COVID-19 puts focus on touchless, seamless visitor management systems

Enterprise visitor management systems will need to evolve to meet the new requirements generated by COVID-19. By integrating VMS with other building and workplace systems and introducing more touchless features, facility managers will be able to reduce the impacts of virus transmission.

Challenges for visitor management

Organizations are contending with an array of challenges when it comes to visitor management. One of the greatest challenges is the enforcement of entry and egress policies to meet complex, location-based enterprise risk management requirements, according to Brian Phillips, Director of Global Security Strategy at Traction Guest.

“Facilities must be more closely managed proactively according to the government regulations for each region and the level of risk tolerance for each organization at a given time. However, when implemented appropriately, visitor management systems have the ability to enable enterprises to get back to productivity safely and efficiently as visitors and employees return to the workplace,” he said.

Using touchless systems

Whether paper, touchscreen or keyboard, any physical interface has potential for cross contamination. With good hygiene at the forefront of the pandemic, touchless features are becoming more essential. Allowing visitors to sign in using their own devices rather than touching shared surfaces, will help limit opportunities for virus transmission.

Although touchless visitor management isn’t a new concept, it is definitely getting more attention now as a result of the current pandemic. Providing visitors QR codes for touchless sign-in and allowing visitors to check-in using their own devices without downloading a dedicated application can all help create a seamless, contactless experience.

Gregory Blondeau, CEO of Proxyclick noted that his company has seen a spike in demand for touchless visitor management systems, as iPad, tablet kiosks and other physical interfaces are being removed to avoid unnecessary contact with contractors and visitors.

Integrating with other systems

Creating a more seamless visitor management experience involves the integration of other systems, such as access control, parking and health checks.

For example, if a company chooses to implement temperature checking, the visitor management system should integrate with these tools to establish a standard procedure for responding to the results, explained Matt Harris, Head of Workplace Technology at Envoy.

Other integrations, such as access control systems and Wi-Fi networks, can automatically limit access to building resources before the necessary checks have been completed, Harris added. Access control logs will also provide facility managers with additional data for contact-tracing purposes.

Phillips further pointed to the importance of constant updates of travel advisory watchlists and evaluation of symptoms.

“With the widespread transmission and spread of the coronavirus, more and more countries are being moved up from lower risk travel advisory warnings to higher risk ones everyday. Organizations need to be conscious of the rapidly evolving situation to ensure they have accurate and effective coronavirus screening,” Phillips said.

Cloud-based visitor management

Adoption of digitized visitor management systems is growing; however, in the aftermath of COVID-19, visitor management will need to be even more efficient and flexible.

“Now more than ever, leadership teams need to maintain business continuity by setting procedures in place to maintain staff safety,” explained Blondeau. “This will drive further digitalization of the workplace, which should include using cloud-based software solutions to minimize worker health risks as much as possible.”

Advantages of cloud-based visitor management include easier integration with existing tools and technologies, remote access, less maintenance, high level of security and easier scalability.