How to Configure the Personal Identifier on Questions

Hi there! Based on your search criteria you are looking to learn how to Configure the Personal Identifier on Questions. The Personal Identifier checkbox appears in the question editor throughout the Workflow configuration. This article shows where to find it in each question area — General Questions, Service Questions, and Check-In Questions — and explains which of them you should actually use.

You need Workflow configuration permissions in Manage. Changes take effect only after you publish the workflow.

Which question area to use

Configure a Personal Identifier on a General Question

This is the most common setup.

1. Go to Manage > Workflow and open the workflow you want to change.
2. In the left navigation, under SERVICE, click General Questions.
3. Find the question that will act as the identifier — for example Phone or Email — and click the pencil icon on its row.
4. The General Question dialog opens. Confirm the Type is appropriate for an identifier (SMS-Enabled Phone, Email, Number, or Text).

5. Select the Personal Identifier checkbox in the row of options at the bottom of the dialog.

   

6. Leave Customer Facing selected so the question is shown on the check-in form. A question that is not customer facing is never answered by the visitor and therefore never produces a value to match against.
7. Click Update.
8. Click Publish at the bottom right to make the change live. Use Save as Draft if you are not ready to publish.

Configure a Personal Identifier on a Service Question

1. Go to Manage > Workflow and open your workflow.
2. In the left navigation, under SERVICE, click Service Questions.
3. Find the question set that contains the question and click the pencil icon on its row. The Question Set dialog opens.
4. In the Questions list on the left of the dialog, click the pencil icon next to the question you want to flag. The question's settings open on the right.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the question settings and select Personal Identifier.
6. As an optional recommendation, select Required as an identifier that is left blank cannot be matched.
7. Click Update to save the question, then Apply to save the question set.
8. Click Publish.

Important: A Service Question is only asked when the visitor selects a service that is routed to that question set. If a visitor takes a different path, the identifier is never collected and the duplicate check does not run for them. If you need the rule to apply to everyone, put the identifier in General Questions instead.

Configure a Personal Identifier on a Check-In Question

1. Go to Manage > Workflow and open your workflow.
2. In the left navigation, under BOOKINGS, click Check-In Questions.
3. Click the pencil icon on the question set you want to edit. The Question Set dialog opens.
4. Click the pencil icon next to the question in the Questions list.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the question settings and select Personal Identifier.
6. Click Update, then Apply.
7. Click Publish.

Using more than one Personal Identifier

You can flag more than one question as a Personal Identifier. When you do, Frontlion treats the flagged answers as a single combined identity rather than as separate rules.

All flagged answers must match the same active ticket before a check-in is blocked. If even one of them differs from the ticket already in the queue, the check-in is allowed through.

This is worth reading twice, because it is the opposite of what most people expect. Adding a second identifier does not catch more duplicates — it narrows the definition of a duplicate, so fewer check-ins are blocked. Use a second identifier when one value on its own is not specific enough to a single person, not when you want the rule to be stricter about turning people away.

How the combination behaves

Suppose Phone and Name are both flagged, and a ticket for 400-555-2222 / Alex Cook is already active in the queue.

When a second identifier helps

• Shared phone numbers or email addresses. A family or a couple arriving together share one number. Pairing Phone with Name lets both of them join the queue while still stopping the same person checking in twice.
• Shared account or membership numbers. Joint accounts and business accounts send several people. Pairing the account number with a name or a date of birth separates them.
• Household or site-level references. A property reference, license plate, or case number that legitimately covers more than one visitor.

Set it up

1. Decide which questions together identify one person. Two is usually enough; every question you add makes the block less likely to fire.
2. Flag each of them using the procedure for its question area, above.
3. Make every flagged question Required where the option is available. A blank answer on any one of them means the set can never match, and the duplicate check silently stops working.
4. Make sure every flagged question is on a path the visitor actually takes. Mixing a General Question with a Service Question means the combination only ever completes for visitors routed to that question set.
5. Click Publish.
6. Test: check in once, then try again with every flagged answer identical and confirm you are blocked. Then change one answer and confirm the check-in goes through.

Notes

• All question types in the editor offer the Personal Identifier checkbox, including Dropdown, Options, and Multiselect. Choice-based questions are a poor identifier because many visitors share the same answer, which will block legitimate check-ins.

  

• If you flag more than one question, every flagged answer must match the same active ticket before the check-in is blocked. One difference is enough to let it through.
• Nothing changes for visitors until you click Publish.
• Test first: check in once with a value, then try the same value again and confirm you are blocked.

For additional support, contact the Frontlion Support Team.