Troubleshoot badges not printing

If badges are not printing for all or some of your visitors, the issue is usually caused by your badge printing setup, your badge roll, or specific sign-in flows that can prevent badges from printing.

Badge printing setup

If badges are not printing for any of your visitors, follow the checks below to ensure badge printing is set up correctly. If badges are printing for some of your visitors, but not others, see Sign-in flows that can affect badge printing.

Check your badge printing configuration

1. From the left sidebar in VisitorOS, click the Settings icon, then select Sites.
   
2. Select the site where badges are not printing.
3. Click Features.
4. Under "Badge Printing", click Configure.
   
5. Check that the correct "Connection Method" is selected.
   • If your printer is connected to your network via ethernet, select Wi-Fi/Ethernet.
   • If your printer is connected to your network via Wi-Fi, select Wi-Fi Direct.
   • If you are using a Bluetooth connection, select Bluetooth.
6. If your "Connection Method" is set to "Wi-Fi/Ethernet" or "Wi-Fi Direct", in the IP Address field, check if the IP address of the printer is entered correctly. To learn how to obtain the IP address, see the article for your printer model:
   • Set up your Brother QL-820NWB printer
   • Set up your Brother QL-1110NWB printer
   • Set up your Epson C4000u color printer
   • Set up your Brother HL-L3280CDW printer
   • Set up your Brother HL-L3270CDW/HL-L3230CDW printer
7. Check that the correct "Media Type" is selected. To know which badge roll to use for your printer, see Types of badge rolls and paper.
8. Under "Applicable to All Visitor Types, Except the Following" make sure you have selected visitor types that you DO NOT want badge printing set up for. 
9. If you made any changes, click Save.

Check your iPad's configuration in VisitorOS

1. From the left sidebar in VisitorOS, click Manage, then select Devices.
   
2. Select the iPad the printer is connected to.
3. In the "Printer" tab, check that the correct "Connection Method" is selected.
   • If your printer is connected to your network via ethernet, select WiFi.
   • If your printer is connected to your network via Wi-Fi, select WiFi Direct.
   • If you are using a Bluetooth connection, select Bluetooth.
4. If your "Connection Method" is set to "Wi-Fi" or "Wi-Fi Direct", in the IP Address field, check if the IP address of the printer is entered correctly. To learn how to obtain the IP address, see the article for your printer model:
   • Set up your Brother QL-820NWB printer
   • Set up your Brother QL-1110NWB printer
   • Set up your Epson C4000u color printer
   • Set up your Brother HL-L3280CDW printer
   • Set up your Brother HL-L3270CDW/HL-L3230CDW printer
5. If you made any changes, click Save.

Check your badge roll

Confirm that you are using a badge roll that was provided by FacilityOS or was purchased from the manufacturer of the printer.

• To learn about which badge rolls are supported for your printer, see Types of badge rolls and paper.
• To learn how to purchase a badge roll from FacilityOS, see Purchase items from the FacilityOS store.
• To purchase badge rolls from the manufacturer:
  • For Brother printers, go to Product and Support Information to select your region and then view "Label Printers & Label Makers" to shop for rolls.
  • For Epson printers, go to the Epson shop.

Sign-in flows that can affect badge printing

Your site may be configured to not print badges when certain conditions are met during sign-in. Use the information below to review sign-in flows that could be preventing badges from printing.

Check returning visitor settings

If your "Returning Visitor" settings include a "Badge Validity Period", badges for returning visitors do not print until the specified number of days or hours have passed.

1. From the left sidebar in VisitorOS, click the Settings icon, then select Sites.
   
2. Select the site where returning visitor badges are not printing.
3. Click Features.
4. Under "Returning Visitors", click Configure.

5. In the Badge Validity Period field, if the number of days or hours is 1 or more, badges will print only after that amount of time has passed since signing in. If you want badges printed every time a returning visitor signs in, set the value to 0.

   

6. If you made any changes, click Save.

Check visitor approval settings

In "Visitor Approval" settings, if "Delay Badge Printing Until After Sign-In Approval" is turned on, badges print only after visitors are approved.

1. From the left sidebar in VisitorOS, click the Settings icon, then select Sites.
   
2. Select the site where badges are not printing.
3. Click Features.
4. Under "Visitor Approval", click Configure to open its settings panel.
5. If Delay Badge Printing Until After Sign-In Approval is turned on, take one of the following actions:
   • If you want badges to print before a visitor is approved, turn off Delay Badge Printing Until After Sign-In Approval.
   • You can leave the setting on and approve a visitor's sign-in to check if their badge will print. To learn how to approve visitors, see Approve or deny visitor sign-ins.
6. If you made any changes, click Save.

Check watchlists

By default, badges do not print for visitors matched against a watchlist with the type "Deny". To check if a watchlist prevented a visitor's badge from printing, follow the steps below.

1. From the left sidebar in VisitorOS, click Visitors.

2. Locate and select the visitor whose badge did not print.

3. In the right-side panel, review watchlist hits under "Screening Results".

   • If all watchlists show "No hit", or you do not see "Screening Results", the badge printing issue is not caused by a watchlist.

   • If any watchlist shows "Hit", note the names of those watchlists, then continue to step 4.

   

4. From the left sidebar in VisitorOS, click Manage, then select Watchlist.
   

5. Review the "Type" column for the watchlists you noted in step 3.

   • If the watchlists have the type "Deny", they are preventing badges from printing. To allow badges to print for denied visitors, contact your customer success representative or the FacilityOS support team.

   • If the watchlists have the type "Permit", the badge printing issue is not caused by your watchlists.

   • If there is a mix of "Permit" and "Deny" watchlists, make sure the visitor is included in only one type of watchlist. You can remove the visitor from either the "Permit" watchlist or the "Deny" watchlist. To learn how, see Manage watchlist members.

   

Additional resources

If the above options did not resolve your issue, try the following:

• For Brother QL-820NWB printers connected via Bluetooth, reset the printer. For more information, see Factory reset your Brother QL-820NWB printer.

• Try resetting the network settings on your iPad. To learn how, see Reset network settings on your iPad.

• For Epson C4000u printers, if you see a message displayed on the operation panel, see Epson's CW-C4000 Series User's Guide for troubleshooting solutions on page 63.