Do you have a set of processes and technologies that dictate and support the way you interact with guests to your office? Think about the way you handle the visit of a pre-arranged customer VIP, a partner, a contractor, an employee spouse, someone delivering mail or lunch, or even an unwelcome solicitor. Do you have a process in place to make sure that each visitor is handled correctly? And if so, do you have robust but also flexible technology to execute on your processes effectively and consistently?
If so, congratulations! You have a finely tuned visitor management system in place. But if you felt uneasy about agreeing wholeheartedly to each of those questions, then read on. You’ll learn how a strategic, tech-driven visitor management system can make a big impact not only on your guest experience, but also on your staff, space, and business as a whole.
How do I implement a visitor management system?
Identifying the best policies for handling visitor interactions is entirely up to you. It requires careful consideration of your unique business needs, the type and volume of visitors you receive, the health and safety protocols you implement, and more.
But knowing what to plan for often comes down to what you can actually execute on. Remember, it can be especially hard for those not well versed in hosting to deliver a uniform experience.
That’s why improving consistency, simplicity and efficiency is the priority. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is where technology comes into play.
Do I need a visitor management solution?
To find out if a visitor management solution would benefit your business, ask yourself these questions:
- Do you currently host or expect to host guests, contractors, or other temporary occupants?
- Do you need to become compliant with data laws by capturing visitor consent before storing visitor data and allow your visitors to stay in control of updating or deleting their data in line with these laws?
- Do you need to update your visitor health and safety processes to improve your checks and balances or to become compliant?
- Are you concerned about improving your security process around visitors?
- Do you want to know how visitors interact with your office environment?
- Do you accept deliveries, of both packages and food?
- Do you want to know your visitor types and trends over time to assist in planning?
If one or more of these answers is yes, then you should strongly consider a visitor management solution.
Unfortunately, not all visitor management solutions provide the functionality that a modern organization needs. Given the fluid demands of today’s office, you need a solution that both informs and responds to policies as they evolve.
What does a visitor management solution do?
A visitor management solution automates and simplifies every step of the visitor experience and process. In doing so, it ensures a positive, safe, and convenient experience throughout the visitor journey, from pre-registration through to arrival, check-in, collection, meeting, check-out, and post-visit analytics.
Here’s how it works:
Your visitor management solution automates visitor booking and sends confirmations to the host and visitor. The visitor (or host) is able to pre-register the visitor details, book specific visitor requests (such as parking), and view on-arrival instructions and turn-by-turn directions for the specific meeting. On arrival, visitors can manage their own check-in using a modern and quick self check-in kiosk experience, which certifies their identity and access privileges. Their host is automatically notified and a badge can automatically be printed. Further automations with Guest Wi-Fi and access-control can be enabled into the building.
Meanwhile, authorized users can use real-time dashboards to see visitor movements and have a real-time record of which visitors are in which areas of your real estate. You can also keep track of health and safety and space utilization.
What are the benefits of a visitor management solution?
- A visitor management solution limits bottlenecks, redundancies and errors.
- It improves operational efficiency by automating and streamlining repeatable processes. It eases the burden on reception staff to process every task themselves and makes things happen a lot faster.
- It allows you to take control of the entire visitor journey and ensure the guest experience is top-notch, from pre-arrival, to check-in, to departure.
- It creates a comfortable and welcoming first impression for guests.
- It strengthens office security and safety by screening visitors (and staff) trying to enter your building. In a Covid context, this can include health screenings and Covid-19 alert notifications.
- It makes it easy to enforce procedures and policies for distinct groups. Employees and visitors of different kinds go through different check-in processes without any confusion.
- It improves productivity and helps your teams and guests focus on more important matters. Meetings start on time, and your reception staff can focus on human relationships and more complex tasks. And with the addition of parcel management, the mailroom can even make sure employees receive incoming packages immediately.
Which visitor management solution is best for me?
The visitor management solution you choose should enable you to handle every expected and unexpected visitor interaction with ease and speed. It should enable a superior visitor experience that solves your compliance risks and reduces your security risk, while also improving your organization’s brand — regardless of how much or how quickly your policies change.
With FMS:Visitor, a leading global visitor management solution from FM:Systems, you can manage every part of the visitor lifecycle while also enjoying seamless integrations with some of the most robust and intuitive workplace management, employee experience and workplace analytics solutions on the market.
In a business and office environment that demands so much attention and care, it’s important that you find a solution that can automate and simplify the routine so you can focus on the novel and complex. An advanced visitor management solution does just that, and FMS:Visitor is uniquely capable of going beyond the front door to open up a whole new world for your business.
