How To Create A Warm Welcome For Your Office Visitors

How To Create A Warm Welcome For Your Office Visitors

When someone visits your office, they are probably coming to do business in some form, so it is important to make a good impression. You want them to feel welcome, comfortable, and as though they are walking into somewhere professional, and you can often have limited space in which to project all of this.

The contract won’t be signed on the basis of your reception area, but it can be the start to building a positive long-term relationship that can help your business to ultimately be more successful.

Here, we take a look at ways in which you can make the welcome to your office a positive experience for any visitor.

Prioritise comfort

When someone arrives at your office, the best way to give them a warm welcome is to make them feel comfortable and relaxed as soon as possible. If they need to wait for someone to come and see them, make sure there are comfortable chairs and refreshments available so that the wait does not seem quite so arduous.

You should make sure that the area is in keeping with the rest of your business so they can get their first taste of what to expect from you and avoid it looking too much like a doctor’s waiting room.

It can also be useful to include some reading materials but try to shy away from the usual trashy celebrity magazines and pick newspapers, magazines and books that are relevant to your industry and reflect who you are. It is also important to ensure that these are changed regularly, as if they are out of date, it can look as though you do not care.

In terms of aesthetics, some well-chosen art can always be a big step in providing a warm welcome. Again, this can be reflective of the type of business that you are and can even help to convey messages about some of the services or products that you offer so that the sales process begins from the moment your visitors sit down.

Visitor management software

Friendly and approachable receptionists can be a great way to give somebody a warm welcome, but the reality of many offices is that your reception staff are busy and often overwhelmed, meaning that the initial greeting is not always as positive as you might like. Many offices are now making use of visitor management software to provide an innovative solution to the sign-in process.

This can be hosted on the tablet computer and personalised to suit your business, which means it not only carries your branding, but it can ask your visitors any questions that you need. All visitors need to do is enter their details to let someone in the office know that they have arrived.

Many versions of the software will also allow them to take a photograph on their arrival and print out a personalised name badge. This can all help to show that you have a professional set up and you can streamline the arrival experience, so visitors are not left waiting for long periods of time becoming impatient in the process.

Clear directions

When visiting an office for the first time, it can be a daunting experience for some people, whilst others might be concerned that they will be wasting valuable time trying to find you.

It is therefore important to make sure that there are clear directions so that the entrance to the office can be located as easily as possible.

This could be through signage that starts in the car park and leads people through the building, or even instructions that are emailed out a day or two before arrival.

This allows people to plan effectively and help to eliminate any anxieties about the visit. If you are using visitor management software, you can then show people directions to the right area of the business or alert someone to come and collect them from the reception area.

Be prepared

As a visitor, there is nothing worse than arriving at an office only to find that people are not expecting you or are not ready. This can mean that they are left waiting for long periods of time or that the meeting seems unprofessional as people try to gather resources and locate the right individuals.

It is therefore essential that you are prepared for any visitors so that their first impressions with you are positive ones. Even if they are an unexpected visitor, things like visitor management software can help you to gather information about who they are and why they are visiting you so that you can be a little better prepared when you greet them.

Keep people updated

Ensuring that your visitors are fully informed about the status of their appointment is essential when it comes to avoiding unnecessary frustration.

A visitor should be informed how long they will be expected to wait when they first sign in and this can be done through a receptionist or the visitor management software that you are using. You should then make sure that they have access to some real time notifications to keep them informed about their status and any updates.

You can do this in a personalised manner, through text message or by a screen in the reception area. Even if you are running late, then open communication can help to alleviate many of the difficulties that this may cause, so let your visitors know about any changes to their appointment status as soon as possible to reduce uncertainty and ensure that you still look professional.

A visit to your office starts the minute somebody walks through the door, so it is important that you think about every step of their experience with you.

Creating the right type of welcome can say a lot about the kind of business that you run and whether that person wants to work with you. You should therefore make sure that you have his streamlined process and a comfortable and professional reception area to help you seal the deal with your visitors without them even knowing.

Create a warm atmosphere today

If you are wanting to create a warm, welcoming and seamless guest experience, we can help you! At VMFree we offer a free visitor management solution for businesses to help manage, control and streamline the visitor sign in process.

If you have a question or would like to know more about our service, please contact us today and we’ll be happy to you.

What Is The Purpose Of A Visitor Management System?

What Is The Purpose Of A Visitor Management System?

Visitor management systems are becoming increasingly popular in a growing number of businesses due to the convenience and efficiency that they can offer. They provide a new and innovative way to track visitors as they come and go from your business, helping you to find out more about them, keep them safer and improve the way in which your business works.

What is a visitor management system?

visitor management system is a digital way of logging the arrival of visitors into your business. Rather than a traditional logbook on a reception desk, this is not only able to capture the name and time of any arrivals, but also any other details that you might feel are pertinent.

These systems are completely customisable, which means not only will they carry the branding of your business, but you can choose what questions the system asks each visitor when they sign in.

This system is often also able to take a photograph of the visitor and print a personalised visitors badge for them to wear while they are there. This can be a massive boost to security as it makes it much clearer who everyone is. The system can also notify the member of staff that is due to be meeting the visitor to ensure that there are as few delays as possible in getting them seen.

Visitor management systems have been designed to streamline the reception service, providing a more professional way to record any visits whilst ensuring that all data is kept secure and your business functions at its best.

The benefits of visitor management software

One of the biggest impacts that visitor management software can make is on your time. Visitors can now sign in on a tablet computer, providing you with all the information you need quickly and easily. This means there are no delays while they queue to the reception desk to wait for a busy member of staff and eliminates the risk of any human error in dealing with the visitor.

Having a live record of who is in the building can also play a big part of any emergency procedures. In the event of an evacuation, multiple staff members can have access to the same system which shows which visitors are on site at any given point and can include a photograph, making it easier to identify them and take them off the list when they have been located.

Visitor management software is also very important when it comes to data collection. Most sign-in books simply ask for a name, an organisation and sometimes a car registration, but with visitor management systems you can ask for much more detail than this. You can collect contact details, job information and even the reason for the visit to help analyse trends and follow up on potential sales leads.

This system is also designed to improve the security of your business. You can have a list of people who are authorised to access the building, and you can keep information and pictures on file of anyone who is not welcome. This makes it much easier for any security teams to deal with unwanted visitors and keep everyone within your business safe and happy.

Visitor management software is incredibly important at freeing up the time of valuable staff members for more important roles whilst providing a professional and streamlined approach to visitor management that can be used in businesses of almost any size.

Get started today

Are you looking for a fast, secure, and most importantly, free visitor management software? At VMFree we offer a free visitor management solution for businesses to help manage, control and streamline the visitor sign in process. If you have a question or would like to know more about our service, please contact us today and we’ll be happy to help.

Sign In

How to Choose the Right Visitor Management Software

Visitor management software is now becoming an essential tool for many businesses as a new and efficient way to greet and handle visitors. It can perform a number of different tasks and has customisable options to help it seamlessly blend into your business and its branding.

There are many different types of visitor management software available, so it is important to look at the needs of your business in order to identify the one that is right for you. In this article, we assess the visitor management software options to help you make the right choice.

What is visitor management software

The reception area of a business can be a busy place, and so visitor management software has been brought in to help streamline many of these processes. It can be set up to collect whatever information from your visitors that you need, and can tie into appointment calendars, helping to inform staff when a visitor arrives and ensuring that meeting rooms are booked.

Once a visitor has signed in using the software, it can print a personalised visitors badge for them, log their arrival and even tell them where they need to go next. This can mean that receptionists are not needed in the same way and can free them up to perform other tasks, whilst also enhancing security and making the business more efficient.

Business needs

When investing in visitor management software, it is important to look at what your business needs it to do.

By looking at your own needs first, it becomes much easier to narrow down the options that are out there to find the software system that is right for you.

This can be done by thinking about the number of visitors that you need it to be able to deal with, the information that you need it to collect, and the systems that you might need it to integrate with. Once you understand your own needs, it is much simpler to find the visitor management system that is the right fit.

Compliance

Compliance looks different in every type of industry, so you need to have a full understanding of what rules you are bound by. Whether it is GDPR laws or regulations that are more industry specific, you need to ensure that you are compliant at all times, and this includes your visitor management software.

It is therefore important that you look for solutions that have been designed with these laws in mind, to help them meet your needs more effectively. The visitor management software that you choose will need to have all of your required security features and should be able to capture the data that you want.

Integration

In most cases, businesses will want their visitor management software to integrate with other systems that are already in use. This might mean that it will need to link to access control systems, booking software, appointment diaries, security cameras or databases.

You should start by making a list of all of the systems that it will need to be able to work with, to enable you to check that the visitor management software you have chosen will integrate correctly.

Security

Visitor management software is required to handle a lot of sensitive data, both on behalf of your business and your visitors, so it is crucial that it is fully secure.

Before opting for any type of software, it is essential that you check whether it offers security features such as data encryption, secure storage and multi-factor authentication so that you can be confident that you have taken all necessary precautions.

User-friendliness

In order for visitor management software to be effective, it needs to be easy for everyone to use. Your employees will need to be able to get to grips with it in order to effectively set up meetings, and your visitors should be able to use it with little or no support in order for it to deliver the efficiencies that you are looking for.

It is therefore important that you get to use the software before you invest in it, so that you can see how it works for yourself. Visitor management software that is difficult to use will often be under utilised, which can then have a direct impact on security, productivity and visitor satisfaction.

Accessibility

In order to ensure that your business is inclusive for everyone, you should also check what accessibility features are on offer. This might include text to speech features, translation abilities or different text styles to ensure that everyone who enters your business is able to use it.

Customisation

You will want your visitor management software to look as though it is another part of your business, so you will need a range of customisation features. This will help it to fit in with your branding and colour schemes to give it a more professional feel.

You should also be able to customise the data that it collects, the messages that it displays and the way in which it works, so make sure that you check the software you are looking at provides the flexibility that you need.

Support

We know that things can go wrong from time to time, no matter how good they are, so you should also consider what support is on offer.

You should look at what services your software provides to help you fix problems or understand features that might be causing you headaches. As a business, it is important that you resolve any issues as quickly as possible, so check what each package offers to get you back on track when you need it.

Affordability

Every business has a budget, so you need to consider what the real costs of the software will be. Look at what licences might be needed, whether there are monthly subscriptions and think about any add-ons as well as the initial setup costs.

Visitor management software is a great way to improve workflows as well as enhancing safety and being more professional, so make sure you do your research and pick the right option for your business.

Get Started With VMFree!

Looking for a fast, convenient, secure, and FREE visitor management solution? Here at VMFree we offer a free visitor management solution for businesses who are looking for cheap and effective solution to managing a range of visitors from clients to contractors.

Get in touch with our team today and we’ll do all we can to help!

GDPR

How to ensure your visitor management software is GDPR compliant

Ensuring that your visitor management software is GDPR compliant is crucial for any business that collects personal information. Here’s how to ensure that your visitor management software is GDPR compliant.

What is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) exists to manage the way data is processed and stored, by businesses, ultimately to prevent data breaches and theft of sensitive information.

There are currently two GDPRs: EU GDPR and UK GDPR which came into force following Brexit.

For the most part, the key principles within the UK GDPR are very much the same as the EU GDPR, however some rules differ if personal data is being transferred between the UK and EEA, which you can read more about here.

Why was GDPR implemented?

GDPR was introduced to respond to growing concerns about the way personal data is collected, used and stored by companies. Concerns were raised regarding the potential for misuse of personal data and it falling into the wrong hands and being exposed.

The rules and guidelines of GDPR made it clear for customers on how their personal data would be collected, used, retained and disposed of.

It is important with GDPR to only collect the data that you absolutely require, you should not collect any personal data that is irrelevant.

What does GDPR have to do with visitor management software?

Visitor management software requires you to collect guests’ personal data such as name and maybe contact information. When collecting this personal data, this is where GDPR becomes applicable.

GDPR applies to any processing or collection of personal data that can be linked back to an individual such as names, email addresses, vehicle registration plates and pictures.

GDPR protocols apply to both electronic visitor management systems and paper-based systems.

Who is involved in GDPR compliance?

There are 3 main stakeholders involved with GDPR compliance and management:

  1. The visitor, also known as the data subject
  2. Your company, also known as the data controller
  3. Your software, also known as the data processor

How long should data be retained?

There is no minimum or maximum requirement to maintain personal data. Companies can establish their own retention periods which could be from a week to a year.

As long as the data is maintained securely, the data can be stored as long as required and when this is no longer required, it must be disposed of in a compliant manner to ensure data protection.

Risks of GDPR Non-Compliance

If your business doesn’t comply with GDPR, then you could face serious legal penalties. Here are some recent examples of penalties that companies have faced:

  • 2019: Google was fined €50 million by the French data protection authority for not being clear regarding their data protection practices
  • 2020: British Airways were fined £20 million by the UK data protection authority for a data breach that exposed the personal data of around 500,000 customers
  • 2021: The UK data protection authority find the hotel group, Marriott, £18.4 million for a data breach which exposed data of over 330 million guests

The Higher Maximum

As stated by ico.org.uk, “The higher maximum amount, is £17.5 million or 4% of the total annual worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year, whichever is higher.

In practice, the higher maximum amount can apply to any failure to comply with any of the data protection principles, any rights an individual may have under Part 3 or in relation to any transfers of data to third countries.”

The Standard Maximum

Again, as stated by ico.org.uk, “If there is an infringement of other provisions, such as administrative requirements of the legislation, the standard maximum amount will apply, which is £8.7 million or 2% of the total annual worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year, whichever is higher.”

How to ensure your Visitor Management System is GDPR compliant

There are a number of steps that you can take to ensure that your visitor management system is GDPR compliant:

1 Ask for consent

GDPR requires businesses to obtain consent before obtaining their personal data. You need to ensure that your VMS allows for guests to confirm that they have read the privacy policy, or options for which data can be stored.

2 Provide information

GDPR states that individuals or guests have a legal right to know what you plan to do with their data after they have provided it. You must be upfront and clear on how it will be used and stored for.

3 Collect only what you require

You should be selective and only ask for the data that you require. This helps streamline the check-in process and prevents you from storing any unnecessary data.

4 Control & limit access

Businesses must ensure that only those who are authorised have access to the data obtained. You could implement access control procedures which logs the members of staff that have accessed data collected, you can then review the log and ensure that no unauthorised members of staff have viewed customers personal data.

5 Decode information

Cloud based visitor management systems provide a safe way to store data as they are encrypted and difficult to access and understand.

6 Respect your guests

Visitors can withdraw their consent at any given time, and this must be respected. If you do not follow their requests and remove the data originally collected, you are in breach of GDPR protocols.

Keep GDPR Compliant with our Visitor Management Systems

If your business is looking for a GDPR compliant visitor management software supplier, then you can get in touch with our team today to begin implementing your visitor sign in system.

Visitor Management

How to control your workplace access points with a visitor sign-in system

Depending on the size of your business you may have multiple access points that people can enter and exit. Having them all managed individually can be a big task that in some cases could require unnecessary additional staff.

Fortunately, there are ways to keep this under control through a visitor sign-in system. You may wish to close off access points altogether to ensure visitors and staff come and go from one main entrance which can be monitored more effectively by smaller numbers of security staff, but without compromising on safety.

How can a sign-in system benefit access control?

A visitor sign-in system can benefit access control because it allows your business to track who is within your premises and why they’re present at your workplace. By understanding these two factors, a sign-in system can keep a close eye on who enters your workplace and where they entered from, so your business can act quickly if there is any unauthorised access within your building.

With our visitor sign-in system, individuals are provided with the option to confirm their attendance remotely, by signing in from the comfort of their own device.

Ensure to collect visitor information

When a visitor enters your building, it is important to know as much as you can about the visitor. Common areas of information to collect can consist of their name, contact details, when they entered the building, and how long they expect to be there for.

Having these details available, even for a short amount of time, your security team can quickly understand the reasons for their visit and if unauthorised, make decisions with haste before the visitor leaves.

Combine your safety systems

Your business should already have safety and security systems in place before you implement a visitor sign-in system. Combining your existing procedures with your newly adopted system can help your visitors feel more comfortable and welcomed by your business.

Through combining your safety systems together, it can also simplify access for different types of visitors, for example someone visiting your business for a meeting can be signed in and granted to different areas of your workplace based on their permission from existing security systems, whereas someone delivering parcels and packages can be handled much more efficiently and have only the access permission they need, without causing disruption.

Plan for emergencies

Regardless of how small or large a security risk may be, is vital to ensure visitors and staff are always safe. If you’re putting a security plan in place, it’s important to keep in mind visitors such as facility managers, who aren’t your employees but frequently visit the business, delivery drivers and other service providers who visit the business upon request, as well as guests attending meetings, so that they are aware of the evacuation plans.

Typically, the best way to ensure that employees and regular visitors are familiar with these protocols is by practicing your evacuation plan upon their arrival.

Implement a visitor sign-in system today

By putting a visitor sign-in system in place, you can better control your access points by knowing who enters your business, as well as their purpose. If you’re looking to adopt a visitor management system to help control your workplace access points, get in touch with our team today and we’ll do all we can to help.

Team

How can your visitor management system make visitors feel welcome?

We all know that first impressions are important, but did you know that your business’ first impression doesn’t start when they meet an employee, its starts when they enter the building!

Many organisations have a wide range of visitors including potential new hires, family and friends, clients and even delivery people so providing them with a welcoming and professional environment as soon as they step through the door can do wonders for how they feel and how they perceive your business.

Visitor management systems are a great way to welcome both visitors and staff during the work day. They can help give directions and information to visitors while also giving your team a way to track who is in the building and why.

Here we discuss the ways a visitor management system can help welcome visitors to your business.

It gives a great first impression

A VMS can help you impress guests as soon as they walk through your door. You can send them an invite that contains all the information they require to know such as directions, parking instructions or anything unique to your business. Additionally, you can send over your privacy and data policies, so your guests are comfortable with these prior to arrival.

A professional appearance

Step away from using old style pen and paper. A VMS lets your guests digitally sign in which can help streamline the sign-in process.

A friendly digital welcome screen is a lot more inviting than a sheet of paper and a pen. Additionally, it prevents employees having to keep track of visitors manually which can help improve efficiency and time management.

Wayfinding

Visitor management software can help guests find where they need to be. Once they have signed in, the system can provide them with directions to find exactly where they need to be, and this can be very useful for first time visitors.

It can help address your visitors quickly

Leaving your visitors to wonder aimlessly through your lobby or reception is no way to create a welcoming environment. Using a visitor management system which can give recently signed-in visitors their ‘next step’ can reduce their anxiety in situations where they’re not sure where they’re supposed to go.

These next steps could be directions to the meeting room or waiting room, informing them of who they need to speak to like a receptionist and even direct them to important areas like facilities and cafeterias. This can help address each visitor as they arrive, reducing reception wait times and welcoming visitors instantly.

Furthermore, as soon as a guest signs in, an employee can be notified about their arrival and then greet the guest to make them feel welcome.

Security measures

A visitor management system helps you keep your workplace secure from unauthorised guests. You can utilise the system to pre-screen visitors, so you are confident that they are who they are claiming to be. This can help guests feel safe and secure whilst they are visiting your premises.

You can also run through the emergency evacuation process and notify visitors of the nearest emergency exits should they be required. This can also help them feel safe and aware of their surroundings.

Additionally, having staff regularly checking the reception area or hiring security guards can help employees and guests feel safe and comfortable at all times.

It gives them identification

Especially in larger organisations, visitors can often feel as if they don’t belong or that the person that they’re there to see, won’t be able to find them in a room full of people, so providing them with a custom visitor badge can ease this tension.

VMFree’s custom visitor badges can include the visitors name, picture, what type of visitor they are (family and friends, potential hire, deliveries and more) and even the date of their visit. You can also customise the look of your visitor badges to add your companies branding and logo.

To make it easier for a visitor’s return visit, you can save templates for your custom visitor badges so you wont have to create a new one each time, just will just need to change the date of the visit and maybe the reason for their visit.

Welcoming visuals

No matter if your visitors sign in through a physical terminal or on their phone, they should have an easy warm welcome. If visitors are signing in on a physical terminal or even at reception, ensuring it is easily accessible is important, this means having adequate signage and putting it in an accessible area, preferably close to the entrance of your premises.

Allowing visitors to sign in on the app gives them opportunity to sign in ahead of time, this means it will reduce time stood around or wondering where to go. Signing in on the app allows visitors to read your policies ahead of time and also allows them to see where they need to go before even entering the building.

Welcoming environment

Your reception area should be warm and inviting for all guests for a good first impression. It should be on brand colours, well-lit, clean and have space for guests to take a seat whilst waiting to be greeted.

You can even go the extra mile with your reception area by providing guests with light snacks and refreshments should they require these. They may have had a long journey so a refreshment may be greatly appreciated. Furthermore, to create a positive and relaxing environment you could select an appropriate playlist and aroma which go hand in hand.

How can VMFree help?

VMFree is a free visitor management system that has a wide range of features to help you manage and welcome visitors to your business including, custom visitor badges, visitor tracking, staff management and an accompanying sign in/out application.

If you would like to learn more about VMFree and how it can provide your business with new ways to manage staff and visitors, please contact us today!

Emergency

How can visitor management systems help with emergency evacuations?

In the event of an emergency, it’s important that safety procedures are carried out quickly and efficiently. Knowing who is present in the building and their location during an evacuation can help emergency services find missing people and safely clear the building.

Visitor management systems are known for being a versatile way to track and manage the people entering your business premises, but did you know that they can help in an emergency evacuation?

Evacuation lists

In situations without any visitor management systems in place, you can never account for everyone in the building. Using a visitor management system can provide you with a list of people currently in the building and their last known location.

Because guests are required to sign in and out when they enter and leave the premises, you can get an accurate evacuation list that you can use to mark people as safe and make emergency services aware of people who are still in the building.

Cloud based system

In an emergency, a cloud-based visitor management system can save you precious time. If you’re using logbooks or electronic management systems, you might be unable to access the list of people in the building if you have been evacuated.

With a cloud-based visitor management system, you can access your evacuation list on your phone by logging in to your system on the application. Cloud based visitor management systems also allow you to access your data while offline so you can obtain the important data you need without being connected to the internet.

Coordination

In an emergency, it’s vital that you provide responders with as much information as you can so they can do their job to their best ability. Being able to provide emergency responders with a list of people who are still not accounted for, and their last known location will allow them to prioritise getting people safely out of the building without having to search every department for them. This could potentially save lives.

Visitor evacuation lists can provide responders with the number of employees and visitors that are still unaccounted for, the areas they’re located and additional information that could help authorities.

Visitor photographs

With many visitor management systems, they use visitor registrations that allow people to attach an image to their account or visitor badge. This can be especially useful to emergency responders as it can help them easily identify people during a search and mark them as safe when they’re out of the building.

Sign out

Some visitor management systems allow visitors and employees to sign out on a mobile app allowing you to get an accurate read of how many people are in the building. It is important to remind visitors and employees to only sign out once they are leaving the building.

This can prevent confusion during an emergency, for instance if a visitor hasn’t signed out and is under the impression they are still present within the building, emergency responders will not know for certain if a certain person needs searching for.

Access to contact information

During the visitor registration process, visitors will be able to add contact information. This can be especially helpful getting in contact with people who are not accounted for to find out if they are safe or if they need assistance. Being able to contact the people in the building will also give emergency responders a better understanding of the situation developing inside the building.

How can VMFree help?

VMFree is a free visitor management system with a wide range of useful features to help your business thrive. Our visitor tracking feature allows you to create a real time report of who is on site and mark each one as safe in the event of an emergency. To learn more about our features or to discuss what you’re looking for in a visitor management system, please contact our expert team today!

Team

How can custom visitor badges enhance visitor experience

Custom visitor badges are a great tool for many businesses looking to keep track of the people entering their premises, but they have many more benefits.

Visitor badges are a versatile tool for the workplace to increase security, branding and to even encourage conversations between people attending their events.

In this blog we’ll discuss what custom visitor badges are, why people use them and how they can enhance your visitors experience at your business.

What are custom visitor badges?

Custom visitor name badges are a way for organisations to keep track of who is inside their building at all times! They’re a great visual aid to easily identify who is signed in and who isn’t. These badges keep unauthorised people from slipping through and causing potential chaos.

Custom visitor badges can be customised to include important factors including:

  • Their photograph
  • The reason for their visit
  • The date and time of their visit
  • Who they’re visiting
  • Your companies branding
  • QR codes for validation

What are custom visitor badges used for?

Custom visitor badges can be used in various types of organisations including schools, offices and even manufacturing facilities. Regardless of whether your workplace is home to a small or large number of people, visitor badges can be a key reassurance for staff and members of the public.

Safety

Regardless of your workplace the safety of everyone who operates in and out of your premises should be a priority. From teachers and pupils to contractors and maintenance workers, custom visitor badges can be an effective tool in enhancing these small security measures, especially if you experience various levels of foot traffic within your school or workplace.

If non-employees are given visitor badges, it allows your staff to easily identify who is authorised to be there and who isn’t. This can help prevent potential safety issues such as data breaches, theft and the safety of your staff.

Showing a form of identity at all times within your place of work can be an extension of your business uniform and will provide reassurance to parents, other staff members and visitors themselves, as they can also identify who is a staff member, and who isn’t.

Branding

Aside from security, investing in custom visitor badges can do a lot more than just identify your visitors, they can also reaffirm your branding! Adding your business’ colours, logo and other branding elements can create a professional and welcoming impression to visitors, it’s also a great conversation starter if your employees are out and about, representing your company.

Encourage networking

Talking of representing your company, visitor badges can also play a key role when it comes to networking. If you’re holding an event, ensuring that names, job titles and even company names are printed on the badge, not only keeps everyone safe, but it can prove to be a great icebreaker and encourage new conversations between groups.

Make it easy for visitors to check out

Ensuring that visitors can easily sign out is a must! This can help your staff identify who is in the building during potential emergencies such as fire alarms. You can customise your visitor badges to include sign out elements like QR codes so a visitor can scan their badge as they leave to notify your staff they are no longer on the premises.

Guiding visitors

When entering a new building it can get confusing finding the room you need to be in or finding the office of the person you’re trying to meet. Making sure your visitors don’t get lost or frustrated can be made easy with custom visitor badges. Customise visitor badges to have navigation information on that tell your visitors where their meeting is, what floor the office the department they’re visiting is on and even quick directions to facilities or cafeterias.

How can VMFree help?

VMFree is a free visitor management system with a wide range of innovative features to help your business thrive. If you’re looking to streamline your visitor management and enhance your visitor experience, please get in touch with our expert team who can walk you through our features and discuss your requirements!

Security

How can a visitor management system enhance your business security

Keeping your staff and business premises safe from potential threats and safety concerns is understandably very important to organisations. Finding innovative ways to streamline the process and make it easier to protect your business is on the rise, and one of those methods being visitor management systems.

Visitor management systems are a streamlined way to keep track of the people entering your business premises, allows staff to identify people in seconds and even gives the ability for visitors to sign in and out themselves.

In this blog, we’ll discuss what visitor management systems are and how they can enhance your business security efforts.

What is a visitor management system?

A visitor management system is exactly what it says on the tin, it’s a way for your business to keep track of visitors and staff that are entering your business premises. Although, they have a lot more features than just that.

You can use visitor management systems to track where your visitors are, create custom visitor badges and much more.

What are the ways it can improve your business security?

Visitor management systems can have an incredible impact on the security of your business premises and can help you to keep track of the people inside, which comes in very handy if there’s an emergency! An invaluable tool to have at your disposal, especially for schools and healthcare campuses.

Visitor badges

Visitor badges give your staff a way to easily identify people inside your business within seconds. Visitor badges can be customised to include the visitors name, job title, visit date and don’t forget your business branding and logo. Visitor badges can also include an identification picture so you can easily identify the holder of the badge and ensure it is the person it was assigned to.

Access control

Visitor management systems have a range of handy access control solutions including scannable additions to your visitor badges. This could be applied by only allowing visitors access to the department they’re visiting and won’t allow them access to other parts of the building.

Emergency evacuations

In an emergency situation, it is important to know exactly who is in the building in real time. Visitor management systems allow you to see who has signed in and out and allow you to track where visitors are in the building. In the event of an emergency, a visitor management system can allow you to mark everyone in the building as safe.

GDPR compliance

Ensuring that your business is GDPR compliant is very important. Our visitor management system, VMFree, ensures all data collected is done with GDPR in mind and includes visitor consent, protection and data transparency.

Why choose VMFree?

VMFree is a free visitor management software made with the business in mind. We have a wide range of features perfect for managing the people entering your premises including staff. To learn more about our features or to talk about your requirements, please contact our expert team today.

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5 benefits of a visitor management system

Visitor management systems have become a popular way for many businesses to keep track of people coming and going from their premises, but do you know about their other benefits?

Visitor management systems have a wide range of useful features that can help your business increase security, comply with data regulations, and even give a good first impression to the people entering your building.

1. Increased security

Visitor management systems can help your business to increase security and reduce security risks. When it comes to unauthorised people in your building, visitor management systems can help you create custom visitor badges so your staff can easily identify people who are supposed to be there. This can reduce potential risks such as data breaches, theft and more.

2. Good first impressions

When a visitor first enters your business, it’s important that they get a good first impression. Using a visitor management system can ensure that they get signed in quickly without having to wait around for a receptionist to be available.

Another way that visitor management systems can give visitors a good first impression is allowing visitors to register before they even arrive on site. This can give them adequate time to read your policies, complete their details and even take a photo for use on their visitor badge. 

3. Employee monitoring

Being able to actively monitor your staff is one addition to visitor management systems that many businesses find useful. They allow you to keep track of where your staff are, the hours they’re working and even allows you to see when they leave. This can be great to monitor the attendance of staff and even calculate holiday entitlement and overtime.

4. Data compliance

GDPR has rightfully made a lot of businesses more careful with their data and having a visitor management system requires handling more personal data about your visitors and staff. However, visitor management software is built with data compliance in mind. Here at VMFree, we use cloud-based data storage to ensure the security of staff and visitor data, so you don’t have to use outdated systems like filing cabinets and old software.

5. Reduces waste

Many businesses are trying to reduce the amount of waste they produce, and a visitor management system can help! Traditional visitor management processes often require paper forms for visitors to fill out their information and the reason they’re here. With a visitor management system, this becomes obsolete as you can do it all from the software or on the mobile app.

This can also be useful for administrators where a visitor wants their data changed or erased, instead of searching through files of paper, you can just find their data on the cloud-based system with their name or reference number and make the necessary changes.

Why choose VMFree?

VMFree is a free visitor management software with a wide range of useful features including custom visitor badges, staff management, visitor tracking, contactless sign in and much more. To learn more about our features or to discuss your requirements, please contact our expert team today.