How to safely welcome guests with touchless visitor management

As offices and other workplaces begin to reopen, everyday occurrences, such as signing in visitors, will need to evolve to meet the new requirements brought on by COVID-19. By implementing a touchless visitor management system, along with other touchless building features, facility managers will be able to reduce the risk of virus transmission in the workplace.

We’ve put together some actionable tips you can use to manage your visitor operations and keep your workforce safe.

Why go touchless?

Before we jump in, let’s first discuss why a touchless visitor management system is such an important factor in workplace repopulation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) current evidence suggests that Covid-19 may remain viable for hours to days on a variety of surfaces. Enforcing proper hygiene and maintaining social distance is therefore a necessity for employers planning to reopen their facilities, making touchless workplace solutions more essential than ever before. Although touchless visitor management isn’t a new concept, technology has improved rapidly as a result of the current pandemic. New features, such as app integrations and detailed data analytics, provide a more seamless, secure experience than systems of the past.

Touchless technology has more to offer than improved hygiene and safety. It’s also a way to show that your business is forward-thinking and responsible. After all, first impressions matter, and your visitor management system is likely the first thing guests and employees see when they walk through the door. Investing in technology to reduce high-touch areas is a simple way to protect your employees’ health and make returning to work a comfortable transition.

Reduce physical contact

Transmission of the coronavirus is more likely when people are in close proximity to one another. Continuing to use a sign-in system that requires in-person communication between visitors and your front desk staff may be putting both parties at risk of infection.

Adopting a touchless visitor management system not only eliminates the need for physical contact but also minimizes the time and resources required to sanitize the area.

Opting for a touchless system allows guests to receive safety information before they arrive and later check-in from a self-service sign-in station. The information is automatically logged into your system and an alert is sent to the corresponding host who can provide further instructions if needed.

Asking relevant questions and sharing workplace safety guidelines prior to your visitors’ arrival can expedite the sign-in process and help reduce the risk of exposure by eliminating steps that typically occur on-site. For example, This will create a frictionless experience for visitors and reduce the risk of overcrowding lobbies and communal check-in areas.

Another benefit of establishing a touchless pre-arrival process is streamlining building access for visitors who need special facility permissions like building contractors and delivery people.

Here are some examples of questions you may want to include in your pre-arrival safety procedure:

• Have you recently been in contact with someone who has been either diagnosed with COVID-19 infection or anyone with flu-like symptoms?
• Have you or anyone in your household experienced flu-like symptoms in the last two weeks?

Disinfect the sign-in area

Although implementing a touchless visitor management system will significantly reduce the number of touchpoints in your visitor flow, frequent disinfection of high-traffic areas is a vital aspect of creating a safe workplace for guests and employees.

If your visitor management process includes a kiosk or touchscreen, you will need to wipe it down regularly with an alcohol-based cleaning solution. You may also want to place hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and any other personal hygiene items next to the physical check-in system so guests can have easy access to them.

Integrate with other systems

While it is unclear when the majority of workers will return to the office, it is evident that employers must be prepared with a multitude of safety measures to ensure their employees will stay healthy. An ideal touchless visitor management solution should work seamlessly with your other touchless building systems, such as room booking, HVAC, and lights. Not only will this enhance the overall experience for your visitors, but it will also make managing and maintaining your tools more simple and lower installation costs.

The integration of other systems will provide facility managers with a complete picture of all their building analytics which can be used for contact tracing, improving energy efficiency, and maintaining social distancing guidelines.

Are you preparing to reopen your office to employees? We would love to hear from you. Let us know on Twitter or email us at info@tellroby.com.

Originally published at https://blog.tellroby.com.