A visitor management system will help you enhance the visitor experience, boost security, stay compliant, and know more about who’s onsite.
Visitor management is any process that helps organisations keep a handle on who they’ve got on their premises. It’s important for buildings of all sizes and types, because it helps regulate safety and security, giving you control over who enters your premises, or certain parts of it.
What is a visitor management system?
A visitor management system is a set of processes used to monitor the use of a building, recording facilities usage and relaying visitors’ whereabouts.
A digital or smart visitor management system (VMS) makes it possible to streamline and automate the visitor management process. It uses internet-based technology to track, monitor and record visitor information, making the sign-in process more efficient and helping to better protect visitor data and privacy.
Visitors could be guests, employees, contractors, delivery drivers or customers.
With a smart visitor management system, it is possible to know exactly who enters your facility, allowing any unwanted guests to be identified and setting a hierarchy of access.
Important visitor data can also be collected, whilst remaining compliant with data protection legislation.
Importantly, a smart visitor management system will also help you make a positive first impression, as well as easing the burden on reception staff by automating various tasks.
What’s more, smart visitor management transforms the whole building access process into a contactless one. This is excellent news from a health and hygiene perspective, as well injecting a whole dose of convenience into visitors’ days, with no need to fumble about searching for access cards or remember access codes.
What are the benefits of a smart visitor management system?
Smart or digital visitor management offers an array of benefits when compared against traditional, manual visitor management…
Frees up resources
Manually welcoming visitors at a reception desk is time consuming, and puts a strain on resources. Signing people in, issuing security passes with the correct scope of access within the building, guiding guests to where they need to be, dealing with parking queries… it all takes time and puts pressure on reception staff who could otherwise be focusing on more productive tasks.
Boosts security
Mistakes can easily be made with manual visitor management, sometimes raising security risks, for example where access all areas has been given when a visitor should only have been allowed access to certain parts of a building.
Smart visitor management tracking software allows access to real time data that shows the verified identities of every guest on the premises. This helps to keep everyone safe, as well as providing actionable information in the event of an emergency.
Ticks the crucial compliance box
Manual visitor management can also throw up compliance risks. Any data collected from visitors must be handled, stored and deleted in accordance with current data protection legislation. Organisations that rely on manual processes to document and check in visitors run the risk of incorrect data management, and there is also a great deal of potential for human error.
A digital visitor management system, on the other hand, ensures the entire process is consistent and covers every base of the data protection regulations.
Enhances the visitor experience
Whatever the visitor type, it is important that they enjoy a streamlined experience. Whether it’s a regular employee, an interview candidate, a client or prospect, a contractor or supplier, creating the right impression will deliver valuable benefits.
Manual visitor management will never be consistent from one day to the next, or from one reception desk or office to the next. This will place your reputation on the line. But with a digital visitor management system, you’ll nail that consistency, as well as showing visitors that you’ve taken the time to invest in their satisfaction.
How does a smart visitor management system work?
For the host, the smart visitor management system couldn’t be easier to use. Via a user friendly visitor management system app, the host sets up the whole process with a few easy taps, so that every aspect of their guest’s visit is taken care of.
Visitor passes are issued directly to a visitor’s smart handset. These provide a map link to direct them to the building, as well as specific directions to any parking space that’s been allocated. Number plate recognition technology ensures only those with permission are given access to the carpark.
The passes will also request that the visitor reads and signs their agreement to a privacy policy ahead of their arrival, ticking that all-important data protection compliance box.
Digital visitor passes allow contactless access to the building, where the visitor is either directed to reception for self-registration or automatically signed in based on pre-provided security credentials.
Visitor access can be restricted to certain areas of a building for security and health and safety compliance.
Once the visitor is on-site, their host is automatically notified as to their arrival. Digital wayfinding information directs the visitor to the correct location.
Elevator management systems are also an integrated element of the smart visitor management system, allowing lifts to move automatically to take the visitor to the right floor.
The smart visitor management system is sophisticated enough to notify facilities management as to whether the destination meeting space requires restocking with refreshments or cleaning ahead of the appointment.
High-level integration like this means the finest details are taken care of before the visitor arrives. The result is a streamlined, hassle-free experience for the visitor, and a time-saving and reputation-enhancing experience for the host.
Some smart visitor management systems also offer the opportunity to set up self-registration at reception, allowing visitors to sign in on arrival via a tablet, with everything from data protection compliance and the issuing of access passes via a QR code handled without the need for human intervention.
Why choose Smart Spaces for visitor management?
Smart Spaces is a cloud-based, app-driven platform powered by Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning technology.
The visitor management system enables a contactless visitor experience with full feature integration, including wayfinding, desk booking, meeting room booking and community engagement.
The Smart Spaces visitor management system app can be client and building branded, is highly adaptable and configurable, and delivers a real-time view of building occupancy for enhanced safety. The system is cyber security protected, GDPR compliant and relays sophisticated data across a range of parameters.
To discover how Smart Spaces could help you enhance the visitor management experience at your premises, you are welcome to get in touch or request a demo.
