Navigating Visitor Management: Is It Time to Transition from Traditional to Digital?

We all know how important first impressions can be, and for most people, the first impression that they will get of your business comes when they walk through your doors.

The experience that they have at this point can set the tone for the rest of their visit, so will your reception and sign-in processes impress them, or are they in for a lengthy wait and a lot of confusion?

Visitor management software is now becoming a more important feature in the welcome that many people receive because it can speed up processes and be a more efficient approach, and so in this article we take a look at what digital visitor management looks like and why it could be time for your business to make the switch.

What is visitor management software?

For a long time, when visitors arrived at a business, they would need to queue up at a reception desk, put their details into a visitors’ book and wait for a receptionist to contact the person that they were there to see. This could take some time and was guaranteed to test the patience of many people.

Now, visitor management software is being implemented to cut down waiting time, enhance security and improve the entire visitor experience.

These days, on arriving at a business, visitors will have access to a tablet where they can sign in for themselves. This can collect a lot more data and it can even print off its own personalised visitors’ badge.

Once the registration is complete, the person that they are here to see will be alerted and the visitor will be given instructions on what to do next, whether it is to wait in reception or make their way to another room.

This can be a much more efficient way of working and can help businesses to not only collect more information, but also have a clearer picture of who is in the building at any given time.

Emergencies

If an emergency occurs, it is vital that any evacuation procedure is as quick and efficient as possible. This would often mean that a receptionist would need to carry the visitors book with them in order for fire marshals to know who was in the building, but this is not always possible or accurate and the book can easily be lost or damaged.

With visitor management software in place, anyone responsible for dealing with safety during an emergency can see a real time list of who is present through remote access to the data. All fire wardens can see this at the same time and can mark someone as found which the others will be able to see, helping to cut down the amount of time spent looking for them.

Security

As visitor management software is able to collect more information and print a custom visitors badge, it can mean that you know a lot more about who is in your building. This can tell security teams where each visitor is meant to be and makes it easier to challenge them if they are in the wrong location. Their badge also means that any member of staff can see exactly who the visitor is at all times. If there is someone that you do not want to enter your business, then your visitor management software can flag this up when they arrive, and your security team or management can deal with this more effectively.

Privacy

When using a traditional sign-in book, it is very easy for any visitor to see who has come before them and what their details are, which could be seen as a breach of privacy.

Visitor management software allows each visitor to sign in independently with no knowledge of who else might be there. This makes it easier for businesses to keep the information of their visitors safe and secure and keep them compliant with relevant GDPR laws.

Productivity

It is important that everyone within a business is as productive as possible, but this is not always achievable when dealing with the arrival of visitors.

By automating much of this process with visitor management software it is possible to help make your staff more productive. Reception staff can be freed up to perform other tasks, and the immediacy of the software means that there is less waiting time for everyone involved.

Customisation

One of the big benefits of visitor management software is the ability to fully customise it for your business. This means that it can display all of your company branding, and you can customise the sign in forms to collect any information that you need. You no longer need to worry about a one size fits all approach and can gather the data that is important for your business.

Lead generation

By customising your sign in system, you can have a better opportunity to generate leads from your visitors. This will enable you to collect all of their contact details as well as other important information which will make it much easier for staff to follow up on any visits. This could be to help land a sale, seek further information or just obtain feedback about their visit.

Cost

Whilst it might seem as though a visitor sign in book would be the cheaper option, you might actually be surprised. Whilst visitor management software needs an initial set up cost, it can then be relatively inexpensive to run.

However, not only will traditional sign in books need replacing regularly, it is also important to think about the amount of time your reception staff will save in dealing with visitors. It can also help you to avoid missed opportunities when reception is not manned where a potential client might have otherwise walked out of the door.

Visitor management software is an innovative solution to dealing with the arrival of visitors to your business and has many advantages over the traditional paper solutions. It can be a big step in creating a more efficient, cohesive and secure business for everyone.