How to maximize your visitor management system

Any time a company adds a new workplace technology to the everyday flow of business, there’s going to be a period of adjustment. Company-wide adoption is going to depend on how much value employees think the new technology brings to their jobs. And they’re going to judge that value by how much they can do with it right away.

If a visitor management system is the latest advancement in your company’s workplace experience, you’ll find that the more experiences that employees can get with it, the more they’ll come to rely on it and love it. That’s why the first few months are so crucial to success.

Get the message: let everybody know what visitor management can do

As the saying goes, first impressions count. But, given the right opportunity, anyone can see that a visitor management system is so much more than a notification service. Let everybody take it for a spin. Make sure that everyone (not just front-desk staff) sees first-hand what it has to offer. Hold an all-hands meeting and demonstrate how visitor management helps everyone.

These are just a few examples of ways to get employees excited about using the visitor management system:

• Take employees through the sign-in process. Let everyone see what visitors see—the sign-in screen, the information collected, and how the camera works.
• Set up a mock meeting. Have everyone invite some pre-programmed avatars to a meeting within their email or messaging system so everybody see what happens next as meeting management takes the helm.
• Notify employees that their “guest” has arrived. Seeing a real-time notification makes an enormous impression, especially if employees are together and notifications come to everyone’s phones and laptops at the same time.
• Send everybody a “package”: Ask employees to imagine that they’re waiting for an important delivery. Then, send a “delivery notification” so everyone can experience the process at the same time, in their own way. It’ll send a powerful message that the workplace experience may be different for everyone, depending on their needs—and you’ve thought about how to address that.

Emphasize the impact of visitor management on the workplace experience 

Whether employees have been with the company for many years, or if they’re used to frequent job changes, they know that how they’re treated during the interview process and during onboarding sets the stage for their expectations for their entire tenure. Having an effective visitor management system is the first step in a “people first” culture. More and more companies understand that in order to attract and retain employees, they have to treat them the same way they would treat their customers, noted Forbes Magazine.

Why? CIO.com explains that candidates and other visitors are customers. A good experience as a visitor translates into a positive view of the company, a higher likelihood of accepting an offer, or becoming a client. Personal interaction and friendly service go a long way toward providing that people-first workplace experience that everybody wants.

Sure––but what else can a visitor management system do?

If you’re a typical office worker, says The Muse, you spend between 35% and 50% of your day in meetings. Though no one is in love with meetings, there are things you can do to make them easier. The pain points around meetings go so much further than just their frequency. Your employees will be surprised to learn how many of these points visitor management can heal:

• “Is it you?” Have you ever experienced being called into the lobby to greet someone you’ve never met in person? If there are a lot of people waiting at the same time, it can be uncomfortable—especially if you pick the wrong person. Visitor management systems send you a photo of the person you need to meet along with the notification, so you can connect with visitors with ease.

• “Oh, we’re being kicked out of this room.” You’re all spread out, you have a video conference going, and at the top of the hour, your meeting is invaded. The meeting room raiders have the room booked for this time. But wait, you think, so do I. How did this happen? Using a visitor management system integrated with work calendars helps you secure your meeting room for the right number of people, and for the right amount of time, all within the invite.

• “May I please have the wi-fi password?” That’s a sticky question, isn’t it? Do you want visitors to have that password? Do you want them on your system? Will they be able to access your secure wi-fi forever? Unless you make it abundantly clear, employees won’t know that the visitor management system can provision a temporary wi-fi password that provides secure access, but keeps visitors away from privacy-sensitive files. The password will expire when the visitor checks out, so there’s no chance of a breach.

• “Before we start, is all your paperwork in order?” Too often, meetings start with a barrage of forms and signatures. Meeting agendas, safety regulations, NDAs, interview schedules, and other legal documents are a necessary part of meeting management, but they eat into meeting time. Not only that, but starting conversations this way doesn’t exactly scream ‘hospitality.’ A visitor management system can take care of all of that before the meeting. Along with the invitation, the system can also automatically send the documents that require e-signatures. Visitors can return all the paperwork in advance of their visit for counter signature.

Driving a successful campaign to maximize employee adoption

Once you’ve held your launch event, there’s a myriad of things that you can do to keep the new system at the top of employees’ minds. Short video learning modules are always popular, and if your company has a learning management system, you can add these quick lessons to the collection. Consider gearing the videos to two audiences: employees at the front desk who interact with the system the most, and employees-as-customers, who will mostly feel the benefits of visitor management.

1. In-person training sessions where users share how they use the visitor management system:  Who are your power users? What are their favorite tips and tricks? Let your top users serve as ambassadors and models for the rest of the employees. They can speak at an internal meeting, all-hands, or in smaller staff meetings. This method gives people a chance to learn and ask questions in a live and more intimate session. These types of meetings also demonstrate the company’s commitment to visitor management, and office automation in service to people first.  
2. Keep the communication flowing: By email, by Slack, by user groups, posters, and dynamic screens, keep the new visitor management system top-of-mind among employees. Create or add to a newsletter and tell success stories and employee and visitor testimonials about how other employees are using the system for effective meeting management. Use your company’s internal social media to write and encourage posts things that make or break a workplace experience, and ensure that visitor management is high on the list.

Adoption of new workplace technology is never easy, but if you’re regularly sending messages about hospitality, efficiency, delivery, and most of all, making meetings more productive, you can shorten the transitional period, maximize its usage and features, and turn even skeptics into ardent fans.

Want to know even more tips on how to make the most of your visitor management system? Get the ebook about how it can help your workplace be more compliant.