5 Technologies to Consider When Implementing a Visitor Management System

To increase security, visitors should only have the ability to enter school buildings through the front door. If you’re looking to implement a visitor management system that can identify visitors at the front door before they even enter the building, you may want to look into installing an intercom system that requires visitors to buzz in to reception and identify themselves before being allowed access into the building. Valcom’s V-2901A, Universal Door Answering System pictured above is designed to provide voice paging with hands-free reply to a door speaker from a telephone location. With this technology, receptionists, security officers or office personal can communicate with the visitor and identify who they are and their reasoning for wanting to enter the building before unlocking the front door.

Storing visitor information in a safe and easily accessible space is important for managing visitors effectively. The more information schools know about each visitor, the safer their students and staff will be. However, schools need to have an efficient place to store this information. With data management software such as Data Management Inc.‘s eVisitorPass solutions, schools can log, identify, track, and run reports on visitors through their computers. The secure, cloud-based storage of data allows schools to easily access visitor data from any device with an internet connection. Included in the system is a printer to print adhesive visitor badges with the information needed to properly identify the visitor.

Identifying and tracking visitor’s whereabouts is vitally important to the safety of schools. Having the ability to physically see approaching visitors, as well as visitors walking inside of school buildings can greatly enhance security. When installed outside, security cameras such as Pelco’s Sarix IBP Series Environmental Bullet Camera pictured above can help physically identify visitors before they enter the school building. Wide-range security cameras can aid in identifying visitors long before they even approach the front door, helping schools stay on top of who is on school grounds, both inside and outside of the building.

Identifying visitors efficiently takes time. If you’re looking to speed up the process of checking visitors in once they’ve entered the building but still obtain all the vital information needed to properly identify the visitor, you may want to look into implementing a visitor management kiosk. A visitor management kiosk such as LobbyGuard’s Optio Kiosk pictured above takes photos of visitors, scans their licenses and IDs, creates visitor badges, tracks the visitor’s physical assets, performs background checks and much more. With an all-in-one visitor management solution such as a kiosk, schools can save time and money when implementing a visitor management system.

Once visitors are identified and granted access to school spaces, it is necessary they carry a badge that not only identifies who they are, but also where they should be within the building. While badges help to manage visitors, if they don’t expire, visitors can re-use badges and manipulate the visitor management system. If your school has frequent visitors throughout the day, you may want to look into software that creates badges with migrating ink technology. TEMPbadge expiring badges pictured above use migrating ink technology to slowly reveal a series of red lines or other visual indicators over a pre-determined period of time. These lines appear gradually and, when fully visible, provide a clear indicator that a visitor badge is no longer valid.