What is Visitor Management?
It is the processing, tracking, and monitoring of guests that enter a building or campus. Hospitals, schools, and business of all kinds use this registration process to protect their people and property. Visitor management systems (VMS) comprise tools that range from the simple and inexpensive, like handwritten sign-in books, to more advanced software systems. The latter can be integrated with surveillance cameras, thermal temperature stations, and biometric scanners, as well as the ability to flag guests who have misbehaved in the past.
Why is Visitor Management important?
It’s all about security and safety. Creating a workplace environment where your employees feel safe is critical for productivity and success. Your employees will feel more comfortable knowing that any people they see wearing a visitor badge have been processed by your front desk and screened accordingly. A VMS also helps to protect our most vulnerable members of society, such as students in schools, patients in hospitals, and seniors in assisted living facilities. In case of emergency or building evacuation, the software maintains a record of who is in the building at any given time.
In addition to protecting people, visitor management systems also protect property. An organization’s assets, like equipment, supplies, and trade secrets, are all safer when visitors, vendors, and contractors know you have a record of their being there. Likewise for your employee’s personal belongings.
What is a visitor management system and why have one?
A visitor management system is a digital sign-in system used to track and manage visitors entering a facility such as offices, schools, hospitals, or events. Instead of a manual paper sign-in sheet, an electronic system provides a more secure and efficient way to handle visitors and know who is in your building at all times.
There are numerous benefits to having an electronic visitor management system over a manual visitor sign-in book, such as:
- Accuracy. Visitor information is recorded more uniformly and correctly than with a visitor log book. Since a receptionist is either typing in the information or a driver’s license/business card is being scanned, the data will be entered in the same accurate way for every visitor.
- Print professional-looking visitor badges that include critical information. A crisp, clean visitor badge shows your facility is serious about security. The badge should never be wrinkled or unreadable. A visitor badge imprinted with your facility’s logo/mascot deters forgery and promotes your facility’s identity.
- Reporting. Visitor information is stored in a computer database, with the ability to search, sort, analyze, and retrieve visitor data for any given time frame. Visitor activity reports can be generated. These reports can be used to tell how many times a visitor signed in, signed out, who they were there to see, etc. (critical information for a security investigation). Visitor data can also provide valuable insights into visitor trends, peak times, and preferences, aiding in better resource management and strategic planning.
- Speed of sign-in. A driver’s license reader will shorten the time it takes to sign a visitor in. A quick scan of either card is all it takes to collect the necessary information to record their visit to the facility.
- Add a photo. If a camera is in use, a photo can be added to the visitor badge for further identification while your visitor is in the facility or onsite.
- Returning visitors are recognized immediately by the visitor software. All visitor information is saved in the electronic visitor management system. This allows returning visitors to be signed in with very little time or effort because the system remembers them. If a returning visitor caused a problem in the past, your Security Department can be alerted instantly.
eVisitor Software is stand-alone software that can affordably increase your facility security and help you always know who is in your building. eVisitor makes it easy for facilities to log, identify, track, and run reports on visitors. Watch this video to learn more, then request a free demo today!
It’s easy and free to activate this feature. Simply call us and ask for “Red Flag, No Badge” to be turned on. Once it’s on, the above pop-up will come up when a red flagged visitor comes back. No badge will print and the attendant will need to follow the facility’s policy for handling red flagged visitors.