Automation
Visitor Pass
Generate a visitor pass for your weekly cleaner, dog walker, or in-laws. Records video for your archive but doesn't blast you with alerts during their pre-defined window.
What it is
A visitor pass is a time-boxed authorization that tells your Halstead system 'someone authorized is going to be at the property between these times — record everything but don't alarm me about it.' It solves the everyday problem of knowing the cleaner is coming and not wanting your phone to blow up with motion alerts every time they move from one room to another.
How it works
Step by step.
Create a visitor pass
In the Halstead app, tap 'New Visitor Pass'. Enter the visitor's name, the day (or recurring schedule), and the time window (e.g., Tuesday 10am-12pm). Save.
System suppresses alerts during the window
During the pass window, motion in covered areas continues to record to your timeline, but no notifications fire. The visitor name and time window are logged in your activity feed.
Outside the window, normal alerts resume
Activity outside the pass window triggers normal alerts. If your cleaner shows up an hour early, you'll get an alert (and can choose to extend the pass or investigate).
Recurring passes for repeat visitors
Set up recurring visitor passes for weekly cleaners, biweekly dog walkers, monthly maintenance — they automatically activate and deactivate without you having to remember to toggle them.
Why it matters
Without visitor passes, you face a bad tradeoff: either disable alerts entirely while expected visitors are at your home (and miss real events), or let the alerts blow up your phone every time they move (and get conditioned to ignore your security alerts). Visitor passes solve this with surgical precision — alerts off for known activity, alerts on for unknown activity.
Common questions
Does the visitor see anything different?+
No. Visitor passes are entirely on Halstead's backend — they don't change anything visible to the visitor or require them to use any app or code.
Can I see what happened during a visitor pass window?+
Yes. All activity during a visitor pass window is recorded normally to your video timeline — the only thing suppressed is push notifications. Review footage anytime you want.
Can I extend a visitor pass if my cleaner runs long?+
Yes. From the activity feed, tap the active visitor pass and choose 'Extend by 30 minutes' or 'Extend by 1 hour'. The pass continues without interruption.
What if someone else shows up during a visitor pass?+
Halstead's AI distinguishes people from each other when Family Check-Ins is configured with reference photos. If an unrecognized person appears during a visitor pass window, you can configure the system to alert anyway. Otherwise, all motion during the window logs without alerts.