5 Ideas For Taking Your Visitor Management System To The Next Level

Organizations that use an electronic visitor management system realize the importance of identifying, tracking, and documenting people who enter a healthcare facility, business, school, or government agency.

If you’re one of them, you’ve gone through the process of researching and testing different systems, consulting with other key decision makers in your facility, choosing, purchasing, and implementing the right system, and training your staff. After a time, the system is becoming part of your facility’s security culture.

Now what?

It’s time to take the newly implemented visitor management system and upgrade some processes to get the most out of it. Security protocols are only as effective as their weakest link. Here are 5 ideas for taking your visitor management system to the next level, implementing even better security for your facility.

1) Review and analyze visitor traffic
As you collect visitor data over time, it’s important to analyze the information you have collected to identify areas that may need to be improved, or to find potential loopholes in the way you manage visitors. Most software-based visitor management systems have tools that let users generate detailed reports about visitor traffic and trends. These reports should be analyzed to help the overall effectiveness and efficiency of visitor security procedures.

2) Implement time-expiring visitor badges for additional visual security
When a time-expiring visitor badge is activated, the color-changing process is tamper-proof and cannot be stopped. The badges change color to prevent visitor badge reuse the next day. The bright pink on a white visitor badge is a great visual alert to staff that the person wearing the visitor badge should be stopped and questioned. Otherwise, without the badge changing color, you would have to get really close to read the date on the visitor badge to determine if a visitor was reusing an old badge.

3) Add a waiver of liability and/or confidentiality agreement to the visitor badge
The visitor pass could have a Visitor Agreement message printed right on it. In this case, by accepting the badge, the visitor accepts a waiver of liability and/or confidentiality agreement. The visitor badge itself can be custom-printed with whatever security message you’d like. Having a Visitor Agreement/Limited Liability Statement on the visitor badge allows your facility to clearly state what is expected of the visitor while on-site. This statement could include everything from protecting confidential information to limiting the organization’s liability for any injury while on the grounds.

4) Use a custom-printed badge tag that includes emergency protocols
Another popular idea involves the use of badge tags. These are plastic cards, worn with a clip or a lanyard, that carry the adhesive visitor pass instead of having it stuck directly to a visitor’s clothing. The badge tags can be custom-printed on their backside with your facility’s security procedures and emergency information. Many facilities print personal conduct protocols, emergency numbers, fire exits, and/or security staff contact information on the back of the badge tag. If an emergency occurs, the necessary information a visitor might need is right on their person.

5) Have a manual sign-in book as a back-up
When a computer virus attacks, the power goes out, or the visitor management system just isn’t working, staff members in your reception area have to find another way to keep doing their jobs. Visitor documentation doesn’t stop just because the electronic systems are down. Security personnel must be ready with a manual sign-in book to badge and track people that come into the facility. Manual solutions can accomplish many of the same functions as their electronic counterparts, including issuing a visitor pass and having a permanent record of all visits. An added bonus is being able to take the book with you during an evacuation so you know who is still in the facility.