Visitor Management System Best Practices

Visitor Management Best Practices

Visitor management system can be a tricky proposition depending upon the security considerations, volume of Visitors and entry-exit policy. Working with visitor management systems in many organizations over the years has given us tremendous insight, and we have tried to implement the following Visitor Management Best Practices in our installations.

KYV – Know Your Visitor

Security breaches are usually due to lack of vision, knowledge and advance planning. It’s vital to ensure the correct identity of a Visitor. Imposters should be identified before they can enter into our organization. Our visitor management system has multiple options to verify the correct identity of a Visitor

1. Trusted Identity proofs – Verification and storage of trusted identity proofs like – Passport, driving licence, Government National IDs, PAN card, Adhar Card etc. can correctly identify a Visitor. Trusted Visitor IDs should be stored in the system without exception. Our application checks and raises alerts for duplicity for enhanced security.
2. Proof Validity – Expired ID proofs should not be accepted.
3. Biometric Verification – Our systems store biometric signatures like Fingerprint, Iris and Face data to identify and verify visitors. This can help
   in identifying an offender from police or government records.
4. Mobile number Verification – Correct mobile number can help in tracing Visitors even after they have left the organization.
5. Visiting Cards – Scanning and storing visiting cards not only helps in automating data entry, it’s a reliable source of information to track Visitors and the organistion that they represent.
6. Visitor Signature – Visitor signature can be verified with the ID proof and should be stored in the system for future reference.

Better a known enemy than a fake friend

Visitors with prior appointment can be trusted. Only an authorized person from within the organization can invite them. There can be approval workflows for enhanced security, where appointments can be verified and approved by higher authorities. Your visitor software should have the following capabilities and follow Visitor Management Best Practices

1. Appointments – Only Authorised employees can raise an appointment requests. They need to fill in details like Visitor Name, address, email-id, Organization etc.
2. Appointment Approvals – Appointments are subject to approvals by higher authorities. There can me multiple levels of approvals like departmental head approves, then internal security department approves an appointment. The main security will process only the approved Appointments.
3. Authorizations for Walk-in Visitors – Some Originations allow only Visitors with prior appointment. Walk-in visitors are not allowed. Though it provided increased security, it may not be viable for everybody. Walk-in visitors should be authorized by Hosts electronically and the approval must be stored for future reference.
4. All approvals should be stored in the system for future reference and verification of ‘who approved whom’.

 
Identify and restrict the Black Sheep for Visitor Management Best Practices

Visitor management system should be able to identify visitors with dubious past records and should be stopped in their tracks. ‘Blacklist’ an offender and the system will identify blacklisted Visitors by any of their past IDs like Mobile number, biometric data (fingerprint, face or iris). An organisation can also be black-listed and no Visitor representing the organization should be allowed to enter by the system.

Visitor Discipline as Visitor Management Best Practices

Visitor management system should clearly inform visitors about rules and decorum to be followed while they in the organisation.

1. Visitor badge – Visitor Badges should clearly indicate details of the Visitor – Name, Photograph, Organisation, contact details etc. It should mention the rules and decorum to be followed while they are in the organisation.  
2. Badges should be signed by the Visitors as their acceptance to the rules of visiting your organisation.
3. Emergency Information – The badges should include information about what to do and whom to contact in case of emergency.
4. Hosts and Valid Locations should be clearly marked on the Visitor Badge for the internal security to identifying a straying Visitor.
5. Visitor Badges should be returned on Exit to prevent misuse of Visitor Badge.
6. Instructions for visitors – All important instructions like legal, safety, rights etc. should be clearly written in native language. The visitor management application should have possibility to offer a language that is most easily understood by the user.
7. Overstaying – Overstaying visitors and their hosts should be informed about the overstaying and appropriate action should be taken.
8. Meeting over – Hosts can declare ‘meeting over’ with Visitors. Visitors overstaying after the meeting should be questioned and appropriate action should be taken.
9. Safety Training – If your organization may pose safety issues for your visitor, it may be a good idea to impart safety training to Visitors. Whenever safety training is imparted to the visitors it should be recorded in the system with training date and validity.
10. Access control – Access cards can be provided to Visitors so that they get restricted access – based on the locations they need to visit. Visitor’s entry-exit at allowed locations should be stored in the database.
11. Material with the Visitor – Record the details and identification of material that the Visitor takes inside the organization. This should be verified at the time of exit. Allowing Material with the visitor can be based on an approval workflow. For e.g. – Mobile phones and Camera can be allowed for specific Visitors only if the host and internal security approve.

Charm your Visitors with Visitor Management Best Practices

The visitors to your organization, build a public perception about your organisation. Your visitors may include your future employees, VIPs, regulatory officers. It helps to make their visit memorable. Your visitor management system can help building a positive image of your organisation.

1. Inform your visitors about an appointment or a change in appointment by email and SMS.
2. Send a “Welcome Message” on their phone as they enter and a “Thanks for your visit” message as they leave your organization.
3. Have a “quick verification” and “pre-printed” Badges for those special guests and VIPs.
4. Print a single Pass for Group Visitors.
5. Visitor Self Registration – As the Visitors wait for their turn for verification, allow them to self-register on an Android or I-phone device. This not only is efficient and saves time & effort for the data entry operator, it can be an enthralling experience for the Visitor (especially while taking a selfie).

Analyze, Analyze, Analyze

The Devil lies in details. Data can tell a lot of stories. Patterns can forewarn about impending problems. Visitor management system should provide innumerable reports like

1. Who meets whom, how many times during the last month? Identify top 5 visitors and their hosts. It may indicate some unhealthy liaisons.
2. Identify habitual overstaying Visitors and analyse the cause.
3. Identify Visitors with “Missing Exits” and analyse the cause.
4. Check Visitor Entry-Exit Projection screen intermittently for exceptions.

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More Details

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For more information on Visitor Management Best Practices, please contact us on +91-989067793 or email.