I’m sure I’m not the only one desperate to get back to some face-to-face meetings. Not only am I sick of looking at my own face during video calls, the very real ‘Zoom fatigue’ of reading people’s response cues, dealing with interruptions and keeping communication momentum are taking their toll.

For many of us, the prospect of real physical meetings back in our offices might not be too far away. But we need to be realistic – the world has changed and there is going to be a necessity at least for the foreseeable future where track and trace measures still need to be in place to allow us to do our bit to keep the R number down. Onsite client visits and employee attendance – as much as we will welcome their return – will need to be managed.

So how can a Visitor Management System help your business?

1. Reduce interruptions.

When a client visits your office, what is the usual process? You might be fortunate enough to have a dedicated receptionist who can deal with client visits but what happens when they are on a call or attending to another matter away from front of house? Either someone seating near the entrance gets interrupted or the visitor waits (and waits and waits). Not a very professional start to any meeting. In order to avoid these situations, many modern workplaces are now moving to an automated Visitor Management System which can either complement a person-lead reception or as a more cost effective alternative. A visitor management portal enables a visitor to enter their name into an online portal – and who they are there to see and this immediately notifies the employee that their visitor is here. This saves vast amounts of time and the need for any manual greeting – or the interruptions that come with it.

2. Increase security.

Visitor management portals improve levels of security by providing full transparency into who is moving around your office – with the best solution being image capture on arrival (this can also prevent ‘buddy check ins’). This will prevent any uninvited visitors entering the building – protecting your staff and its assets. Our system can be taken with biometric set up options which can include fingerprint or voice recognition functionality, or standard key fob access.

3. Reduce infection and help track and trace

Have you considered how you are going to provide documentation to track and trace should visitors or on-site staff member test positive for Covid-19? Track and Trace will not be going away anytime soon, so we need to be able to show accurately and efficiently who has been onsite at a specific time on a specific date. In addition to support track and trace, good management portals should be able to identify risk to your team by asking visitors a series of health-related questions such as, have you got a high temperature? Do you have a new, continuous cough? Having the answers to these questions will enable you to take the appropriate action. (identeco’s system includes temperature test as a bolt on service)

4. Increase productivity.

Long gone are the days when businesses are purely 9-5. In a fast-paced world, where many of us are operating across different time zones to our own, delivering a 24/7 service to our clients or just responding to the flexible working movement that has become the norm for modern businesses, keeping productivity high and managing hours worked can be an arduous task. Many businesses manage this via manual timesheets, but moving to a visitor management system can take the workload away. Employees can now simply sign in or out with fingerprint, face recognition or initials to log their working hours. Most portals will provide a level of detailed reporting, allowing managers or payroll to drill down to review staff, freelancer or contractor hours worked or to measure KPIs. Not to mention the green credentials from reducing paperwork.

5. Can my firm afford a Visitor Management System?

There are many options available on the market so it is worth doing some research, but a good starting point would be an entry level package that can grow with your businesses. So, look for an option that can have ‘bolt on’ services, if needed. A good system should not cost the earth.

If you would like to hear more about identeco’s Time & Attendance System, visit our website. The portal with hardware costs from as little as £53 + VAT per month. See our pricing here.