Chirp Virtual Directory Guide

Background

While Chirp Smart Sign technology is a cost-effective and convenient solution for resident visitors, vendors and guests (delivery drivers, paint contractors, pest control, and so forth) are typically not issued a pre-granted visitor pass, nor can they contact the resident they are visiting.

Chirp Virtual Directory solves this limitation by allowing guests to request access by scanning the QR code on a Chirp Smart Sign, where they can view the property directory and request access from residents. Guests can leave an optional voicemail message, and residents can approve, deny, or block the caller just by pressing a number on their phone. Access requests by guests can be sent and processed with a minimal amount of friction.

Key Feature Summary

• Streamlined Requests: Guests can scan a Smart Sign to view the property directory and directly call a resident or the Leasing Office for access. 

• Custom Voice Messages: Guests are prompted to leave an optional voice message indicating the nature of their visit.

• Streamlined Approval Process: Residents can approve, deny, or block requests just by hitting a number on the phone, even when they’re not home.

• No Chirp app? No Problem: Neither the guest nor the resident needs to download the Chirp app. Requests are sent and reviewed through a regular phone call from number: (469) 283-6099. We recommend sharing this number with residents so that they don’t inadvertently block it. They can also add it to their contacts on their phone.

How Guests Access the Property Directory

When a guest scans the QR code on a Chirp Smart Sign, they will be presented with two options:

• Contact Resident

• Property Directory

Open

Chirp Menu for Guests

Tapping on Property Directory opens the directory on the guest’s phone.

Criteria for Residents to Display in the Directory

For a Chirp user to be listed in a property’s Virtual Directory, the following criteria must be met:

• Resident must have an active Resident role for a Residential unit at the property.

• Resident must have a valid phone number.

• Resident does not have Do Not Disturb enabled for Virtual Directory in their Mobile app.

Residents occupying multiple units are listed twice in the directory (one entry per unit).

Criteria for the Leasing Office to Display in the Directory

Guests who may be visiting multiple residents (such as property maintenance contractors, service providers, and so forth), should request guest access by reaching out to the leasing office rather than contacting individual residents.

For your leasing office to appear in the Virtual Directory, the Virtual Directory Phone Number field in the Chirp Admin Panel must be populated with your leasing office number.

Setting the Virtual Directory Phone Number for Leasing Office

1. Go to the Chirp Admin Panel and click Properties in the menu.

2. Find the property and under the Actions column, click Edit.

3. Scroll down to the Virtual Directory Phone Number field and input the phone number staff want to use to receive access requests from the directory. Landlines work as well!

4. Click Save.

Open

Virtual Directory Phone Number

How Names Appear in the Virtual Directory

Resident names in the Virtual Directory will be formatted as follows:

• Both first and last name available: H., Jamie

• Only last name available: H., Unknown

• Only first name available: Jamie

• Neither first nor last name available: No Name

If the leasing office is included in the directory, it is always displayed as Leasing Office.

Directory Search

Guests can search for residents by first name, last name, and/or unit number. Even though last names are displayed as initials, they can still be searched using the full last name (for example, search for “smith” will retrieve “S., Alex”).

How Guests and Residents Use the Virtual Directory

The guest must allow microphone permissions on their device to initiate the VoIP call to the resident. The guest then taps Record and can leave an eight (8) second message before hitting Stop to end the recording.

When a resident or staff receive the call, they can (1) approve, (2) deny, or (3) block the request. If the call is not picked up within ten (10) seconds or no option is selected, the guest is notified that the call was not answered.

When a guest is blocked, their IP address and browser session are recorded in the system.

Guests and Residents

Resident Approves Access

Resident Denies Access

Resident Blocks Access

Guest and Staff

Staff Approve Access

Staff Denies Access

Staff Blocks Access

Staff Admin Panel Features

Virtual Directory Preview

Staff can preview how the names display and who is listed in the property directory.

To access the Virtual Directory Preview:

1. Open the Chirp Admin Panel, then click Properties in the menu.

2. Locate the property, then click More in the Actions column.

3. Select Virtual Directory Preview from the drop-down.

4. The Listed Residents tab displays a preview of residents visible to a guest in the web app’s property directory.

The Unlisted Residents tab displays residents that are not visible to guests in the property directory.

Unlisted reasons include:

• User account is disabled.

• Phone number is missing.

• Resident enabled Do Not Disturb through their mobile app.

Viewing Guest Grant Method in Assigned Roles

The Assigned Roles page indicates whether a guest was assigned by staff or resident.

Staff can view whether an anonymous guest was granted access through the virtual directory by resident or staff under the Assigned Roles page in the Chirp Admin Panel. When a guest is approved access, a Property Guest role is created with Grant Method set to Virtual Directory - Staff Approval or Virtual Directory - Resident Approval.

Resident Mobile App Features

Do Not Disturb

Residents can toggle a Do Not Disturb setting in the Chirp Mobile app to be removed from a property’s Virtual Directory.

• Enable this setting by navigating to Dashboard > Customize Features > Virtual Directory, then activate the toggle.

Security Features

Guest Access Timeout and Forced QR Code Re-Scan

A visitor will only have access to the Property Directory page for 15 minutes after scanning the QR code and landing on the access point page. After that point, they will see this error message:

This is a safeguard to help prevent users from spamming and abusing the Property Directory offsite.

Rate Limiting by Browser Session

• If the guest attempts more than 2 calls within 60 seconds in the same browser tab, they will receive a rate-limiting error.

• A guest can only have one active call per browser session.

Rate Limiting by IP Address

• If the visitor attempts more than 15 calls within 24 hours on the same Wi-Fi network, they will receive a rate-limiting error.