Employees in a commercial lobby

How to Establish a Secure Visitor Management System

Safeguarding your premises and protecting your assets is paramount for any business. With the constant flow of visitors, contractors, and employees, maintaining physical security can be a complex challenge. This blog explores the importance of visitor management as a cornerstone of comprehensive facility protection.

Strong physical security is essential for protecting your people, property and assets. It helps to:

  • Control access —  ensure only authorized individuals can enter your premises
  • Prevent unauthorized entry — deter criminals and thwart social engineering attempts
  • Safeguard your infrastructure — protect against physical tampering and sabotage

You’re already investing in and focusing on robust digital security; it makes sense to expand that to physical security and visitor management systems.

What Is Visitor Management?

Visitor management is the systematic process of controlling and monitoring access to your premises. By effectively managing who enters your facility, you can enhance security, improve efficiency and protect your assets. Visitor management is a vital part of your Identity and Access Management (IAM) security. 

A robust visitor management system encompasses several key functions:

  • Visitor identification and verification — accurately capturing and confirming visitor details
  • Access control — granting appropriate permissions based on visitor status and purpose
  • Visitor tracking — monitoring visitor movement within the facility for security and operational purposes
  • Data management — storing visitor information for future reference and compliance

What Are the Different Types of Visitor Management Systems?

There are several different types of visitor management systems. Although some of these are locally installed, businesses are increasingly moving to cloud-based IAM.  A cloud-based visitor management approach has several advantages, including:

  • Easy integration across your various security solutions — often compatible with current business processes and tools, this eliminates the need to rip and replace and allows for continuous updates to integrate best practices and remove vulnerabilities (latest version always, no installation required)
  • Allows you to get up and running quickly
  • After initial configurations are crafted around current business processes, simple configuration is done on an as-needed basis
  • Reduced upfront cost for implementation compared to a local install 

Most companies seeking a visitor management solutions will also want integration into other business processes or aspects of their overall IAM solution, for example:

What Are the Benefits of Visitor Management Systems?

An integrated visitor management system allows you to provide a low-friction, high-security environment that supports your business and brand while protecting your premises and systems. You can:

  • Create high-quality visitor experiences and keep wait times to a minimum through automating visitor management 
  • Allow visitors to easily check in at self-service kiosks
  • Configure each experience according to the unique factors of each visitor and what they require access to
  • Easily manage regulations, from security protocols to risk management and external compliance requirements
  • Set simple or detailed visitor access rules and policies and implement them quickly and easily
  • Understand exactly how visitors are using your facilities and get alerts if anything unusual is happening

How Do I Choose a Strong Visitor Management System?

Selecting the right visitor management system requires careful consideration. Look for solutions that offer:

  • Convenient check-in — touchless options like self-service kiosks can streamline the process
  • Real-time communication — instant notifications keep hosts informed
  • Customization — flexible workflows to adapt to your specific needs
  • Pre-planning — pre-registration options for efficient management
  • Data insights — comprehensive reporting to track visitor activity
  • Identity verification — tools for secure visitor identification
  • Threat prevention — integration with watchlists for enhanced security

By considering these features, you can choose a system that effectively manages visitors while protecting your facility. For more guidance on choosing a visitor management system, read our executive brief, Visitor Management: A Guide to Selecting and Employing a New Solution.

Visitor Management Solutions from HID 

HID Visitor Management Solutions offer a range of powerful yet flexible visitor management options for your busy lobby. Organizations big or small can provide a great first impression to visitors and manage extended identities for contractors and vendors. Create a total view of who’s in your facilities by connecting your identity, HR and other systems through a wide range of integration options. With 25 years of experience in the visitor management space, you can trust HID as your partner to position your organization for long-term success.

Kate Kim brings over 15 years of experience in access control and visitor management spaces. For the last five years, Kate has provided product marketing and product management leadership for HID Visitor Solutions and EasyLobby. Prior to joining HID, she led a global team responsible for card access and front lobby support across a variety of environments at Target Corporation. She is based in Minneapolis, MN.