hotel receptionists wearing masks

How to Boost Employee Safety With Visitor Management

At the beginning of the pandemic, several HID customers, including Electronic Arts, Florida Power & Light, and Capital One Bank, talked with us about rapidly updating their visitor management systems with new visitor policies, workflows, wellness screening checks and compliance dashboards.

We wanted to hear from others, so we asked customers and businesses how they think the future workplace will operate. On average, 66% responded that the future of work would be hybrid — where employees can work both remotely and in the office. 

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return to work stats chart

 

The Approach to Workplace Security and Safety Is Changing

Now, workplaces are different. More employees than ever are working remotely, while some are back in the office. A fundamental shift has emerged, and the new workplace requires agility, flexibility and security. Businesses don't know if it's safe for employees to travel freely next week, or if they will need to tighten their workplace access policies tomorrow.

One of the biggest challenges in a hybrid working environment is effectively managing access and workplace security for everyone. There is a huge responsibility for businesses to maintain employee safety and ensure procedures are followed. At the same time, executives want to make sure operations stay compliant with rapidly changing rules and regulations — all while providing a welcoming and supporting atmosphere.

Visitor Management Systems Help Maintain Employee Safety

We're starting to see a converged physical and cybersecurity approach in how we treat employees and visitors. Visitor management systems already deployed in workplaces can be used to support it.

Capital One logoA few months back, Capital One asked us how to adapt their visitor management policies to ensure employee safety and workplace security. With minimal effort, they limited visits to specific locations, specified which employees had authorization to make a visitor request, and implemented additional approval workflows. We also helped reopen a safe workplace for Capital One with a secure portal where employees across various locations are screened with health-related questions.

Here are three best practices to consider when using a visitor management system, such as WorkforceID™ Visitor Manager, for employee safety and workplace security:

1. Screen Employees Daily With Wellness Questions

The capability to create custom questionnaires is an important feature needed to maintain safety — and it's built right into WorkforceID Visitor Manager. You'll want to collect types of health-related information, including COVID-19 exposure and wellness checks. This helps businesses easily stay in compliance with fluid and rapidly changing regulations. It's essential to have complete flexibility in setting the criteria that employees must meet before they are cleared to enter the workplace. With WorkforceID, employees can complete the screening in advance or when they arrive.

2. Deploy Touchless Check-In With QR Codes

Upon completing the screening and wellness questions (and assuming they are approved), employees need to check in upon arrival at the office. WorkforceID Visitor Manager allows businesses to deploy a touchless approach using QR codes. Much like touchless visitor check-in, the employee needs to present the QR code at a lobby kiosk and scan it. It's that simple.

3. Report on Occupancy Analytics and Contact Tracing

Reporting is another essential best practice for a safe return to work for employees. A robust visitor management system should provide data that helps you manage building occupancy with a complete view of who is in the office, for how long, and the total capacity from moment to moment.

Covid Screening Questions on Phone

QR code for contactless check-in on tablet

WorkforceID’s Visitor Manager analytics dashboard tracks workplace occupancy and total capacity. WorkforceID integrates with many physical access control systems to provide unified entry and exit metrics, contact tracing data and reports for both employees and visitors. These features help in visualizing the busiest times and report data necessary to trace contacts and meet audit compliance in the event of infection.

Visitor Analytics Dashboard



Visitor Analytics Dashboard


Entry and Exit Times



Entry and Exit Times

Workplace Security That Keeps Your Data Safe and Secure

Considering a new visitor management system? WorkforceID is built to the highest security standard. We believe that security comes first, so our company and products adhere to the strictest security standards. Continuously reviewed and improved, WorkforceID undergoes stringent annual security verification audits, has achieved certification to the ISO 27001 global standard and is GDPR compliant. We’ve even earned an award for outstanding security product.

Ready to get started? Learn how WorkforceID Visitor Manager can help you manage workplace security for both visitors and employees, schedule a demo with a product expert or sign up for a free trial of WorkforceID.

Ian Lowe is Product Marketing Management Director for Workforce Identity Management and is passionate about marketing all things related to identity, cybersecurity, IoT, cloud and digital transformation. In his 19-year career, Ian has become a recognized product marketing and sales enablement leader, having created and launched successful cloud-based identity and security solutions that are used by top technology firms, financial services organizations and governments around the world today. */

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