Blog

The worst reasons for not having a visitor management plan

by Paul Kazlauskas

No matter the size, location, or number of employees a facility has, all schools, businesses, and healthcare facilities have an obligation to have a visitor management plan in place. The visitor management plan can be as simple as a visitor sign-in book to as complex as an electronic visitor management system. The inclusion of visitor badges, to be worn while at the facility, is a key success factor to identify all non-employees at any facility. Regardless of the technique chosen, it is important to know who is, and was, in a building at any given time. Below are some of the worst excuses for not having a visitor management plan in place.

“We know all the visitors that come into the building”
Some smaller schools, businesses, and healthcare facilities may in fact know every visitor who comes to their building. However, what if one of those well-known visitors decides to steal money from unattended purses or takes equipment? It is important to document who comes to the facility on a daily basis. When an unfortunate event occurs, knowing who was in the building will give authorities a place to start their investigation. Without an audit trail of visitor activity, it will be much harder to figure out who is responsible for an unfortunate event. Visitor management is an important safeguard to take even for the visitors you think you know very well. No facility is too small to know who is in their building at any given time.

“Some visitors are bothered by having to be registered”
This is an especially common complaint from schools, but it also happens in business and healthcare facilities. In schools, some parents may be annoyed at having to sign-in or be registered since they have been there many times before or they may feel like the title of “visitor” doesn’t apply to them since they are a “parent”. In this day and age, anyone who visits a facility needs to have the expectation of being registered as a visitor. It is for the safety of everyone at the facility (employees, teachers, students, patients, etc.) and not to single out anyone in particular. This is done as a security practice and being registered shouldn’t be taken personally as an indication of suspicion.

“We have other security measures in place such as locked doors, cameras, and security guards”
Visitor management is not meant to be the be-all and end-all in facility security. It is meant to be used in conjunction with other security protocol such as locked doors, CCTV cameras, and security guards. All aspects of a facility’s security plan have things they do well individually and when used together, help make a building safe and secure.

“We’re covered because we have a receptionist”
While most schools have a receptionist, the role of the dedicated receptionist is in decline in many business and healthcare facilities. Fewer buildings across America have someone dedicated to sitting at the front desk. Many times, an organization places an individual near the front door to act as a de facto receptionist even though they may be an accountant, office manager, or work in human resources. Since these people have other responsibilities, they are distracted dealing with visitors every time someone new comes in the front door. The productivity loss associated with additional workplace distractions make the “near-the-door employees” approach an inefficient use of money compared to instituting a visitor management system.

In addition, even if a facility does employ a full-time receptionist in the lobby and doesn’t document the visitors that come in, that person’s memory of visitor activity is all investigators will have to go by in case something is stolen or someone is hurt. These already distracted employees could have a hard time remembering key visitors, events, or details that could aid in a successful investigation, no matter what negative event happened.

Regardless of the size, layout, and type of work a facility does, it is important to have a policy for documenting visitors and a visitor management plan.

eVisitor Software is a stand-along visitor management systems that can affordably increase your facility security and help you always know who is in your building. eVisitor makes it easy for facilities to log, identify, track, and run reports on visitors. Watch this video to learn more, then request a free demo today!

Schedule a demo of eVisitor Software for Visitor Management

Posted on 11/28/2023