Most Visitor Management solutions in today's market are equipped with a diverse range of features. To help decision makers identify which of these are fundamental requirements and which are simply a great addition to the front-of-house, TDS bring you a list of the most popular visitor management features to consider when selecting a new digital front-of-house solution. 

Since the introduction of GDPR in May 2018, organisations have begun making conscious efforts to ensure the security and safety of their premises, data, employees and visitors. For the front-of-house, the introduction of smart Visitor Management solutions has led to more efficient, transparent and secure check-in processes for staff and visitors alike.

To help key decision makers identify which visitor management features are critical to their operation, we’ve compiled a list of the most popular features our Fortune 500 customers choose when they decide to evolve their front-of-house process to something more capable and future-proof.

1) Pre-Book Visitors

For organisations that regularly host events and conferences on-site, the pre-booking feature allows visitors and guests to pre-register their attendance prior to arriving, effectively reducing their check-in time from a 1-2 minute process down to a couple of seconds. With some simple configuration, Visitor Management solutions can be designed to request unique reference numbers as the final stage of a check-in process, making the check-in process even easier.   

Discover: Find out which Search Engine uses TDS Visitor for Event Management

2) Customise Check-In Workflows

When GDPR was introduced, data capturing processes were changed to improve the relevance of information requests. For traditional Visitor Management processes, this change in approach proved to be costly in both time and resources. The costs associated with creating, printing, organising and storing obtained third-party data in folders on-site can prove challenging for front-of-house employees as they balance new processes with pre-existing role requirements.

For this reason, most modern Visitor Management solutions are built to offer customisable check-in workflows for different visitor types such as; guests, interviewees and couriers.  For example, when a courier arrives on-site, they may be required to enter; company name, full name, delivery reference, contact details and sign any required NDA’s inside the check-in process. A person arriving for an interview however may be requested to share details of the position they are applying for, enter a host name and complete a photo capture to complete their check-in workflow.

3) Sign Digital Forms

In addition to data capturing changes caused by GDPR, the new European legislation has also heavily affected the ways in which European organisations protect their data and implement data-breach preventing processes. For front-of-house, traditional visitor recording and file storing methods have been digitally evolved and adopted by large enterprises as data-breach mitigating solutions.

NDA’s, legal forms and other form signing requirements have been integrated into check-in workflows for visitors to sign before being granted site access. This feature is primarily used by organisations that want to improve data security and reduce manual labour involved in the check-in process.

4) Customise Visitor Badges

The final stage of a Visitor Management solutions check-in process is the badge printing. Regardless of whether a visitor pre-registers or completes the check-in on arrival, customised ID badges can be printed in seconds as part of a modern Visitor Management solution. In some cases where Access Control integrations have been made, ID badges can be scanned at control points to gain access to zones that have been configured to grant authorisation.

5) Notify Hosts Instantly

A quality Visitor Management solution ensures hosts are notified of visitor arrivals, regardless of their destination. Whenever a visitor completes their check-in process via a Visitor Management solution, automated notifications are sent as; SMS, Email, Push Notifications etc. to inform hosts of visitors arrivals. Once notified, hosts can either send communication messages to the Visitor Management solution to notify awaiting visitors of delays or they can begin travelling towards reception for visitor collection.

By creating direct communication channels between hosts and visitors, this feature can be used to reduce the time visitors spend waiting at reception and also improve overall visitor first impressions with a user-focused, self-service check-in process.

6) Integrate Third Party Applications

For any future-proof solution on the market, it’s important to consider how well it integrates with other solutions. With Visitor Management solutions, the opportunity to integrate with Access Control and Watchlists can extend the functionality for security purposes. Additionally, internally used applications such as; Docusign and Office 365 can be integrated into Visitor Management solutions to create a value-enhanced  experience for employees.

Read More: 5 Integrations for Improving Guest Experiences

7) Design User-Friendly Experiences

While basic Visitor Management solutions allow for quick check-in experiences, great Visitor Management solutions offer additional complex system functionalities without compromising the User Interface (UI). Integrating brand logos and colour schemes into the front-end of a Visitor Management solution can speak volumes when assessing the brand enhancing effects of a unique first impression for visitors. Additionally, as the first point-of-contact new arrivals on site, workflows should provide simple, fast and efficient User Experiences (UX), this can be achieved by integrating multiple language options for different solution deployment locations, catering to visitors of different nationalities.

8) Gain Insights from Detailed Reporting

The creation of detailed visitor reports provide employees with visual insights that help improve role functions inside organisations. Search criteria such as; Visitor Type, Entry Time, Departure Time, Visitor Name and Access Authorisation is provided in real-time to help security teams, receptionists and other employees identify data trends. For example, facility managers can identify peak visitor traffic hours to identify facility areas that may require more resources during certain times of the day.

9) Achieve Health, Safety and Legal Compliance

With each industry governed by unique regulatory frameworks, it’s essential for organisations to choose solutions that offer opportunities to digitally display and capture critical information before allowing visitors to complete their check-in process. In some cases, the signing of forms or agreeing of terms is required to provide an audit trail for compliance audits and internal investigations.

10) On-site Contractor Management

Managing contractors entering and exiting facilities is vital to security and compliance. A Visitor Management solution can create a portal where contractors can take ownership of their compliance responsibilities to ensure organisations remain updated on contractor activity and reporting. Some of the functionalities available with contractor management include; uploading contractor induction videos, managing qualifications and licences, verifying insurance, verifying contractor hours against invoices and preventing contractors from signing in if their induction has expired.  

11) Global Scalability 

With so many current Visitor Management providers focusing on the needs of small and medium enterprises, most Visitor Management solutions on the market currently lack the scalability required to adequately serve organisations that are global in size.  To protect and future-proof against a Visitor Management investment, we suggest decision makers select a solution with centralised database functions and rapid scalability capabilities. A web-based solution allows for remote system management and ensures global and regional data policies can be enforced if required.

Read More

• Achieving GDPR-Compliance with a Visitor Management Solution
• What GDPR Means for the Visitor Management Industry
• 16 Visitor Management Solution Benefits
• 5 Reasons to Digitise your Visitor Experience
• Visitor Management Predictions for 2019
• 10 Questions to ask about your Visitor Management Solution
• How to manage VIP's with a Visitor Management Solution 

For more information, Visit TDS Visitor.