A visitor management system is the first step for an organization when implementing a security program. If you do not know who is entering through your doors then all other security systems are ineffective.
Many schools and organizations are looking for a visitor management kiosk. What better way to manage the flow of lots of visitors?
However, it is not so simple as to do a quick internet search and find a company that has a kiosk option. There are a few security foundations that must be understood:
Not everyone views security through the same lens. Often front office personnel are multi-taskers and they view a kiosk as taking something off of their plate. This is absolutely true. But it must done correctly. Removing eyes from the check-in process without having an ID Validation in place is risky.
Security is not convenient. Have you flown recently? Have you gone to a concert or professional sporting event? Need I say more?
Not all visitor management systems are security focused. A lot of the visitor systems are more about convenience and allowing visitors to self-provision and check themselves in. That may be great if you are an eye doctor. However, in a controlled environment like a school, I need to know you are who you say you are.
A security kiosk will be placed in a vestibule or in a secured area. A great security program will always be moving the identification further and further from your front doors. If the first interaction you have with a visitor is a human at a desk then that can be:
Dangerous. If the person is there with intent on harming someone.
Awkward. If the person checking in is on an Excluded Parties List or Sex Offender.
What should I be looking for in a visitor management kiosk?
ADA compliance. You should first make sure you understand ADA compliance.
How does the visitor management kiosk validate visitors?
Does it scan government issued ID? At a minimum a quality visitor system will scan government issued ID’s.
How do you handle frequent visitors? If you are an organization that utilizes vendors or volunteers there should be a validation process that begins long before they reach your front door.
Background checks. A comprehensive background check is the foundation of a quality background check. There is no such thing as an instant background check.
ID Validation. Do you allow vendors or volunteers to self report who they are? We can use the government issued ID, require a scan of the front and back, parse the 2d barcode and can even pull the photo, require a selfie and do a comparison.
2 Factor ID. Allowing a visitor to manually enter their information defeats the purpose of a visitor management system. Even scanning a government issued ID or an issued ID card is not fool proof if you don’t verify the ID scanned is the person in front of the kiosk. To completely authenticate the visitor, the use of facial recog
nition or a palm vein reader at the kiosk the matches against the face or pam print on file is the best method of ensuring the person entering is the approved person.
So, not all visitor management kiosks are the same. Determine if you are looking to enhance your security or if you are looking for a convenient way of getting people in and out of your organization.
If you would like a demo of SafeVisitor, one of the most comprehensive visitor management systems with multiple kiosk options, please select one of the following to register:
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