If your organisation is considering upgrading its reception but isn't sure if a visitor management solution is a necessity, try answering these short questions. Today, TDS bring you 10 questions to ask about your visitor management solution.

Can Visitors be Pre-Registered?

If visitors can be pre-registered via secure mobile or web portals prior to their on-site arrival, valuable time can be saved when finalising their check-in process. When visitors are pre-registered, any unnecessary interactions such as WiFi codes and site map distributions can be eliminated, effectively helping staff improve their own productivity and efficiency levels, whilst maximising on-site transparency and guest visibility.

Can Visitor Photos be Captured?

With traditional methods of visitor processing, it's highly uncommon for visitors and other third-parties arriving on-site to be requested to take a photo for identification purposes. However, with modern Visitor Management solutions, this action can be performed swiftly and in a non-intrusive manner when added to check-in workflows. When the photo is captured, it can be uploaded with other unique visitor information that has been captured by the workflow, adding it to their specific visitor profile. 

How are Group Check-Ins Managed?

With traditional visitor management methods, group check-ins for events and conferences can require a lot of personnel resources along with time to facilitate a secure and accurate check-in process. While this is possible with some strategic coordination, the speed at which these check-ins can be facilitated would require staff to work quickly whilst ensuring no mistakes occur during the process. With the introduction of a digital Visitor Management solution, this tricky obstacle can be effectively facilitated by encouraging all guests to pre-register prior to the arrival on-site, allowing the final steps of the check-in process to be streamlined once the guest arrives on-site.

Can Different Guest Types be Easily Distinguished?

When storing visitor and guest check-in information, can different visitor types (Visitor, Interviewee, Contractor etc.) be easily distinguished? With traditional methods, for this to be possible, a process would require a variety of different check-in forms, with each for designed to capture data specific to that visitor type. Unfortunately, this method heavily impacts receptionist productivity levels due to the specific file generation and file storing requirements involved. 

With modern Visitor Management solutions, a variety of check-in workflows can be designed and created for the various visitor types. Whether visitors choose to pre-register or check-in on-site, they are offered the opportunity to engage with the workflow that matches their visit reason. Additionally, if an organisation wishes to view how many of each visitor type came on-site within a certain period, the back-office can easily pull this information and generate exportable reports for analysis. 

Do Visitors Receive Unique ID Badges?

When visitors check-in, are they provided with a unique badge that identifies them as a guest? If not, then it's likely that your organsation is vulnerable to threats coming on-site without even being detected. Not only is this poor security practice, but in some industries it is even against regulations and security requirements to allow visitors to wander about on-site without a clearly identifiable badge on their person.

Is your Data Stored and Filed Securely 

With the introduction of GDPR, the significance of data storage has increased. If any visitor wishes to view a record of all the data stored relating to them, or wishes for this data to be eliminated, the owness is on the organisation to find this information and act accordingly on the request. Notably, names, email addresses, contact numbers and legally binding NDA's are just some of the data requirements included in generic check-in workflows. 

With traditional methods of visitor management, the task of managing visitor check-ins was already a burdensome. Now with a requirement to file this data in a way that is easily sourceable and securely stored makes the task even more difficult. With modern Visitor Management solutions, this data can be searched for inside the back-office by entering any number of data field requirements or by data entry date. When the visitors information is found, their profile can be easily exported, allowing receptionists to share this information with the interested guest or alternatively, the receptionist can choose to delete or anonymise the data. 

Can Visitors be Tracked On-Site?

Digital Visitor Management solutions allow authorised personnel to track visitors in real-time via Access Control transactions that occur at doors and gateways requiring a badge scan. Additionally, beacon technology can also be integrated into visitor badges for real-time tracking.

Can Visitor Reports be Generated? 

Security teams are often required to generate reports relating to site entries and exits for security protocols and regulatory compliance purposes. These reports can be easily generated and exported inside the back-office of most modern Visitor Management solution within a matter of minutes, saving staff from administrative burdens and allowing them to focus on more important tasks. 

Can Missing Lists be Generated?

Emergencies can highlight just how prepared an organisation is when it comes to safe and efficient site evacuations. Traditionally, employees are assigned marshall roles and are responsible for escorting everyone in the area to a safe zone for a roll call. For small organisations, this approach is effective and clear, however, when considering larger organisations, employee headcounts are much more difficult to perform accurately.

When Visitor Management solutions are integrated with Emergency Evacuation solutions, real-time missing lists can be generated to provide staff and ERT's with accurate headcount lists. Additionally, Muster Points can also be deployed in safe zones for employees to ‘Swipe Safe’. By swiping safe, employees firstly make ERT’s that they are safe and do not require immediate assistance and secondly update the real-time missing list.

Read More

• Achieving GDPR-Compliance with a Visitor Management Solution
• 11 Essential Visitor Management Features
• 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
• How to manage VIP's with a Visitor Management Solution 

To learn more, visit TDS Visitor.