Check-in

QR check-in that works
even when the venue wifi doesn't.

Staff open a URL on their phone. The camera opens inside the browser, reads the QR, and pulls the attendee record in under a second. No app store, no rented iPads, no per-scan fees.

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Live · Scanner
Point at QR
Product Summit 2026 · Gate 2
Detecting…
Priya Nair
Meridian Labs · VP Product
Seat V-7
VIP
✓ Checked in · 10:04
Four taps to entry

The staff flow at the gate.

One URL. One camera. Four taps from queue to seated.

1
Open /scanner
Staff signs into the tenant admin on their phone, taps Scanner. The camera opens inside the browser.
2
Point at the QR
html5-qrcode decodes on device. Typical read time is under 400ms even in poor light.
3
Attendee shown
Name, company, seat number, VIP or General badge. Everything staff need to greet by name.
4
Tap Check in
Timestamp and staff ID are written to the registration row. Next attendee in the queue steps forward.
Built for chaotic venues

Everything that goes wrong at the gate, handled.

Guest arrives 3 hours late, wifi drops, someone tries to sneak in twice. The scanner keeps working.

📷
Camera in the browser
html5-qrcode runs on Chrome, Safari, Edge. No app install, no Play Store review, no iPad rental like Cvent OnArrival.
📡
Offline safe
Once the scanner page has loaded, decoding runs locally. Check-ins queue in the browser and sync the moment connectivity returns.
🚫
Duplicate scans blocked
Second scan of the same QR shows original check-in time and the staff member who did it. No double count.
🕒
Full audit trail
Every check-in row stores checked_in_at, checked_in_by and the device. Disputes get resolved by looking at the log.
⭐
VIP badge on scan
The moment the QR resolves, the screen shows a gold VIP tag so staff route the guest to the priority lane.
👥
Staff-only role
Give volunteers a Staff login. They see the Scanner and nothing else. No access to registrations, coupons, or exports.
Why we built it this way

The evening we watched a queue snake around a Bengaluru banquet hall.

A tech awards night, roughly 700 guests, single reception desk. The organiser had rented four iPads from a Cvent OnArrival package. Two of them died in the first 30 minutes because the venue Wi-Fi couldn't handle four devices polling a hosted API. The queue at the door hit 140 people. Journalists left. One CEO turned around and drove back to Whitefield.

Post mortem the next morning: the tool itself was fine in a lab. On a monsoon Friday, on flaky venue Wi-Fi, it was a disaster. And the rented hardware cost roughly ₹40,000 for one night.

So the check-in flow here runs entirely in the browser. Staff open a URL on their own phone. The camera opens inside Chrome or Safari, html5-qrcode decodes locally, the check-in queues locally too. When Wi-Fi comes back, queued check-ins flush in one batch. No rented iPads. No hosted-scanner dependency.

Not fancy. Just built for the reality that venue Wi-Fi in India will fail at least once during your event.

How it works in practice

A 500-guest gala, three staff, one lost signal.

  1. Day before. Client hires 3 volunteers as "Staff" role. Each gets a login. Total setup time: 4 minutes.
  2. Event day, 5.30pm. Staff arrive, open the URL on their phones (a mix of iPhone 13, Redmi Note 12, iPhone 15). Grant camera permission. Ready.
  3. Doors open, 6pm. First guest walks up, holds up her phone. Staff phone reads the QR, attendee record appears in 700ms. Big green tick. Next guest.
  4. Median scan-to-checked-in: 1.1 seconds. Three staff running in parallel handled 428 check-ins in the first 45 minutes.
  5. 7.15pm, Wi-Fi drops. Venue's router hiccup. Scanner keeps working. Check-ins queue locally on each phone. Green tick still appears for each scan.
  6. 7.19pm, Wi-Fi back. Each phone flushes 12-18 queued check-ins to the server in under 3 seconds. No missed rows. Admin dashboard catches up.
  7. Double-scan attempt. A guest tries again by accident. Second scan pops a warning: "Kavya checked in at 6.42pm by Rohit." Count stays at 1.

Total hardware rental cost: zero. Total per-scan fee: zero. Total lost guests to queue frustration: zero.

Cost comparison

Check-in hardware vs a browser tab.

For a 500-guest event, one day, India 2026.

ToolModel / CostNotesVerdict
Cvent OnArrival₹8k / iPad / eventRented iPads, needs stable Wi-Fi. Great UI when connected.Expensive and fragile in India
Zebra handheld scanners₹18k / scanner rentalFast at scanning barcodes. Needs custom software behind it.Overkill for QR
Eventbrite Organizer appBundled % + BYO deviceWorks but Eventbrite-branded. No offline queue.Fine for small meetups
SignupDesk scannerIncludedAny phone, browser-based, offline queue, duplicate-safe.Zero rent, monsoon-proof

Vendor prices vary by region and negotiated discount. Ours is included in the platform fee.

Pairs with

Modules that share the scanner pipeline.

🎨
Branded QR Passes
The scanner reads the signed QR embedded in every pass. Same signing scheme, same anti-forgery guarantees, same duplicate-block.
🖨️
Kiosk & Badges
The kiosk uses the exact same scanner code path as the staff phone. One codebase, two form factors.
📊
Admin Dashboard
Every scan updates the "Checked in" counter on the dashboard in real time. Client watches the room fill from a laptop behind reception.

Questions we get

Do I need an app?
No. Staff open /scanner in Chrome or Safari on any phone. The device camera opens inside the browser via html5-qrcode.
Works when wifi drops?
Yes. Once loaded, the decoder runs locally. Check-ins queue and sync when the connection comes back.
Can someone check in twice?
A second scan shows a warning with the original timestamp and staff ID. The count stays at one.
Cheaper than Cvent OnArrival?
OnArrival needs rented iPads at roughly ₹8k per device per event. Ours runs on staff phones and is included in the plan.
Skip the iPad rental.
See a live check-in flow on your staff phone in 20 minutes.
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