When you walk into a school or childcare center, an apartment complex, or a medical office, what made the first impression on you?
The way you’re greeted, the ease of check-in, and how safe you feel there will have an impact on how you view any facility that you enter.
When it comes to signing in (or checking in), most places may feel more comfortable doing things the old-fashioned way with a sign-in book or a receptionist that manually logs you into a system. Ask yourself, though: how much damage do sign-in books take before they’re actually replaced? How many times have you approached an empty receptionist’s desk?
The reality is that professional visitor authentication and management systems are quickly becoming a necessity in any workplace. Automatic visitor recognition using facial recognition, automatic screening of unknown visitors, and printable color-coded ID badges make facilities more secure and professional.
The Objective of Visitor Management Systems
The advantages of visitor management systems go beyond upgrading your visitor and employee “check-in” experience. Its objective is to transform your workplace by:
- Creating a more secure facility so that all feel safe during their time there.
- Helping identify all of your visitors and employees so you know exactly who’s in your facility.
- Protecting the people inside from dangerous and unwanted visitors.
With these objectives in mind, do you see why visitor management is important? Make the best impression by tossing out your old visitor book and welcoming a new web-based visitor system that’s secure and convenient for all.
Does Your Facility Use a Visitor Sign-In Book?
A visitor sign-in book is a traditional method of manually collecting information from visitors and employees when they enter your facility. It can be an actual notebook created for people to sign in or a clipboard with pre-printed sign-in sheets. Some facilities also use a receptionist to manually log visitors.
Whichever type of check-in process your facility uses, the purpose is to collect specific information essential for your records. This information could include:
- Employee/Visitor’s name
- Date and time of their visit
- Time of their appointment
- Vehicle details
- Purpose of the visit
- Name of who they’re visiting
- Etc.
The Risks Associated With a Traditional Visitor Sign-In Book
While this information can be helpful, using this traditional method has many disadvantages. One of these disadvantages is that there’s a greater chance of these books being damaged. An ugly, torn, and worn-out book will make a bad first impression. Also, imagine needing to find a specific entry amongst the hundreds, or even thousands, of people visiting your facility?
The purpose of visitor management systems is to simplify the daily functions of your workplace while reducing or even eliminating the risks of a traditional visitor sign-in book. The more risk there is, the less your business can focus on fulfilling its mission statement.
The Risk of Poor Security
Keeping track of all employees and visitors is one way to protect all those inside your facility. But what guarantee is there that the person that signed in as “John Smith” is actually who they say they are?
A visitor management system for office settings is a unique way to increase security because it can accomplish things that a physical sign-in book can’t. While your facility may have guidelines in place to avoid security issues, like requiring some form of ID, imagine how safe employees and clients will feel with these visitor logbook software features:
- Instant visitor screening. Our visitor security systems will immediately check each person’s name against our Watchlist Screening database and sex offenders lists and return instant results to your staff. If they’re cleared from any red flags, they’ll be allowed to complete the check-in process.
- Microblink Integration. Your staff will have one less task to worry about because rather than asking for an ID, visitors can check-in by taking a picture of their current photo ID or passport using the camera on their device for the check-in process.
- Facial recognition software. Our guest registration software will take a picture of the visitor so that the host can confidently greet them. You’ll also be able to identify who they are and their purpose for being there. Along with facial recognition, we add temperature capture to offer an extra layer of security.
The Risk of Not Having Enough Oversight
Once visitors enter through the front desk, where do they go? You understand that they will go directly to their final destination. Unfortunately, your traditional sign-in book can’t enforce that your guests head where they should, increasing the risk of office security threats like the ones mentioned above.
What can a web-based visitor management system offer in terms of control? It’s clear that our software will let employees know who’s on the premises and that they’re not dangerous. However, an electronic visitor management system has these fantastic features:
- Digital visitor logs. You’ll have your hands on our dashboard analytics program that grants you instant access to all the statistics and graphical representations of data about visit schedules, details of the busiest hosts and locations, and more. An electronic visitor management system will also allow you to filter all this data based on your current needs and export data for further analysis.
- Visitor tracking. Not only will you know who has checked in, but a visitor management system can track your visitors as they check-in and out along various checkpoints.
- Instant Notifications. Any host is granted control of knowing who has checked in to see them. They’ll receive instant notifications when someone has arrived, so you never leave guests waiting for too long. Additionally, each host gets a picture of the guest and their location.
A Smart Visitor Management System
Not all visitor management systems are created equal. For example, EASEVisitor creates a new, secure check-in process for all visitors from start to finish. In addition, it’s been enhanced to provide a safe workplace with features such as:
- Electronic Agreements. Your visitors won’t have to worry about arriving and filling out multiple forms, taking up your time and theirs. They will easily access and sign NDAs, policies, emergency instructions, or liability documents before entering the premises. These documents will be stored in our visitor management software for quick access and retrieval.
- Contactless Visitor Registration. Adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic, EASEVisitor ensures the ability of contactless check-in to aid in the safety of employees. This contactless process from our web-based office management software eliminates the need for paperwork to exchange hands. Each visitor can also sign in with unique QR codes on personal devices.
- Kiosk Configuration. Along with our visitor management software, you’ll count on customizable kiosks that will clearly identify your workplace. They offer unique configuration settings to appeal to all guests and multilingual capabilities.
Know firsthand how you can improve your workplace for the better. Try EASEVisitor today for free!
