The business landscape is going through unprecedented times. The global pandemic has forced almost all businesses to redefine their organizational culture and interact with their stakeholders within a predefined ecosystem. Companies are also incurring unpredictable losses and jostling to survive in the hard times. They need to keep operating in these obstinate times or become irrelevant. The remote working policy is the need of the hour. Hence, businesses are equipping themselves with innovative digital technologies and adopting the latest disruptive trends.
Visitor management software is one such advanced tool that efficiently manages the visitor’s entry to office premises or any other place with a secure technology during the current pandemic scenario.
Introduction to Visitor Management Software
In the traditional visitor management approach, the company has to appoint a receptionist to greet the visitors at the front desk. But this archaic visitor management approach will no longer sustain and be applicable in a post-pandemic world where people strictly follow social distancing norms. Offices following the legacy practice still rely on pen and paper to track visitors daily. This leads to unnecessary paperwork, which becomes increasingly unreliable as a way of accurately tracking unauthorized entry. Moreover, it also leads to a poor visitor experience.
Visitor management software tracks every individual/ visitor entering a workplace. Be it an associate, salesperson, job applicant, prospects, or even a delivery person. This tool allows easy monitoring of all the people who have entered the facility in a day, a month, or even a year. It helps companies manage the visitor's flow in an efficient and error-free manner.
With a proper visitor management system in place, companies can actively check the details of every single visitor, their names, the time of arrival and exit, the executives who they met, and the department they interacted with. This crucial data is monitored and stored well in a VMS database. Only an administrator or authorized personnel can access this information, which they can view anytime from their device.
How Visitor Management Software Works
Most visitor management systems work with cloud-integrated technologies that allow easy tracking and exchange of information within the organization.
Most visitor management applications rely on OTP verification and photo scanning to increase the security of the premises. A typical solution works digitally on a device like a mobile, PC, or tablet. The visitor entering the premises is greeted with the device at the front desk and asked to fill out the necessary information. Once these details are submitted, the receptionist or the host is notified about the visitor's arrival.
The pandemic has forced businesses to use contactless access management technologies to create robust solutions that ensure safe and secure check-in. The advanced re-engineered version of VMS - touchless visitor management systems is gaining popularity. They are taking over the front desk receptionist roles in most companies due to their ease of operation and seamless automation.
How Can VMS Boost Workplace Value?
An organization's workplace is its heart, and any interruption in this space decelerates the average pace of businesses. Technological innovations like visitor management software can seem like a small change but are of far greater value to an organization than imagined. It helps organizations create a pandemic-free zone, shielding them in the present and preparing for unforeseeable events. Here's a list of benefits that an ideal visitor management tool can bring into an office premise in no time.
No more loss in productivity
When companies are not equipped with cutting-edge solutions, they are bound to face a loss in productivity. Long waiting hours and delayed meetings with professionals is a common problem faced by businesses around the globe.
The visitor management software allows a streamlined visitor experience loaded with features like pre-registration, automatic sign-in, quick assistance, and other functions that ensure that the work gets done at lightning speed.
It has been witnessed that employees become more productive while working in a comfortable and secured office space. With a high-end system, companies can ensure greater security on their premises by allowing only selected individuals to access certain zones and permitting authorized personnel to quickly move through sensitive areas, saving tons of time and labor on guarding such zones.
No More Interruptions
For businesses running in full flow, hundreds of visitors enter through the door. With traditional techniques, keeping track and diverting critical personnel to their respective departments can become cumbersome. A single-minute distraction affects the mindset of employees, and it may lead to huge revenue loss for the company.
With the pandemic, offices need to avoid unnecessary intrusions to ensure the safety of their staff.
A premier software allows the office staff to work uninterrupted by taking care of the people going in and out of the premises. The advanced features in a VMS ensure that the visitors' flow is appropriately directed, connecting only the requested visitors to the concerned employee. This means fewer interruptions by unwanted knocks on the door and more focus during working hours.
No More Logbook Chaos
The logbooks are hard to maintain and even harder to sift through when needed. Going by the receptionists using log books as a visitor management approach, ample time and labor get wasted to maintain records of the people going in and out of office spaces.
Visitor management software goes a long way in maintaining details of all the types of visitors entering and leaving the site. From the contractors to the clients to the job applicants, there are several pieces of information to gather like; details of people entering the office, where they are heading, who they want to meet, when they left the space, and which areas they accessed, and so on. Such crucial yet detailed information can never be recorded on paper.
For the organizations looking to thrive during the COVID-19 crisis, visitor management is an excellent addition to the desk to avoid contact and curb the spread of infection more efficiently than the pen-paper system.
No More Average First Impressions
Individuals coming into an organization or office premise are mostly prospects or potential clients closely witnessing the company's culture before they get into an association with them. The better the first impression, the better the chances of winning over those clients.
Experts suggest that first impressions are formed within 10 seconds of interaction. So why not get the attention of clients right as they step inside the office building? Moreover, the present times pose more challenges than before, especially regarding the safety of visitors and employees. Modern ways of dealing with customers or executives like deploying visitor management tools can leave an everlasting impact, exuding modernity, a cutting-edge approach, and ensuring a safe interaction compliant with government guidelines.
No More Unpredictable Occurrences
Companies deal with unexpected occurrences regularly, and modern technologies that help track the premises in and out are being embraced with open hands. It is pretty easy for intruders or criminals to sneak past the receptionist, thus rendering the security staff helpless and uninformed about such incidents. With an average conventional approach, companies can never get hands on the crime perpetrators or the individuals responsible for certain breaches.
Maintaining a good record of the ins and outs of the office premise and repelling the unnecessary intrusions at the front desk becomes relatively easy with next-generation VMS software solutions.
If there is any unusual incident or suspicious activity, the system can detect it with ease through intense screening steps like Photo ID and mobile OTP verification. Steps like these ensure that the threats are pointed and discarded even before they can commit.
Visitor Management Software - A Timeless Investment
Although the visitor management program has uncountable advantages and can be a great stimulator in providing a secured workplace, its importance is further deepened due to the Covid 19 pandemic crisis. No wonder that organizations are listing employee safety as their topmost priority post-pandemic.
A crucial step towards achieving the current scenario's safety goals and security standards is adopting digital innovations like visitor management systems. Once a company invests in such technologies, their workstation is secured and safeguarded without deploying more security staff, cameras, or any such devices. Pandemic or not, this technology is bound to make the team's work easier, convenient and enhance on-site productivity manifold within the facility. This further leads to more employee retention rates and higher employee satisfaction levels. It conveys clearly that companies are genuinely investing in creating better working conditions for their employees.
Automation using technologies like VMS can prepare the employees and the premises for all situations, so the businesses keep their offices safe even during a pandemic.
If you are interested in purchasing a VMS tool that is free and allows a bit of customization, then do check the free and open source visitor management software.
There are plenty of options for premium and mid-range VMS systems. GoodFirms’ list of best VMS tools should allow you to pick the one that fits your budget and business size.
