#vmsformodernoffice

In today's environment, it's more important than ever to know who has access to your properties and when. A post-COVID world increases the need for appropriate visitor management solutions for the office, due to the specific challenges surrounding contact tracing and reducing the risk of close contact in public spaces. Plus, flexible working hours means employees are more likely to be in the office at unpredictable times, boosting remote management, building automation, and more.

 Today, there are more solutions than ever in the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) market to effectively and concisely record who visits your buildings, why they do it and where they spend their time. Together we can evaluate these solutions to determine the best option for you and your tenants.

 According to The Receptionist, modern visitor management systems — which include open source visitor sign-in system variations — can achieve all of the following to increase office productivity and safety:

·         Maintain a cloud-based visitor log

·         Take photos of your visitors to help you identify them

·         Print visitor ID badges, customized with your company’s logo

·         Capture signatures for NDAs and other legal agreements

·         Accept deliveries from UPS, FedEx, and other courier services

·         Send SMS, email, and Slack notifications when visitors arrive

·         Allow two-way communication between employees and visitors

·         Accept food deliveries and document drop-off

·         Provide instructions for visitors

·         Enable remote-controlled access for visitors when needed

 Types of visitor management systems for office

There are a wide variety of visitor management systems available for offices. Whether simple or technologically advanced, they all facilitate guest access in office buildings, notify employees of guest arrival, and track visitor time in and out.

 Office visitor management systems fall into three main categories:

 1.     Pen-and-paper

2.     Reception desk

3.     Video intercom system

 1. Pen-and-paper

The pen-and-paper method of visitor management is probably the oldest method that is still used today. While it gets the job done, it’s full of pitfalls and inefficiencies.

 First of all, it’s the least secure way for visitors to sign into an office building. Handwriting can easily be misread or completely illegible, which leads to inaccurate visitor information. Also, without thorough identity verification, visitors can write down false information, causing a security breach.

 2. Reception desk

Having a staffed reception or front desk is a common — yet outdated — way to manage visitors within an office building.

 A receptionist desk is typically located in the lobby of a commercial building. Visitors see the staff members working the desk to start the sign-in process, including providing ID cards, taking a photo, and receiving a visitor pass with access credentials. The desk attendant calls the tenant the visitor is there for and then sends the visitor up to the appropriate floor and office suite.

 Then, the visitor has to sign in all over again at the reception desk of the particular office suite. During busy hours, desk attendants can easily get overwhelmed, and visitors may feel frustrated about long waits and redundant sign-in processes.

 The reception desk method of managing visitors might have worked in the past. But with the advent of technology that streamlines the whole visitor management process, reception desks seem more and more outdated.

 3. Video intercom system

Installing a modern video intercom for office visitor management is one of the most secure and effective solutions. Some video intercom systems are even cloud-based, meaning that you can collect and manage guest access information from anywhere with an internet connection.

 With video intercom systems, visitors can look up the tenant they’re visiting in the directory to request building entry. Alternatively, a tenant could give their visitor access credentials — in the form of QR or PIN codes — in advance.

 Corporate offices

For corporate offices big and small, having a comprehensive visitor management system is essential. Typically, office buildings have multiple tenants, meaning that various businesses and organizations are housed under the same building. So, on any given day, a variety of clients, customers, partners, job candidates, and countless other visitors will come and go all day long.

 A traditional receptionist desk might not have the bandwidth to welcome and register all these guests. To streamline visitor management, consider investing in an access control system with a mobile app. This way, tenants can directly give access credentials to their guests, open the door for them after visually verifying their identities, and help them navigate to the correct office suite.

 Benefits of visitor management in offices

If your office building doesn’t have a visitor management system, then you’re missing out on some key benefits. Or, if your current system is outdated, then you’re falling behind on building automation.

 Here are a few benefits of installing a modern visitor management system in your office:

 ·         Keep employees safe

·         Manage workplace capacity

·         Improve the tenant experience

·         Make a good first impression

·         Minimize contact

 Choosing the best visitor management system for your office

If you decide to invest in a visitor management system, you’re moving in the right direction toward making property access simple for office guests. As the number of visitors to commercial properties continues to increase, you must accommodate a wide array of office guests.

 Here are essential features to look for in an office visitor management system:

 ·         Robust mobile app: 

 Pick a system that comes with a smartphone app, which allows tenants and guests to open doors from their smartphones. Some even allow tenants to send their guests’ virtual keys to enter the property when they arrive.

 ·         Delivery PINs for couriers: 

 A common frustration among tenants is missing a delivery, or worse, experiencing package theft. Ensure that your tenants never miss a delivery by empowering them to create delivery PINs. Food and package delivery people can access the building by entering the one-time PIN code. Then, the courier can securely place the package inside the building even if the tenant isn’t in the office.

 ·         Video and photos: