Remember walking into an office and having a receptionist ask you to fill out their paper visitor log book? That was about as advanced and had the privacy settings as a quill and parchment.
In today's modern office, sadly, the receptionist is gone. Fortunately, so is the paper sign-in sheet. In it's place is often... nothing. Smart offices though are adopting a digital visitor sign-in sheet. These visitor management systems offer many benefits to you and your organization's success.
Why You Must Use a Sign-in Sheet
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Recordkeeping. There are many reasons you might want to know exactly who is and has been, at your facility. Workplace security is one obvious example. It might help you recover a missing asset. Or your human resources department can use it to track interview candidate arrivals. More advanced companies are tracking asset utilization of every part of their workplace. A visitor management system helps these organizations collect data and reallocate space and resources.
In some cases, having a detailed visitor logbook is legally required. Governments and their contractors may require a list of all meetings and attendees to avoid fraud or abuse.
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Evacuation. We hope it never happens, and most likely it won't. You need to be prepared in advance though if disaster strikes. One of OSHA's emergency preparedness criteria is that you be able to account for everyone who was onsite.
Benefits of a Digital Sign-in Sheet
Modern office reception is a visitor check-in app. They offer countless opportunities for office automation, including:
- Reception notifications. A visitor registration app cannot just capture visitor information, it can send instant notifications - even Slack messages.
- Build your marketing database. Add visitors to your CRM database so you can follow-up.
- A digital sign-in sheet can be used at reception or as an event registration app and more. Visitors can be sent the right information based on why they came to your facility.
- All of this with no data entry, illegible entries and translation errors.
- Electronic signature app. Today's workplace security includes protecting data. A visitor check-in app can capture digital signatures on NDAs or other legal documents for every visitors, without turning your employees into an ad hoc legal department, or having a stack of paper documents to scan and file.
- Inexpensive. A digital receptionist does all of this for just a couple of dollars per day.
Conclusion
Regardless of what visitor management system you have in place today, a visitor sign-in sheet remains a vital element in your office's safety and security. Not the paper and pen technology throwback from the Madmen era. It now takes the form of an easy-to-use app that is preferred by visitors, hosts and executives alike.