Practical answers for event access control, written from real doors: how many scanners you need, how ticket fraud actually happens, and what we learn running events every week.
On-site printing takes twenty to thirty seconds per person against two or three for a QR scan. When each option pays off, and the three pieces the digital route needs to survive the person who arrives with nothing.
Perfect check-in starts days before the door: QR codes sent in advance, scanners sized for the peak minute, and a thirty-second answer for whoever arrives without a code.
Two lists "just in case", the organiser's password in a group chat, duplicate policy improvised mid-rush: the seven classic failures, in order of pain, and the cheap fix for each.
One QR per household instead of the lifeguard's paper list: live capacity, guests with a cap, arrears handled with a switch — and scanning that survives basement coverage.
Basements, marquees and networks that die at doors-open: the four pieces a real offline mode needs, a marquee case with 50,000 reconciled scans, and the buyer's checklist to demand on site.
The platform migration with a seconds-long cutover, the definitive fix for offline scan uploads (50,000 scans, 0 losses), SMSverifica, Spain's sender-ID deadline and the Mailrelay free-account change.
A rule of thumb from real doors: scans per minute per device, what changes when the venue has no signal, and worked examples for 200, 1,000 and 5,000 attendees.
What each kind of QR protects you from, how ticket fraud actually happens at the door, and which one your event really needs.
The four pieces of a setup that works — list, credential, door and reports — what you genuinely need, and what you will be sold that you do not.
Import, public form or API: the three ways to build the list, capacity and waiting lists done automatically, and GDPR without surprises.
Measured throughput (330+ scans per second), the honest limits of phones at the door, and the cases where hardware IS worth buying.
List closed, scanners tested, duplicate policy decided — and a plan for the four incidents that always happen at the door.
The step-by-step documentation lives in the help centre: dashboard, seating, ticket sales and SMTP setup sheets for 12 providers.