---
title: Hotel Front Desk Software with Passport Scanning | bedsKey
description: Arrivals and departures dashboard, walk-ins, passport scanning checked against ICAO 9303, encrypted ID storage, room moves and fee handling with reasons.
canonical: https://bedskey.com/features/front-desk/
updated: 2026-09-24
publisher: bedsKey (Innovate Solution)
---


# Front desk software for fast, secure check-in

Check in a walk-in guest in under a minute.

**In short:** Arrivals and departures dashboard, walk-ins, passport scanning checked against ICAO 9303, encrypted ID storage, room moves and fee handling with reasons.

Updated September 2026

## What Front Desk does

- **Arrivals, in-house and departures dashboard** — today’s work in one view.
- **Fast check-in** — assign a room, capture guest details and ID, take a deposit.
- **Walk-ins** — register, price, assign and check in a guest with no booking from one screen.
- **Registration card** — printed from the details on file; only the last four digits of the ID are printed.
- **Room assignment and room move** — assign at booking or arrival; move a guest mid-stay with charge continuity.
- **Mid-stay room type change** — nights already spent keep their rate; only the remaining nights re-price.
- **Passport scanning** — photograph the passport page and the guest form fills itself; the machine-readable zone is checked against ICAO 9303 and expiry is checked against the stay.
- **Secure ID storage** — passport and national ID scans encrypted with AES-256-GCM; viewing needs its own permission and every view is audited.
- **Automatic document retention** — scans and ID numbers deleted automatically after your retention period.
- **Early check-in and late check-out** — grace period, share of the nightly rate or a whole night — charged or waived with a reason.
- **Cancellation and no-show fees** — sliding scales per rate plan, quoted in full before the guest cancels.
- **Maintenance tickets** — report a fault, assign an engineer, and take a room off sale until it is fixed.
- **Lost and found register** — log, search and close items, linked to whoever stayed in that room.
- **Charged and waived report** — every fee collected versus every fee waived, with reasons and approvers.

## Works with

### [Guests & CRM](https://bedskey.com/features/guest-crm/)

Recognise returning guests and act on what you know about them.

### [Folio & Night Audit](https://bedskey.com/features/billing-night-audit/)

Every charge, tax and payment on one clean statement — with exact decimal arithmetic.

### [Housekeeping](https://bedskey.com/features/housekeeping/)

Attendants update rooms from their phones. Reception sees it instantly.

## Front Desk: common questions

### Does bedsKey scan passports?

Yes. Photograph the passport page and the guest form fills itself; the machine-readable zone is checked against ICAO 9303 and expiry is checked against the stay.

### How are guest ID documents stored?

Passport and national ID scans are encrypted with AES-256-GCM, viewing needs its own permission, every view is audited, and scans are deleted automatically after your retention period.

### Can the front desk check in walk-in guests?

Yes. Register, price, assign a room and check in a guest with no booking from one screen.

## Related guides

- [What is a hotel PMS?](https://bedskey.com/glossary/pms/)
- [Guest folio](https://bedskey.com/glossary/guest-folio/)
- [Night audit](https://bedskey.com/glossary/night-audit/)

## Run your entire property from one system.

Talk to sales@bedskey.com — we’ll walk you through bedsKey with your own rooms and rates.