6 Reasons to Use Visitor Management Software

When you work at a busy office, you know that no two days are alike. On any given workday, you may have clients, vendors, job applicants, and other visitors arriving at your office space.

How can your company ensure a positive visitor experience? You can certainly have a friendly staff member and a sign-in sheet, but today’s workplaces demand much more than that. For health and safety purposes, you need to know who is in the office, when they arrived, and when they’ve signed out. 

Learn more about how an office visitor management system can help your organization welcome visitors.

What is visitor management?

Your office is not only a space for employees. Organizations across all kinds of industries regularly welcome different types of visitors to the office, including:

• Customers or clients
• Vendors and suppliers
• Contractors and consultants
• Interns
• Freelancers and temporary employees
• Job applicants

Visitor management is simply the set of policies, practices, and tools you use to monitor everyone who uses your office space but isn’t an employee.

How do you manage office visitors?

In the past, companies used manual systems to track visitors. Today, more and more organizations are turning to visitor management software to welcome guests more efficiently. A visitor management platform may include the following features:

• Pre-arrival communications
• Check-in and check-out functions
• Employee alerts
• Wayfinding tools
• Customizable branding

Some platforms include a mobile app, so visitors can check in to an office from their phone or tablet.

Best practices for a better visitor experience

As many organizations reopen their offices, they are looking for safe and effective ways to manage their people. If you want a better way to host visitors, try implementing the following practices:

Plan ahead

Don’t wait until guests arrive to make a first impression. If a visitor has a scheduled appointment at your office, you can provide helpful information in advance, such as where to park or which building entrance to use. If you’re expecting guests for a meeting or workshop, you can share an agenda or any other relevant materials. This will help your visitors feel more comfortable and prepared for the day.

Have a user-friendly sign-in process

Ideally, your visitors will be welcomed by your front desk staff and escorted to the right office or conference room. However, if you have limited staffing, that’s not always an option. You can manage office check-ins with a kiosk station or even via a mobile app. This is also a great solution if you are looking for a contactless sign-in method.

Use wayfinding

Ensure that it’s easy for guests to navigate your office. Meeting spaces should be clearly labeled, as well as services like accessible restrooms, elevator banks, and beverage stations or kitchenettes. You can use digital displays to post office maps or meeting schedules to make onsite events and conferences run more smoothly.

Why should you use a visitor management system?

If you’re not sure if a visitor management platform is the right fit for your organization, consider these benefits:

1. Improves safety and security

Effective visitor management is a safety issue, especially in a post-pandemic environment. To keep everyone safe, companies need to know who is at their office at any given point in the day. 

Plus, if you need to refer back to a visitor list for a specific day, you have an automatic digital record – you won’t need to go through a bunch of paper logs.

2. Makes a positive impression

Whether you’re pitching a client or hosting a conference, you want visitors to walk away with a positive opinion of your company. Guest management tools help you stay organized, communicate your branding, and make the process of welcoming visitors more efficient.

3. Boosts productivity

Consultants and contractors will often need dedicated workspaces when they are at the office. Visitor management software gives these individuals an easy way to find and reserve a desk or private office. This means that once they sign in, they can get right to work, instead of spending time looking for an appropriate workspace.

4. Enhances employee experience

Office management platforms work for both guests and employees, especially in a hybrid model. With about half of the American workforce in remote-capable jobs, hybrid work is increasingly popular. If you have employees working both onsite and remotely, you need a user-friendly way to keep track of everyone on your team. 

Employees can use workplace management software to reserve the desks, offices, and conference rooms they need when working onsite. They can also check who else is in the office to better plan collaborative work and brainstorming sessions.

5. Cost savings

Maintaining both reception and security staff can be expensive, especially if your company has multiple locations. Using digital tools for visitor screening and check-in can help you allocate staff resources elsewhere and potentially reduce your organization’s labor costs. 

6. Captures usage data

Tracking visitors and employees on a digital platform rather than in a manual system makes it easier to analyze and report on space utilization. Additionally, office occupancy data can help drive better decision-making and support productivity. 

For example, if you have one office that regularly has multiple contractors on site, you may want to add more flexible workspaces at that location.

Optimize the office experience with Robin

Need a solution to manage employees, freelancers, and visitors through one central platform? The team at Robin is here to help. Our office visitor management system includes:

• Drag-and-drop office maps
• Customizable screening questionnaires
• Visitor logs
• Alerts to notify hosts when their guests arrive
• Conference room and office check-ins
• Integrations with leading calendar apps

Plus, Robin uses powerful analytics and user-friendly reporting tools so you can track occupancy and understand how your office spaces are being utilized. With our software, you can welcome people back to the office safely. 

If you’d like to learn more about Robin, schedule a demo or start your free trial today.