Round Out Your Line With Visitor Management
Security contractors install access control systems sometimes on a daily basis, and yet less than a third venture into ID cards and badging. Find out how offering your clients visitor management solutions not only makes sense but can also add easy profits to your bottom line.
©iStockphoto.com/Ugurhan Betin
Prereg, Barcodes, Self-Registration
Allowing employees of an organization to preregister guests is another great feature to use with a visitor management system. This saves time during visitor check-in by allowing the employee to pre-populate a number of fields for expected guests. This Web-based tool permits all employees or selected employees to fill out a simple form. That information is then automatically sent to the visitor station in the lobby. When that guest arrives all the information about them is already in the system.
Another great option to speed the checkout of guests is to include the use of barcodes on the visitor ID badge. This allows the lobby attendant to simply scan the visitor badge when the guest is leaving to automatically check them out. Barcodes on visitor badges can also be used for returning visitors who are supplied a more permanent badge. A barcode can be included on these badges so when the guest returns, the lobby attendant only needs to scan the badge and that guest is checked in, along with all the visitor information from the first check-in.
Although lobby attendants are often used to check in visitors with a visitor management system, visitor self-registration is also an option. Either a freestanding kiosk or the use of an iPad or tablet computer can be used to allow guests to register themselves by completing required fields, much like the self-check-in employed at most airlines today.
Self-registration can be used in unattended lobbies or in lobbies with a lot of traffic, permitting guests to choose between checking in with a lobby attendant or doing so themselves at a kiosk. A kiosk can even include a driver’s license scanner and a printer so that the guest can complete the entire check-in process themselves.
The good thing about visitor management is that it is appropriate for just about every environment, from small to large. It improves the security of facilities and enhances the professionalism of the organization. Primary vertical markets for visitor management software include K-12 schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, electric, gas and water utilities, corporate and nonprofit facilities of all kinds, federal, state and local buildings, military installations, and multitenant facilities.
By including visitor management in a portfolio of security product and service offerings, security dealers and integrators can leverage the integration with access control to provide an integrated security solution for employees, intruders, unwanted guests, and temporary visitors. In some cases, visitor management enables organizations to comply with regulatory requirements to monitor and control access to a facility. In any situation it strengthens overall security and improves the image of the organization.
John Murzycki is Director of Marketing for EasyLobby Inc., a provider of visitor management solutions. Contact him at (781) 455-8558.
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