What is Workplace Central?

Workplace Central, Central for short, is the calendar-style overview in the AskCody Management Portal. It shows every meeting across your rooms and locations by date, with the room, catering and service requests, attendees and notes on each meeting card. It is built for conference services managers, meeting coordinators, receptionists and others who administer other people's meetings.

What do we need before we can use Workplace Central?

Central is a Microsoft Graph application, so it needs: The rooms and users you manage in Central on Exchange Online. Users synchronized into AskCody from Microsoft Entra ID. Microsoft single sign-on enabled for AskCody. Central runs on the same Microsoft Graph integration as the rest of the AskCody Platform, so if your Exchange Online integration is set up, the permissions it needs to show meetings are already granted.

Does Workplace Central work with Exchange Server?

No. Central, Maps and All Bookings are built on Microsoft Graph, so they need Exchange Online and are not available with on-premises Exchange Server.

Which roles do people need?

To open Central, a user needs the Central Portal User role. To move meetings by drag and drop, they also need the Central Full Access Rescheduler role, which is always assigned manually and needs extended permissions for the AskCody enterprise application in Microsoft Entra ID. The AskCody Owner role configures everything, but an Owner who wants to reschedule in Central also needs the rescheduler role.

Who is notified when I move a meeting in Workplace Central?

Everyone involved, for the part that concerns them. The meeting updates in Outlook and the attendees get an updated invitation, catering and service requests move to the new date or time, and guests registered as expected visitors update in Visitor Management. This is Follow-the-Meeting Intelligence.

Can I edit a catering or service request from Central?

Yes. Open the meeting card and select Edit under Services. The request opens in the AskCody Services portal, where you update it. You see the Edit link when you have the Central role, the Services Portal User role and a membership of the provider that holds the request.

Can we limit which locations a user sees?

Yes. By default, people with a Central role see the meetings of every location. Turn on location memberships for a location, and only the members you add can view and manage its meetings in Central and All Bookings. Owners keep access to every location.

Can we change the work hours shown in the grid?

Yes. Work hours are set per location in the Admin Center and show in white in the grid, with off-hours in gray. The default is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

What does Central show for private meetings?

Private meetings show only very limited information, out of respect for privacy, and they cannot be rescheduled in Central.

Why does a room show no meetings in Central?

Central finds each room's calendar in Microsoft Graph by its primary SMTP address. If the room is set up with an alias, set its mailbox to the primary address in the Microsoft Exchange calendar integration, and all of its meetings appear, including the ones booked before the change.

Is Workplace Central included in my plan?

Yes. Workplace Central is included in all AskCody plans.

Visitor Management Portal for Reception Teams

Built for the front desk

What is the Visitor Management Portal?

The reception is where a visit succeeds or fails, and it usually happens at the busiest moment of the morning: three guests at the desk, a courier with a parcel, a host who is still in another meeting and a phone that keeps ringing. Many visitor tools start with a tablet in the lobby. The AskCody Visitor Management Portal starts with the people behind the desk.

It is the reception view of AskCody Visitor Management, in the AskCody Management Portal: the screen your receptionists, front desk team and concierges keep open all day to welcome guests, check them in and out, print badges and keep hosts informed. Guests reach the list from the Outlook invite, together with their meeting, room and host, so nobody retypes a name from an email.

Everything the front desk needs, in one portal

Expected guestsToday and the days ahead, with company, host, meeting, room and expected arrival.

Live statusExpected, Notified, On-site and Off-site, for every guest on the list.

One-click check-inCheck guests in and out, and register walk-ins on the spot.

Badge printingName and company, plus the host, group, time and your logo if you choose.

Host notificationsBy email and SMS, the moment a guest checks in.

Notes on the visitSpecial needs and access details from the host, and a custom field for your team.

Expected groupsEvents and delegations on your list, imported from a CSV file.

Self check-in kioskRecognizes pre-registered guests and shows your terms, such as an NDA.

Messages before arrivalEmail and SMS with the time, the room and how to check in.

Visitor parkingPermits issued at check-in, for locations in Denmark with APCOA.

Several receptionsEach with its own members, rooms, languages and time zone.

Insights and privacySee your busiest hours, and anonymize visitor data automatically.

Expected today

See every guest with their meeting, room and host

Start the day with the list, not the inbox. The portal shows who is expected today, and the days ahead if you choose, with the visitor, company, host, meeting, room and expected arrival on one line. Meeting organizers add guests in the Outlook invite with the AskCody Visitors add-in, so each guest reaches your list together with the meeting they belong to.

Status at a glance: Expected, Notified, On-site and Off-site.
Notes from the host, such as a guest who needs step-free access, and a custom field for notes between colleagues.
Search, filter and export: show only expected guests, collapse groups and find any check-in in your reception.
When the meeting moves, the expected guests move with it, so your list follows the invite, and your meeting coordinators see the same guests on the meeting in Workplace Central.

How to use the Visitor Management Portal

Check-in

Check in, print the badge and tell the host

When a guest arrives, find them on the list and select Check in. The status turns On-site and the host is notified by email or SMS that their guest is here, so you are not calling around the building while the next guest waits. Print the badge from the same line, with the details the host already registered, so every name is spelled right.

Walk-ins: select New check-in to register a guest nobody announced, or add someone as an expected visitor for later.
Badges your way: name and company, plus the host, group, check-in time, an infotag and your logo if you choose.
Check-out: check guests out when they leave, and set a daily time that checks out anyone still on-site.

What can a visitor badge show?

Self check-in

Let guests check themselves in when the line grows

A Check-in Kiosk takes the queue off your desk at peak hours, at events and when a large group arrives at once. It runs full screen on a touch display or tablet, and you decide which details guests fill in.

Pre-registered guests are recognized: they enter their email, their details appear, and the expected guest on your list simply turns On-site.
Your terms on screen: guests accept your terms, such as an NDA or house rules, before they can check in.
A doorbell for the unexpected: No appointment and Mail and package buttons notify the right contact person.
In their language: guests switch between the languages your reception offers.

How the Check-in Kiosk works

Before arrival

Guests arrive prepared, so the desk gets fewer questions

The visit starts before the guest reaches your desk. AskCody can send guests an email or SMS before the meeting with the time, the room and how to check in, as many days or hours ahead as you choose. Fewer guests stand at the desk asking where the meeting is.

Messages in your words: edit the email and SMS texts for each reception and language.
Visitor parking at check-in (Denmark): guests add their license plate, and an APCOA parking permit valid for the rest of the day is issued automatically. On each check-in in the portal, you can view or edit the plate and issue the permit.

Set up the APCOA Denmark parking integration

Busy hours

See when your reception is busiest

Visitor Insights shows your check-ins by weekday and time of day. Plan who covers the desk around real visitor traffic, spot the peak hours before they turn into a queue, and see how visits develop over time.

Staffing: cover the busiest mornings with the right number of people.
Peaks: know when a kiosk or an extra pair of hands makes the difference.
Guest experience: fewer bottlenecks at the moment your guests form their first impression.

Read: the data that shows when reception is busiest

Using AskCody Insights for Visitors

For IT

What does IT need to set up the portal?

The Visitor Management Portal is part of the AskCody Platform and runs on the same Microsoft 365 integration as the rest of it.

Receptions: an administrator creates each reception in the Admin Center, with its name, the meeting rooms that allow visitor registration, time zone, languages and badge settings.
Hosts from Microsoft Entra ID: hosts are synchronized automatically, so names, emails and mobile numbers stay current.
Access by group: link an Entra ID group to one or more receptions, and its members get access. Remove someone from the group, and their access is revoked.

How to give access to a reception

Privacy built in

Guests sign in digitally instead of in an open paper log book, and the list is visible only to the people with access to the reception. An account-wide setting removes the personal data of visitors after a retention period you set between 1 and 365 days, while the visit counts stay for reporting.

Kiosks

Each Check-in Kiosk runs from a URL shown in the Admin Center, full screen on a touch display or tablet, with a kiosk template linked to one reception.

Read the setup guide

Ben AshdownHead of Technology Support and Operations

80 percent of reception time given back

“In general, the AskCody benefit is the time savings and removing the daily frustrations around meeting planning. The biggest benefit until now is that we have saved 80 percent of the reception time, which was taken up with dealing with visitors coming and going.”

Dale PollockConference Services Manager

A reception that is ready before guests arrive

“The benefit of AskCody is that we are all a lot more prepared. The receptionists are not struggling to gather visitor information, which has streamlined the whole process and made it much easier for the receptionist and a better experience for our visitors.”

Manager of Workplace ServicesA leading investment management firm

Catering, setup, AV and visitors together

“I don’t believe the other vendors can do the catering, the room setup, and AV requests as well as the visitor management piece altogether as seamlessly. Also, what we found was the AskCody user experience was just slicker.”

Nabil ZerdaziIT Project Manager

Simple was the measure of success

“The user pathway was our main concern to address. The easy and simple process to find the needed meeting room, book it, request services, and manage visitors has been our main success criterion.”

Nané Pr’OutDirector of Information Technology

Modern, integrated and intuitive

“We wanted a system that would be integrated with our email system... We wanted something with a nice modern look and feel. And something that was user-friendly and intuitive. Looking at all the various players on the market, AskCody checked off all of those boxes.”

Luke SchnoebelenDirector of Professional Development

A partner that is there when you need it

“With people all over the United States and across the globe, it can be a hassle to be met with ‘Sorry, but I’m busy’... But that is not the case with our AskCody project manager. She makes herself available, and everyone at AskCody is made available.”

Common questions about the
Visitor Management Portal

What is the AskCody Visitor Management Portal?

The Visitor Management Portal is the reception view of AskCody Visitor Management, in the AskCody Management Portal. Receptionists, front desk teams and concierges use it every day to see expected guests with their meeting, room and host, check guests in and out, print badges and notify hosts. See how to use the portal.

Who uses the Visitor Management Portal?

The members of a reception: typically receptionists, front desk officers, concierges and office managers. Members can check visitors in and out, print badges, register visitors and add notes to visits. Administrators set up receptions, kiosks and messages in the Admin Center.

How do guests get on the reception list?

Meeting organizers add external guests to the Outlook invite with the AskCody Visitors add-in, and the guests appear on the reception list with the meeting, room and host. Reception can also add expected visitors and groups in the portal, import them from a CSV file, or register a walk-in with New check-in.

Can guests check themselves in?

Yes. A Check-in Kiosk on a touch display or tablet lets guests check in themselves. When the email field is required on the kiosk, a pre-registered guest who enters their email sees their details prefilled, and the expected guest on the reception list turns On-site. How the Check-in Kiosk works.

How is the host told that a guest has arrived?

When a guest checks in, at the desk or on the kiosk, AskCody notifies the host automatically by email, SMS or both, depending on how the reception is set up. Guests without an appointment and couriers can use the No appointment and Mail and package buttons on the kiosk to notify a contact person.

Can we print visitor badges?

Yes. Reception prints a badge from the portal for any registered or expected guest, and a badge prints from the kiosk after the guest checks in. It always shows the guest's name and company, and can also show the host, group, check-in time, an infotag and your logo. What a badge can show.

Can one portal serve several receptions or buildings?

Yes. You can run several receptions, each with its own members, meeting rooms, time zone, languages and badge settings. Access can follow Microsoft Entra ID groups, so people get access to the right reception and lose it when they leave the group. How to give access to a reception.

How does the portal handle visitor data?

Guests sign in digitally instead of in a paper log book that the next guest can read. An account-wide setting anonymizes visitor data after a retention period you choose, between 1 and 365 days, and keeps the visit counts for reporting. Read about AskCody and GDPR.

Is the Visitor Management Portal included in AskCody?

Yes. Visitor Management, including the portal, is part of the AskCody Platform. See pricing or talk to a consultant about the number of receptions you need.

The daily tool for reception and front desk teams

What is the Visitor Management Portal?

See every guest with their meeting, room and host

Check in, print the badge and tell the host

Let guests check themselves in when the line grows

Guests arrive prepared, so the desk gets fewer questions

See when your reception is busiest

What does IT need to set up the portal?

Common questions about the
Visitor Management Portal

See the portal at your own front desk

The daily tool for reception and front desk teams

What is the Visitor Management Portal?

See every guest with their meeting, room and host

Check in, print the badge and tell the host

Let guests check themselves in when the line grows

Guests arrive prepared, so the desk gets fewer questions

See when your reception is busiest

What does IT need to set up the portal?

Common questions about the Visitor Management Portal

See the portal at your own front desk

Common questions about the
Visitor Management Portal