Top Benefits of an Automated Visitor Management System

How many visitors do you welcome in your facility or plant daily? Five? Ten? Or more? Any non-employee who walks through your company’s door is a visitor. That means contractors, delivery personnel, investors, clients, or job seekers. Regardless of your visitor numbers and profiles, what matters most is how you receive them.  

If your employees experience distractions every time a visitor enters, or if they have to pause their jobs to welcome visitors, you’re losing productive time. Adding up that lost time, you’ll find it curtails your overall operational efficiency by miles. But there’s a solution — adopting an electronic visitor management system.  

Welcoming visitors to your premises is seamless and time-efficient with visitor management software. This article explores how visitor management software improves your company's operational efficiency. To start, let's compare it to the traditional visitor management process.

Electronic Visitor Management System vs. Traditional Visitor Management Process

The traditional approach is a manual visitor sign-in process. Visitors register at the reception desk, checking in by signing the visitor logbook. Visitors write down details such as their name, email address, contact number, and sign-in time. The exact details vary depending on the format and check-in requirements. 

After checking in, visitors have to wait for the receptionist to direct them to their destination or for the host employee to receive them and show them around. The entire process is time-consuming and adds to workplace distractions, especially in an open workspace. Not to mention, the rigidity and tediousness leads to a poor visitor experience.  

Conversely, an electronic visitor management system eliminates these drawbacks. Automated visitor sign-ins mean faster, less distracting, and more user-friendly visitor management. How can you benefit from these visitor management software features?  

8 Key Features of Visitor Management Systems and How They Impact Efficiency and Productivity

Here’s how a visitor management solution enhances your company’s operational efficiency.  

1. Streamlines Lobby Management and Eliminates Manual Tasks

Visitor management software has a guided self-sign-in feature to streamline check-ins. Upon arrival, guests simply tap the sign-in kiosk to initiate check-in. They key in the requisite details, read pertinent instructions, and digitally sign any required legal documents or nondisclosure agreements.

The self-sign-in feature eliminates the need for a manual visitor log. Your front-desk personnel are no longer stuck facilitating manual registration single-handedly. They may only step in when visitors need help with the digital entry process.  

This way, guests aren't held up at the reception desk, awaiting their turn to fill in a visitor sign in sheet. Digital sign-in processes are fast and straightforward, so visitors spend less time waiting in your lobby. 

2. Provides Automatic Notifications

The best visitor management software has automatic notification features. Notifications facilitate communication between the visitor and the host employee. 

Here’s how it works. 

The self-sign-in feature prompts visitors to select the host employee or department they are visiting. After the visitor completes the check-in process, the system sends the host a message. Visitor management integrations means that notification can be set to email, call, text, or Slack, to name a few. 

Employees can choose the best communication channel to ensure they receive notifications instantly. Fast communication empowers the host employee to move quickly and welcome the guest. Thus, the host employee is not distracted worrying about their visitor’s arrival time. All because they can trust in  real-time visitor notifications. 

3. Provides Insights into Visitor History

The reporting feature of an electronic visitor management system populates all your visitor data in one place. Having your visitor records in real-time helps you keep tabs on all visitor activity in your building. With one click, you can access critical metrics such as:  

• Number of visitors currently signed in 
• Number of expected visitors 
• Number and profile of visitors denied entry 
• Daily or monthly visitor log data (you can customize reporting intervals) 

iLobby’s best-in-class visitor management software boasts compliance automation & reporting features. We make it easy to customize your reports according to specific criteria like visitor type, company, hosts name, or location. 

4. Serves as a Solution for Security

The real-time visitor monitoring feature beefs up your day-to-day safety. With this feature, you can account for facility visitors at all times. You can  efficiently manage emergencies or security breaches through the system. Your security personnel can quickly locate all visitors during an emergency evacuation. Also, electronic visitor management systems can automate mass notifications and headcounts. Automation is at the heart of responsive and proactive emergency preparedness. 

Take advantage of visitor badge printing to maximize the efficiency of security operations. You can print photo ID badges or color-coded badges by visitor type to make it easy for your staff to identify guests. Badge-printing equips your staff and security personnel to identify visitors engaging in suspicious activities. For example, copying data or entering areas where they shouldn't have access.

5. Reduces Time Wasted on Unauthorized Visitors

The safety feature of an electronic visitor management system allows you to create permit lists, deny lists, and watch lists. Visitors on deny lists or meeting list criteria are automatically flagged and denied entry.  

Thanks to this preventive measure, no unauthorized visitor can interfere with your company’s operations and cause unnecessary downtime. Your security staff doesn't waste time assessing which guests have which authorizations. 

6. Minimizes Compliance Risk

Different industries and locations have their own specific regulations and compliance requirements. Visitor management solutions must comply with data security, health, and safety to avoid penalties. Some of the standard compliance requirements include: 

The best visitor management systems minimize risk by easing  compliance reporting and auditing. It makes it easy for you to meet all your data security requirements seamlessly without diverting company resources and time.  

7. Reduces the Chance of Misplacing Visitor History Data 

Touchless visitor sign-ins allow visitors to complete the check-in process on their smartphones. It's an efficient alternative to using a touchscreen at your sign-in kiosk. This feature sends a preregistration or invitation link to your guests' smartphones. Guests scan the link using a QR code at your check-in kiosk and, just like that, the sign-in is complete.

Besides improving your visitor experience, the contactless sign-in feature creates a data trail. Now you have an organized and easy-to-access way to track and contact-trace any guest on demand. The extra data set in your visitor management system means you have an additional data point for your visitor records. This lowers the chances of misplacing the data in your system. 

8. Reduces Visitor Wait Times and Prevents Canceled Meetings

Features like contactless sign-in, visitor host notifications, and automated security checkpoints reduce visitor wait times. When guests know the check-in process is expedited, they honor meetings. Even when under strict schedules. 

For instance, a client who has arranged a meeting with your supplies manager may get caught up on the meeting day. But before calling in to reschedule, the client envisions how fast it is to get on and off your premises. Instead of canceling, that client honors the meeting. Why? They know they’ll get in quickly, without needless delays at the reception desk, and finish their appointment promptly.

Powerful visitor management systems are an essential feature of effective facility management. Learn more with The Complete Facilities Management Handbook.

Why It’s Important to Monitor the Flow of Visitors in Your Building

We can summarize the benefits of real-time visitor monitoring under three broad categories:

Security benefits 

Health benefits 

Maintaining a healthy workplace is a priority for manufacturers. Visitor management software reduces COVID-19 risks as employees return to work. The automated system helps you screen guests, check their temperatures, and keep their flow in check. 

Operational benefits 

Increase the efficiency of your daily operations by knowing how many guests are on your premises, where they are, and whom they're meeting. Having such vital metrics at your fingertips empowers you to plan your operations so you can achieve maximum efficiency.

Visitor Management Software Improves Workplace Efficiency

Visitor management software is more than a good first impression. It delivers a seamless visitor experience and improves your company’s overall productivity. Automation enhances operational efficiency from entry to exit.  

Streamline visitor authorization, tracking, identity verification, and screening on one dashboard. Customization maximizes workplace efficiency and gets more out of your visitor management system. Especially for busy manufacturers with high visitor traffic and a bustling workplace. Simplify complex processes with a custom visitor management system. 

Automate and streamline your workplace to better manage your facility, employees, and visitors. Request a demo today to discover how iLobby can enhance your lobby experience. 

Ready to learn more about VMS? Read The Ultimate Guide to Visitor Management