How visitor management systems improve security in apartments and offices

A cloud-based visitor management system (VMS) integrated with access control can provide security and convenience for both commercial and residential facilities.
 
With an integrated VMS-access control system, clearance at certain entrance points can be given automatically after a visitor has checked in. This can be done through the issuance of a temporary RFID card or one-off fingerprint authentication to clear a turnstile, open a designated door or take the elevator to a certain floor.
 
Teh Ke Huan, Business Development Manager of TimeTec, which provides cloud-based security solutions, said a VMS could also use “auto facility management,” which automatically detects available meeting rooms and assigns a room based on the duration of the meeting and the number of attendees.
 
According to the company, TimeTec’s VMS provides “multiple reports for visitor analysis” so that commercial properties can “maintain high-levels of security and business analysis at all times.”

 

Steve Van Till, CEO of Brivo, a provider of access control solutions, said fully integrating a VMS with cloud-based access control was “obviously more effective.”

 “One of the big benefits to the security buyer in this case is that they can then have a single unified event database that comprises both standard access events plus visitor events.
 
“In the event of a security incident, this provides a complete, coherent activity history and speeds up the forensic process,” he said.

Residential application 

For residential applications, a VMS can detect and store the visitor’s license plate number and detect how long a visitor has stayed on site.

TimeTec’s VMS has an “anti-passback” feature that prevents a person from passing his or her entrance credentials to a second person.
 
Advanced residential VMSs come with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) functionality. Teh explains that unlike a commercial VMS — which only needs to recognize a few standard IDs — a residential VMS needs to identify many types of credentials, including both foreign and domestic passports and driver’s licenses and the IDs of construction workers.  

VMS robots 

Looking into the future, TimeTec has set out to build a robot with many VMS functionalities. Named Hubot, the robot is designed to automate the entire visitor management process in both residential and office settings, reducing manpower.
 
The robot can greet visitors by voice, and function as a self-check-in kiosk. The tablet mounted on the robot’s head can also enable video calls between visitors and tenants.
 
Visitor verification can be performed via fingerprint authentication. The robot is capable of OCR too, to authenticate a visitor’s ID card, passport or driver’s license. Tenants receive push notifications once their visitors have successfully checked in. The robot also integrates with hardware like smart turnstiles and smart doors, and can let visitors check out on its own.
 
“Hubot is designed to roam around, greet visitors and do a facial recognition to ask the visitor to register for the first time he visit this place. After the registration, Hubot will bring the visitor pass through the turnstile, and call down the lift and select designated floor for the visitor,” Teh said.