whosonlocation white paper visitor management

White Paper

whosonlocation.com © WhosOnLocation Limited, All Rights Reserved.

Key insights and reasons to implement visitormanagement

White Paper


Contents Introduction 3

Five reasons to implement a system 4

White Paper


3 IntroductionIn most countries knowing who is on-site is a matter of compliance as well as good practice for managing evacuations in an emergency. Having a guest book, guest sheet, or a PC-based guest label printer doesn’t mean you’re compliant. You need to consider all the implications when looking for a people management solution.

Learning from experience

The founder and CEO of WhosOnLocation has visited many customers and sites all over the world. They range from; corporate offices, warehouses, manufacturing plants, storage facilities, government departments, universities, branch offices, retail outlets, wind farms, and dams. Darren has waited at many security gates and reception areas for his host and has great insights of how organizations manage their guest experience.

From these experiences, he’s discovered most organizations use one of the following processes:

2 out of 10 did nothing: The receptionist asks who he’s visiting and advises him to take a seat while they track down the host.

2 out of 10 have sign-in: The reception or security gate team have him sign a guest sheet on a clipboard, assume he is who he is, and asks him to take a seat while they track down the host.

3 out of 10 have branded sign-in books: The reception or security gate team have him sign their paper-based sign-in book/register, assume he is who he is, and asks him to take a seat while they track down the host.

1 out of 10 have a phone host register: There is no receptionist or security gate and he’s directed by a ‘Sign’ to look up the extension number of his host (normally printed on a laminated sheet hanging beside a phone) and to call them to announce his arrival.

1 out of 10 have a guest label printer: Some organizations have purchased a label printer to issue guests with personalized guest labels.

White Paper


4 Five reasons to implement a system1. You need to have a record of who is at your site

Organizations throughout the world are obligated under various Acts and Regulations to ensure the safety of people while on-site. Unless you have a robust process for reporting on non-staff presence in real-time, it’s difficult to demonstrate compliance.

From our own experiences we’re seeing an increase in global demand for comprehensive, on-demand reporting about who is on-site at all locations. Even if regulatory compliance is not an issue for your firm, avoiding legal liability is. Failure to provide a safe workplace is a lot harder to prove if a company has taken reasonable steps to provide access and visit or control.

Consider the following when looking for a visitor management solution

• Do you have a robust process for reporting on non-staff presence in real-time?

• Does your organization ask guests to prove who they are? What credentials are considered acceptable? What action is taken for exceptions?

• Does your organization have a ‘banned’ items list? If a guest has a ‘banned’ item, how is it dealt with?

• What zones or areas of the site can a guest access? Will an escort be required for other areas?

• Are you required to record if the guest needs assistance to evacuate the site?

• Who is responsible for escorting a guest from the site in the event of an emergency?

• Can employees pre-register a guest or must they be approved by a line manager first?

• Does your evacuation plan include tracking of guests?

• Does your organization operate in an environment that may expose guests to hazards?

• Are you breaching any privacy laws by using a paper-based system that allows other guests to see other guest records?

White Paper


5 Five reasons to implement a system (continued)

2. Your guest information should be confidential

Often overlooked is the privacy of your guests and contractors. A hardcopy guest book is an invaluable source of information. A glance at any page can tell quite a story about the deals a company is pursuing or what competitors may be bidding on a job. In the case of a multi-tenant facility, these privacy concerns can create a real liability for the landlord that can outweigh the need for security.

By using an electronic visitor management system your guest is only seeing their own details. Keeping all other information confidential.

3. A guest book is inefficient and looks unprofessional

When was the last time you looked at your guest book? Are all the names legible? Are all the fields filled in? How about the arrival and departure times? If your procedure calls for verifying identity with a driver’s license, can you prove the procedure was followed? What about the logs themselves? Do you know where all old logs are? Has anyone “accidentally” removed a page? Are there back-up copies off-site? Are you gathering all the data you require, or are you limited by the log you use and the time it takes to fill it out? How long does it take you to search through the data to find the entries you need?

If you are not sure about the answers to any of these questions, stop and think about the risk to your company if an incident does occur. An electronic visitor management solution can solve all of these issues.

White Paper


6 Five reasons to implement a system (continued)

4. Your guests are your customers

A key reason companies are moving to visitor management solutions is the impression it makes on their customers. The kiosk and/or the badges look professional. And the guest experience leaves the right impression.

Having the capability to allow the guest to self-register is another feature that many visitor management solutions have. Even if it’s followed up with an ID verification and printing a badge, the overall process will be faster and more reliable.

In the event of an emergency, it’s your responsibility to ensure that all employees and guests are safe. Guests represent a significant issue since they’ll have no idea what the proper evacuation procedures are. Additionally, you need to ensure no guests remain inside with your assets while they are unsupervised.

While guests can be accounted for using a paper log, the log must be available at marshalling points outside, and the information it contains must be correct. Both assumptions are easier to accomplish with an electronic visitor management solution.

5. So much more than logging your guests in

Visitor management solutions have capabilities far beyond those of the paper log, and those features can make an enormous difference in your overall security. Take for example, the ability for staff to pre-register guests. This capability is becoming very popular in the government and corporate sector. It allows reception or security to ‘view’ a list of who is due on-site that day. If it is the policy of your organization to pre-authorize all guests, pre-registration capability by staff is crucial and impossible with a guest log book.

Logging meetings, dates and attendees can also be very useful in disputes over intellectual property. In the case of manufacturing or process plants, executing a general release helps the company avoid liability for accidents by making it clear the guest knew the risks of being on premises. If your company is like many that I visit, maybe it’s time to have another look at the way you manage guests. Not only can you improve security, make your investigations easier and lower your risk, but you have a real chance to enhance your company’s image with its customers.


About WhosOnLocationWhosOnLocation is the leading provider of proven, cloud-based people presence management software.

We service clients around the world including the government, manufacturing, financial services, corporate, utilities, energy, construction, health, high–security, and education sectors.

Victoria ArmstrongDarren Whitaker–Barnett

International contact

+64 (0)4 891 0886 +64 (0)27 4282 987 [email protected] @WhosOnLocation

+64 (0)4 891 0886 +64 (0)21 241 7169 [email protected] @WhosOnLocation

Operations SenseiTrusted Advisor to Customers

1800 501 1761 0808 189 1412 800 387 7031 1300 106 541 04 891 0886

White Paper

whosonlocation white paper visitor management

Software