What Is Lobby Tracking Software and Why Is It Important?

Executive Summary

• Numerous types of visitors come to your worksite, from customers, vendors, and job candidates to delivery persons and employees' families and friends.
• Lobby tracking software is a digital receptionist that checks your guests in, logs their data, and allows them to quickly achieve the purpose of their visit while maintaining your security requirements.
• Since an effective lobby visitor management system creates favorable impressions and maintains your visitors’ and employees' safety and security, it is crucial to know what features to look for to choose the right one for your organization.

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If you want to improve your workspace safety and security, welcome guests professionally, and collect relevant information to take your business to the next level, lobby management software might be all you need. With several advantages over the traditional, manual check-in system, this virtual receptionist system provides organizations with all they need to fulfill their reception needs, maintain workspace security, and improve the customer experience. It is no wonder that it is becoming increasingly popular among organizations that want to enhance productivity and simplify business processes.

If you are still not sold on the virtual receptionist trend, keep reading to learn more about this visitor monitoring system and how to choose the right one for your organization.

What Is Lobby Tracking Software?

Lobby Tracking Software is a visitor monitoring system that works with tools specifically made to enforce your organization's visitor management policies. This electronic sign-in system automates the managing, tracking, and reporting of everyone who comes into your workspace while providing a fast and efficient reception for a satisfying customer experience.

This reception software welcomes, registers, monitors, and directs guests' movement within your business premises while providing a host of other benefits your organization can utilize.

Why Is Lobby Tracking Software Important?

Many guests come to an average workplace on any given day – all for various reasons. The conventional method of welcoming visitors, logging their details, monitoring their movements, and processing their requests, while maintaining safety and security is costly and labor-intensive. Moreover, it is plagued by the lack of privacy, inefficiencies from human capital investments, and the inability to generate data to improve business processes.

Thanks to the introduction of modern digital receptionists like lobby management software, you can welcome guests, enforce your visitor management policies, and take your customers' experience to the next level. Lobby visitor management systems have proven to be more effective and efficient. If you're still debating the importance of this virtual receptionist management system, here are the things it can do for your organization:

• Welcome visitors entering your worksite professionally and create a great first impression about your organization.
• Track visitors' movements in your worksite and control access to the facilities within your workplace to keep it safe.
• Help to receive visitors anytime since it can work 24/7.
• Minimize time spent in a lobby by directing visitors to their destination and notifying hosts and team members about a guest's arrival and check-in completion.
• Enhance your workplace security by providing real-time information on who is currently on-site and logging visitors' data that may be useful for performing immediate background checks.
• Speed up business processes and improve workplace safety by reducing visitors' and employees' exposure to infectious diseases like COVID-19.
• Reduce operational costs by removing the need for a guard or receptionist.
• Improve productivity by limiting distractions and allowing your administrative staff to engage in more valuable activities by unshackling them from the front desk.
• Integrate with your physical security systems and other office management technologies to help your organization achieve its mission.
• Alert security, and prepare your business for emergencies and evacuation.
• Collect relevant data to improve your business processes and take your customers' experience to the next level.
• Ensure compliance with all your organization's rules and legal requirements.

Features of the Best Lobby Tracking Software

There are many lobby visitor software on the market. While they all capture critical information, check visitors in, and inform the host employees of their guest's arrival, they offer different functions and features. Thus, before you consider a visitor sign-in app, it must meet your organization's needs with features like:

Easy to Use

Since not all people entering your business organization are tech-savvy, you need a visitor registration app that everyone can easily use. Choose a receptionist management system that is clear, responsive, and intuitive, allowing even first-time visitors to navigate the sign-in process like a pro. 

Alert Notifications That Match Each Employee's Preferences

Employees have different alert notification preferences. Some prefer phone calls, while others prefer SMS, emails, or corporate instant messaging apps like Teams, Slack, or Google Chat for reception alerts. Since you'd love to reach all your employees on their smartphones, you should choose a visitor logging system that offers various options and unlimited text messages to notify each employee about their guest's arrival.

Multilingual Check-In Options

Guests have different language preferences. Choose a customizable visitor sign-in app to give your visitors the option to display the virtual receptionist in the language of their choice.

Preregistration and Repeat Visitor Recognition

You want your guest sign-in process to be as fast and painless as possible. Look for a lobby visitor monitoring system that allows you to preregister expected guests ahead of their arrival. Once a visitor comes into your workplace, the system should also be able to store their details to recognize a returning visitor and expedite the check-in process, most commonly by creating a unique QR code for that visitor. That means they won't have to start from scratch each time they come to your worksite.

Guest Photo Capture

Choose a lobby visitor management system that captures guest images during check-in and stores them in your cloud-based visitor logbook. These images are handy for recognizing and greeting visitors or when someone tries to access your business premises with forged credentials.

Visitor Badges

Printing guests' photos on accompanying visitor badges will help all your employees to know, at a glance, who the visitors and their hosts are and when they checked in. This helps to ensure your workplace safety and security.

Legal Document Electronic Signature Capture

Do you discuss confidential information in your workplace or host events where attendees need to sign a legal waiver or request a non-disclosure agreement? If yes, choosing a receptionist management system that captures electronic signatures and holds information on who signed in, where, and when they signed can help streamline the process.

Cloud-Based Visitor Logbook With Secure Data Storage

Your preferred visitor monitoring system should have a visitor logbook to maintain a record of every visitor who checks in and leaves. This logbook will store the reason for the visit, visitors' photos, eSigned documents, time in and out, host employee, and other details that can help improve your workplace security and customer experience.

However, the visitor logbook should maintain privacy and prevent data theft by securing captured information like it's their own. It should also be cloud-based and available from any web-enabled device so employees with authorization can access it from their computers or phone during an emergency, like an evacuation.

Temperature Screening and Contactless Visitor Check-In

You want to protect your employees and visitors and keep COVID-19 and other illnesses out of your workplace. Choosing a lobby tracking software with check-in features like facial recognition, temperature screening, QR code, and face mask detection will go a long way to help you achieve that. It will also help avoid the physical handling of paper documents, eliminate queues, and prevent access to employees or visitors that do not meet your workplace safety requirements.

Access Control

Suppose you want to prevent visitors or contractors from wandering off to restricted areas without hiring more workers to escort them. In that case, you should look for lobby management software with an access control feature. This will allow you to sign in visitors and only grant access to specific areas in your workplace even when you're out of the office.

ID Scanning and Watchlist Features

The ID scanning features make visitor verification and identification effortless by accurately capturing their information from a government-issued ID card. The watchlist feature improves threat visibility and protection. It also allows you to create a custom watch list for specific types of visitors and share their data with law enforcement agencies like Interpol or the FBI.

Seamless Integration With All Your Tools

Choosing a lobby visitor management system that works with all your existing tools without requiring expensive hardware and gadgets is essential to maximize efficiency and reduce cost. Since it's a productivity app, it must save you time by integrating seamlessly with your existing tools and system so you don't have to change them to accommodate the new software. It should also provide almost unlimited functionality, feed data to your CRM software, and sync employees with your directory services software.

Conclusion – Selecting an Efficient Lobby Management Software Is the Key to Workplace Productivity

Lobby tracking software is crucial to any business or organization that wants to welcome guests professionally, create a good impression, improve security and generate data to improve customer experience. This visitor management software automates the process of receiving, managing, and monitoring visitors that come into your organization's premises. However, selecting the right one is vital to improve productivity, ensure efficient visitor reception, and other great benefits for your organization.

Select an electronic sign-in system that is easy to use, has top-notch security, works well with your existing system and other services, and includes a preferred guest notification for each of your employees. The software should be fully customizable, reasonably priced, offer unlimited capacity and access control, and not require expensive hardware or a specialist to run and maintain it.