android, offline check-in by name and walk-ins in the app wait for version 452.0.0 on Google Play.
A check-in cannot be removed once recorded.
The web cannot see check-ins still waiting on a phone; only that phone's Pending count shows them.

Frequently asked questions

Do the phones talk to each other?

No. Each phone keeps its own saved attendee list and its own queue of check-ins. Everything meets on WebMobi’s server when each phone connects and syncs.

Can the same person be counted twice if two desks check them in?

No: Attended and each session count a person once, and a repeat is recorded as “Already inside (not counted again)”.

Why does the app ask for an email for a walk-in when there is no signal?

Walk-ins have no QR code, so the email is the only thing every phone shares about them. When the phones sync, every walk-in with the same email becomes one registration, with all of that person’s check-ins on it.

What happens if two desks type different emails for the same walk-in?

They become two registrations. Email is the only thing WebMobi matches on; names are not matched because different people share names. Ask the attendee to type or read back their email at every desk.

A walk-in was added on another phone. Why can’t I find them by name?

Your phone only knows the people in its saved list. The walk-in appears there after the other phone has synced and your phone has refreshed its list while connected. Until then, add them as a walk-in with the same email and the two join up on sync.

Which details are kept when the same walk-in is added on two phones?

The name and phone number from the phone that synced first. The other phones’ spellings are discarded; their check-ins are kept and attached to the same person.

Can I mix iPhones and Android phones?

Yes, for scanning QR badges online and offline. Checking in by name without a connection, and adding walk-ins in the app, need app version 452.0.0 or later, which is available on iPhone; Google Play currently serves 451.0.0. Put iPhones at the walk-in desk and at any desk that must work by name offline.

How do I know every phone has synced?

Each phone’s Sync Status shows Pending 0, and on Enterprise plans the Check-in Console shows when each device last synced and how many of its scans arrived late.

Back to the User Guide

Running check-in on several phones

Several desks, several session doors, one attendee list — how WebMobi keeps them consistent, and the one habit that keeps walk-ins from being counted twice.

In short

Walk-ins are the one case that needs a habit from your staff: a walk-in has no QR code, so their email is how every phone recognises them. Same email on every desk means one registration.

For how offline check-in fits into running an event, see Offline event check-in.

1. How the phones share work

Picture each phone as a notebook that is copied from, and later handed back to, one master list on the server:

1Before the doors open, each phone downloads the attendee list and the session list while connected. The scan screen shows N cached when the list is on the phone.
2At the door, each phone checks people in against its own copy. Offline, check-ins wait on that phone, with the time they happened.
3When a phone reconnects, it sends its walk-ins, then its check-ins. The server applies the same rules as for an online check-in: the right event, one arrival per person, one visit per session at a time.
4After a phone syncs, the other phones pick up the changes the next time they refresh their saved list while connected.

Online, there is nothing to reconcile: every check-in goes straight to the server, and a search by name on any phone asks the server, so it finds everyone registered so far.

2. What is shared, what is not

Item	Across phones
Registrations made before the phone downloaded its list	On every phone that downloaded the list.
People who registered after a phone downloaded	Not on that phone until it refreshes while connected. Offline, add them as a walk-in with the email they registered with — they are matched to their registration on sync, not duplicated.
Who is already inside	Each phone starts from who was inside when it downloaded, plus its own check-ins. Offline, phone A does not know phone B just checked someone in; the server counts them once when both sync.
Check-ins made on another phone while offline	Not visible until that phone syncs.
Walk-ins added on another phone while offline	Not findable by name until that phone syncs and yours refreshes. Offline, the search tells you what to do: Registered at another phone while offline? Add them with the same email — they'll be matched when the phones sync.
The session each phone is scanning into	Set per phone, with Scanning into. Each door chooses its own.
Check-ins waiting to sync	Only on the phone that made them. Deleting the app deletes them.

Good to know

While a check-in screen is open and connected, the phone refreshes its saved list after every sync and every few minutes, so walk-ins added elsewhere become searchable without anyone re-opening the screen.
Offline, the Manual Check-In screen shows how many people this phone can search: N attendees saved for offline search.

3. Email is the walk-in key

The app requires an email for a walk-in added offline. Online, the email is optional.
The same email on two phones → one registration, with every check-in from both phones on it.
A different email, or a typo → two registrations. Names are never matched: two people can share a name.
An email that already belongs to someone registered → that person is checked in, not a second registration. Online the app says Already registered and offers to check that person in.

At every desk: search by name first. Add a walk-in only when the person is not found, and ask them to type their email or read it back to you.

4. One walk-in, three phones: a worked example

No signal anywhere. Priya arrives unregistered, then attends two sessions at doors staffed by other phones.

Where	What staff do
Phone A — entrance	Walk-in: name and email → Saved offline.
Phone B — Session A door	Manual Check-In → search “Priya” → not found (she is not in B's list) → Add as walk-in with the same email → Saved offline.
Phone B — Session B, later	Search “Priya” → found (B added her) → Confirm Check-In → Checked in (offline). No second walk-in.
Phone C — Session B	Same as phone B's first step: Add as walk-in with the same email.

5. Laying out your desks

Desk	Set up
Badge desks (entrance)	Scanning into → Whole event. Scan badges; use the magnifier for people without one.
Session doors	Scanning into → the session. Scanning mode In only is simplest at a door.
Walk-in desk	One desk, on an iPhone with app 452.0.0 or later, when you expect no signal. All walk-ins get the same careful email capture there.

Good to know

The session is chosen on each phone every time the scan screen opens; it starts at Whole event. Check the button under the camera before you scan.
A session check-in counts the person as attended but is not an entrance check-in, so scan at the entrance too if you want a record of who came through the door.
Rehearse with two phones in airplane mode before the event — the no-signal drill walks through it.

6. When the phones reconnect

1Syncing starts on its own when a phone reconnects. To send now, tap Pending: N on the scan screen, or the list icon → Sync Status → Sync Now.
2Walk-ins go first, oldest first. A check-in for a walk-in is never sent before the person exists on the server.
3Check-ins follow, each with the time it happened at the desk.

How to confirm it worked

On each phone, Sync Status shows Pending 0.
On the web, the event's Attended and Check-ins counts include every phone's check-ins.

Good to know

Sending twice is safe: a check-in that already arrived is not recorded again.
If two phones sync the same walk-in at the same instant, one wins and the other retries on its next sync — it joins the same registration.
If confirmation emails are on for the event, a walk-in added offline gets one email, when their registration is created on sync.
A walk-in the server refuses (ticket sold out, event full, plan limit) stays pending on that phone. Add the person on the web, where the reason is shown.

7. Checking the result on the web

History → Check-ins: each check-in with the staff member, the device and an Offline label where it was made offline.
Walk-ins added on the same tab: each walk-in once. A person listed twice was given two different emails.
On Enterprise plans, the Check-in Console's Active Devices lists each phone or computer that scanned for the event, with when its check-ins last reached WebMobi in the event's time zone, for example Last synced 14:02 (3 h ago).
Under a device, N scans arrived late today counts its scans from the last 24 hours that reached WebMobi more than 2 minutes after they were made.
The list reminds you that A device that hasn't synced may still hold scans.

Found a walk-in listed twice? Email support@webmobi.com with both addresses and we'll help you tidy it up — there is no merge button.

What it does not do

Phones do not sync with each other directly, over Bluetooth or a local network. Every exchange goes through the server, so an offline phone knows only its own work.
Walk-ins are matched on email only. Different emails for one person make two registrations, and there is no merge button.
A walk-in added offline is not given a QR code; at other desks they are checked in by name, or added again with the same email.
Walk-ins added in the app have no ticket type. To choose a ticket, add the person on the web while connected.
A walk-in the server refuses on sync stays pending on the phone without the reason on screen.
On Android, offline check-in by name and walk-ins in the app wait for version 452.0.0 on Google Play.
A check-in cannot be removed once recorded.
The web cannot see check-ins still waiting on a phone; only that phone's Pending count shows them.

Frequently asked questions

Do the phones talk to each other?

No. Each phone keeps its own saved attendee list and its own queue of check-ins. Everything meets on WebMobi’s server when each phone connects and syncs.

Can the same person be counted twice if two desks check them in?

No: Attended and each session count a person once, and a repeat is recorded as “Already inside (not counted again)”.

Why does the app ask for an email for a walk-in when there is no signal?

What happens if two desks type different emails for the same walk-in?

They become two registrations. Email is the only thing WebMobi matches on; names are not matched because different people share names. Ask the attendee to type or read back their email at every desk.

A walk-in was added on another phone. Why can’t I find them by name?

Which details are kept when the same walk-in is added on two phones?

The name and phone number from the phone that synced first. The other phones’ spellings are discarded; their check-ins are kept and attached to the same person.

Can I mix iPhones and Android phones?

How do I know every phone has synced?

Each phone’s Sync Status shows Pending 0, and on Enterprise plans the Check-in Console shows when each device last synced and how many of its scans arrived late.

Running check-in on several phones

In short

On this page

1. How the phones share work

2. What is shared, what is not

Good to know

3. Email is the walk-in key

4. One walk-in, three phones: a worked example

5. Laying out your desks

Good to know

6. When the phones reconnect

How to confirm it worked

Good to know

7. Checking the result on the web

What it does not do

Frequently asked questions

Do the phones talk to each other?

Can the same person be counted twice if two desks check them in?

Why does the app ask for an email for a walk-in when there is no signal?

What happens if two desks type different emails for the same walk-in?

A walk-in was added on another phone. Why can’t I find them by name?

Which details are kept when the same walk-in is added on two phones?

Can I mix iPhones and Android phones?

How do I know every phone has synced?

Related guides

About WebMobi Event App Builder

Running check-in on several phones

In short

On this page

1. How the phones share work

2. What is shared, what is not

Good to know

3. Email is the walk-in key

4. One walk-in, three phones: a worked example

5. Laying out your desks

Good to know

6. When the phones reconnect

How to confirm it worked

Good to know

7. Checking the result on the web

What it does not do

Frequently asked questions

Do the phones talk to each other?

Can the same person be counted twice if two desks check them in?

Why does the app ask for an email for a walk-in when there is no signal?

What happens if two desks type different emails for the same walk-in?

A walk-in was added on another phone. Why can’t I find them by name?

Which details are kept when the same walk-in is added on two phones?

Can I mix iPhones and Android phones?

How do I know every phone has synced?

Related guides

About WebMobi Event App Builder