The Benefits Of Keeping Track of Who Is On the Premises

How many visitors are on your premises right now? What about yesterday? How many did you have on March 1, 2018? You probably had trouble answering at least the last question, if not those before. And if you could answer all of them, you probably had to pull out the binder the keeps the logs of visitors’ sign-in sheets or find an Excel spreadsheet to count the entries manually.

Now, consider what happens when a visitor arrives at your office. Who welcomes them? Is there even someone to greet the visitors at all? Many buildings have unlocked doors and unattended lobbies, meaning that almost anyone can walk into the office anytime. Regardless of the situation, such simple scenarios happen every day in business premises worldwide and illustrate why keeping track of visitors on the premises is so essential.

Visitor Management System

Visitor management is the process of keeping track of everyone who enters your business premises or your office. The visitor may be a client, a job applicant, a delivery person, a consultant, a contractor, or even the CEO’s third cousin. In simple terms, anyone who’s not a regular, full-time employee is a visitor. The technology used to track visitors formally is called a visitor management system.

Previously, visitor management systems involved the use of a sign-in sheet, which is a piece of paper in a binder or clipboard at the front desk. Whenever a visitor arrived, they would need to write their name, the time of arrival, and who they are there to see. A staff member at the front desk would then notify the host about the visitor waiting in the lobby.

Presently, companies are replacing the paper, pens, and binders with digital visitor management systems. Such a system does not only check visitors in but can also perform many other functions the previous system couldn’t. Some of these functions include:

• Maintaining a cloud-based visitor log

• Printing the ID badges that are customized with the logo of your company

• Taking photos of your visitors so that it’s easier to identify them

• Accepting deliveries from courier services such as FedEx, UPS, etc.

• Capturing the signatures for legal agreements such as NDAs

• Accepting document drop-offs and food deliveries

• Send email, SMS, and Slack notifications whenever visitors arrive

• Offering instructions to visitors, etc.

As such, a visitor management system improves your office productivity, enhances the security of your office, and elevates the image of your brand.

How Keeping track of visitors improves productivity:

The visitor management system was initially designed to tackle two major problems with office productivity: too many interruptions, and having the receptionists stuck at their desks.

Offices that don’t have a full-time receptionist can face major problems with interruptions, and employees take quite some time to get back on their tasks after a break. Of course, no company would want their employees operating at a disadvantage – you want them to work as quickly as possible and at their highest level possible. To do this, they need an environment that allows them to focus.

Plus, receptionists have more to offer than answering phones and checking in visitors at the front desk. They can welcome your guests as a host, provide the first line of support for technical issues, prep, and coordinate conference rooms, etc. But they can’t do this while being stuck at a desk all day.

A visitor management system frees the front desk of the work of checking in and welcoming your office visitors so that they can work on other things.

How visitor management systems enhance security:

A visitor management system helps to tackle the challenges related to visitor privacy, information security, regulatory compliance, and even in emergency evacuation plans.

For instance, in fields where privacy is paramount such as in financial and legal services, your customers may not want others to know that they visited your premises. It’s your responsibility to make sure their desire for privacy is respected.

How a Visitor Management system can elevate the image of your brand:

A visitor management system enables you to create a great impression, to make sure that your first impression is excellent for all visitors.

When visitors enter your premises, they form the crucial first impression for your business within seconds. If they are greeted fondly and promptly, they are made to feel welcome, so their first impression is likely to be positive. If they’re ignored or get lost, the reaction might suffer.