How Visitor Management Systems Improve Work Efficiency

Companies install visitor management systems for various reasons. For some, it is an attempt at keeping up with the times technology-wise. After all, projecting a company as tech-forward and progressive looks good for the business and is particularly inviting to investors. For others, their heightened security consciousness has informed their adoption of this technology. These reasons, and more, are valid.

While reading this article, there is a high chance that you are wondering how Visitor Management Software is a good investment and how it translates into improving your workflow. Here are a few things you will learn in subsequent sections of this post:

• The traditional means of managing visitors and the demerits
• What visitor management system is about
• Seven ways VMS improves work efficiency

The Traditional Means of Managing Visitors and the Demerits

You might recall walking into a formal establishment to be greeted by a visitor logbook lying on the lobby counter. You’re required to write your name, contact information, and sign-in time. Sometimes you’re also required to supply your host’s name and the reason for your visit. If you are lucky, a receptionist is on hand to direct you to your destination, and if not, you are left to ask around until you figure out your way.

This scenario still plays out in many organisations today. Perhaps, it is the standard practice at yours too, but it is ineffective for a few reasons.

Firstly, if your company has a receptionist, reducing them to inane tasks like guiding visitors to fill logbooks, calling the visitor’s host, and directing them to the host is an unresourceful use of their time. The 21st-century receptionist has greater potential, and the business has much more to benefit from their technical skillset.

Also, not enough is said about how interrupting employees’ workflow affects their overall output. it is a waste of time and a shortage for the business if employees have to pause their jobs every time a visitor enters your facility to attend to them,

An efficient company is one in which every person can carry out their activities with the least possible disruption in operations.

About Visitor Management Systems

Before learning about visitor management, it is essential to know who constitutes a visitor in any organisation. Anyone who walks through your company’s doors without being an employee is a visitor. It could be the boss’ sister, a customer, a job seeker, a delivery person, a contractor, or a current or potential investor.

Visitor management systems are software solutions that help you streamline operations surrounding visitors’ registration or sign-in, access permissions, and dissemination of relevant information. Automated visitor sign-ins are significantly faster, less distracting, and more user-friendly.

With an automated visitor management solution, you can make an excellent first impression on every non-employee walking through your door and provide them with a wholesome experience. Furthermore, empowering your visitors with the ability to register, sign compliance documents, and receive updated information about their access permissions by themselves assures them of exemplary operation. It is an excellent way to send a strong message about your brand and the values behind the basis of your operations.

Also, visitor management systems free up your employees’ time for more critical tasks. It reduces the risk of unwanted people accessing certain parts of the facility and is also reliable where the storage and retrieval of visitor information is concerned.

Most electronic visitor management systems log visitors in with the following information: Date, Check-in time, Name, Phone number, Email address, Reason for visiting, host’s name, and Check-out time. The software can also automatically notify the guest’s host, email the guest, and provide digital forms for signing.

How Visitor Management Systems Improve Efficiency

1. A reliable security solution

One of the most critical requirements for security is knowledge of everything happening within the premises, and real-time monitoring by visitor management systems ensures this. The badge printing feature helps to increase security around sensitive assets and areas. For instance, it becomes easy for staff and security officials to fish out intruders who try to access data or rooms they are not authorised to access.

Also, with electronic visitor management systems, companies can send out notifications in bulk and conduct headcounts, particularly during emergencies. This is a better alternative to looking through a paper call log and calling guests one by one in the middle of a crisis. Thus, automated visitor management helps develop a highly responsive and proactive stance towards emergencies.

2. Better insights into visitor history

Automated visitor sign-in systems store all visitors’ data in one place and provide helpful information about them at the click of a button. For example, you can tell the population of visitors within the facility simply by checking the number of those actively signed in. Likewise, you can tell the number of visitors yet to arrive and the profile of people who have been denied access (which can be valuable information for your security strategy).

These insights make daily and monthly lobby reporting more accurate and helpful in driving business decisions.

3. Saves time expended on unauthorized visitors

Many of our customers at Hidden Brains tell similar stories when seeking our automated visitor management solution. It’s often about visitors who somehow make it past the lobby and knowingly or unintentionally enter parts of the facility they are not authorised to access. For one, it can pose a safety risk to the visitor and even a security risk to the company and its employees. But, more importantly, jostling an unwelcome visitor out does not paint a company in a good light, and it can cause distractions and waste productive time.

With VMS, you can create separate lists for individuals, categorising them into ‘Permit’, ‘Deny’, and ‘Watch’. With provisions like this, your security operatives do not have to waste time manually authorising visitors.

4. Reduced waiting time

Because the lobby is usually a guest’s primary point of contact with your company, staying too long before gaining entry can be a huge turn-off and create a bad first impression. On the other hand, visitor management systems are reputed for their ability to expedite sign-ins. So, VMS reduces not only visitors’ waiting time but also the time it takes your employees to check them in.

5. Protected visitor privacy

Although personal information is easily accessible today (owing to the digital age), individuals still like to have some control over who can access their personal information. Unfortunately, manual log-ins don’t provide this level of privacy as visitors can typically see everyone that signed in before them on the log sheet.

Guests’ desire for privacy can be a security measure for their personal or business interests. For instance, high-profile individuals tend to seek some time alone out of the public glare, and an open-book log-in that announces their presence at a facility defeats that purpose. Also, some people can maliciously flip through the pages and extract other people’s personal information and details of their activities.

However, with VMS, only the visitors can see their own information as the system immediately stores whatever they input into the database.

6. More accurate evaluation and better planning

Often, situations arise where companies need to make provisions for an expected number of guests. But without technology, it will be difficult and time-consuming, if not impossible, to collate the data of all present and past visitors and identify patterns that can provide insights for decision-making.

Visitor management systems help your organisation to scale this hurdle.

7. Improved regulatory compliance

Regulatory agencies often want to be assured that your organisation does not pose a security or health risk to anyone. VMS drastically reduces the possibility of a data breach and unauthorised access; it improves efficiency in times of emergencies and keeps visitors’ data safe. As a result, your company’s compliance risk reduces significantly.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a sophisticated and effective visitor management system benefits every aspect of your business, including operations, visitor experience and PR, security, and much more.

At Hidden Brains, we offer innovative visitor management solutions to boost your operations. Visitor Management, Ad Hoc Visitor Management, Visitor Screening, QR Code Scanning, Badge Printing, and so much more are features of our Visitor Management System. We have built this solution and constantly update it with the sole purpose of bringing ease to our clients far and wide.

Doesn’t it sound like what you have been looking for? Then send us an email at [email protected] to book a demo today!