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Business Shipping and Mailing Services | Pitney Bowes​

Finding the Best Digital Visitor Management Solution for Your Office

Why digitally managing onsite contractors and visitors should be a priority for businesses.

Managing who is on your premises is more than just taking attendance – it’s your duty

Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) legislation in Australia has serious penalties for non-compliance but in the event of an emergency, those penalties are nothing compared to the risk you can carry if you aren’t sure who is in your building or where they are. Ensuring the safety of your staff, contractors and visitors should be a top priority for any workplace.

The days of a lobby sign-in sheet for all visitors are gone. It’s no longer enough to simply have a guest write down their name to gain access. In the event of an emergency, you need to know you have captured enough meaningful visitor information to find and protect your staff, contractors and visitors. Effective workplace safety plans should include a high-quality photographic record to go with a contractor’s or visitor’s name, purpose of visit, and contact details. Today, the advanced technology that underpins digital visitor management systems allows photos and data to be captured more seamlessly than ever before.
 

Finding the best solution for your office needs

There are basic components of digital lobby visitor management solutions that should become the first layer of defence for any business trying to make critical improvements in WHS procedures and policies. Digital visitor management systems ensure contractors and visitor information can be presented to organisations to determine when visitors are on premises, while simultaneously providing visitors with necessary information such as safety plans and emergency procedures. Advanced digital visitor management systems also print visitor badges, generate real-time reports and capture emergency contact details to ensure all employees and visitors can be located as quickly as possible should they face critical safety situations.
 

Answering the challenges unique to lobby and communication situations

Organisations today face a range of lobby and reception area challenges. Front lobby staff are often expected to be more agile and handle more business functions than the perceived routine tasks of greeting guests and directing incoming calls. Workplaces need to find specific solutions that meet their individual office needs, whether that is through a staffed front lobby or a staffless greeting area.

Whether contractors or visitors are greeted by lobby staff or not, a digital lobby visitor management solution can be a great asset to communicate critical information to visitors. Many solutions provide organisations with the opportunity to share a short orientation for visitors and contractors, alerting them to emergency procedures and exits.
 

Customise visitor badges for added branding and security

Top of the line systems offer organisations many options to create customised welcome screens and visitor badge formats. Creating badges with features such as company logos, visitor photos and contact details for the employee sponsoring the contractor or visitor. This also allows other employees to assist in office security as they will easily be able to stay alert to visitors who may be unescorted.
 

Securing your data and connecting to the cloud

Any smart visitor management system should allow a level of interconnectedness and confidentiality that paper logs simply cannot match. With both secure databases and cloud-based technology, visitor details should only be retrievable by authorised employees in-house or in case of emergency, from off-premise locations using cloud-based technology.

Optimally, these solutions should also stay connected to the workplace through real-time personal alerts to employees when their contractors or visitors arrive and complete the check-in process.

There are a number of additional things organisations should consider when searching for the best system to suit their office needs:

  • Can you incorporate unique brand graphics and messaging to the system’s welcome screen?
  • Do you have the ability to create customised visitor badges to add another layer of security for your premises?
  • Can you customise the sign-in process so visitors acknowledge compulsory information?
  • Does the system include a notification feature that alerts employees via email or SMS when their visitor arrives reducing the time visitors spend unattended?
  • In case of emergency, can you generate real-time reports and emergency contact details for occupants?
  • Can you safeguard confidential visitor information with secure storage features?

Learn more about how Pitney Bowes can help your business manage your visitors in a secure and cost-efficient way.