Visitor Logging at Reception. Do You Take Note?

Posted on 21 September 2011

In a slight deviation from our normal Auto-ID industry focus, I’d like to discuss a common problem within numerous small businesses, namely; compliance with Health & Safety in the way we record visitors to our premises.

We’ve all been to the large companies where the receptionist, seated in a grand foyer, keys our details into their computer system, a local printer feeds out a smart company visitor badge emblazoned with the organisation’s logo, along with our name in prominent type. The receptionist deftly inserts the badge into a clear plastic sheath and clips it to our suit jacket, enabling everyone to see our name (as wonderful or embarrassing as it may be) as we are escorted around the facility.

But what do small companies do? Invariably, the person you are meeting shakes your hand and says “welcome” or where technological  advances have allowed, an employee writes out a multipart, no carbon required, tear-off slip, by hand! Sorry for being so sweeping but I speak from bitter experience…

The above situation was one which we at Codegate were faced with. At our 200-year-old converted Granary, we don’t have a formal reception area (or a receptionist for that matter thus making the former notion a little redundant) so we needed a cost effective way of making sure we could properly account for visitors in case of emergency. So, like many other small businesses with financial concerns at the forefront of our minds, we searched for an inexpensive way of providing professional visitor registration using every day, desktop computers along with small dedicated printers. Faced with an impasse of software options which failed to meet our criteria, we sent out a search party to find a solution… The result: V-Log or Visitor Log to give it its full name.

V-Log is a simple to install and easy to use visitor recording software system for your PC. It enables you to record and manage visitors, replacing the traditional hand written registration book or expensive multi-part slips in reception. A multi-user support feature allows the use of V-Log at multiple entrances to a building or site. V-Log even allows for touch screen self-registration where required.

Key features:

• Quickly sign-in visitors and print a quality visitor badge if required
• Keep electronic records of all visitors
• Provide immediate visibility of which visitors are currently registered on site including one-click emergency report printing
• Reception or Self Check-in Modes
• Multiple entrance recording

Our V-Log Pro version includes all the above features plus support for multiple companies within a building as well as web and mobile access to visitor lists in the case of emergency.

As V-Log has a network version, it can be installed on a server and accessed on the local area network, enabling multi-user, multi exit installations. In addition, V-Log Pro will send a full list of visitors to a Smartphone in case of emergency enabling the Fire Marshall to account for all visitors outside the building.

You can get full details of this product on our website at ’A greener way to register visitors’ where you will also find sample screen shots and see ‘how it works’.

Full pricing information including a special introductory price is available here

If you’re not sure about taking the plunge, fear not, you can download a free 30 day trial

Do you already have a similar computerised system or are you still manually writing out visitor details? Let me know which and we’ll pull together a quick poll on the current landscape of visitor registration or, if you’d prefer, leave a comment below.

Of course, if you’d like to discuss a possible deployment for your business, drop me an email or call the office on +44 (0)845 345 0808.