Blog written by Singlewire Software
Understanding the Benefits of Visitor Management
For any organization, safety considerations should start at the front door, because if a threat can be prevented from entering a building, it can greatly reduce the risk of anyone being harmed. That’s why many organizations are investing in visitor management solutions. Gone are the days when a sheet and clipboard is sufficient for tracking who comes in and out of your buildings. Digital solutions with robust screening capabilities help organizations control access to their buildings, keeping out unwanted guests, while providing peace of mind to staff and other guests that everyone within a building is permitted to be there.
However, that’s only one component of a complex safety and communication strategy, and the benefits of visitor management tools can be limited without the right solutions to maximize their effectiveness. How do the right people within an organization know when an issue arises with a guest who does not meet the criteria to enter? How do permitted guests get included in critical alerts should an emergency arise? These are just a few of the questions organizations may find they struggle to answer after implementing a stand-alone visitor management system, but there is a solution.
Singlewire Software offers seamless integration between its Visitor Aware and InformaCast solutions, offering organizations the ability to combine award-winning visitor management and mass notification tools, creating a comprehensive system to detect threats, deliver notifications, and even manage incidents. In this blog post we’ll go over the benefits organizations can take advantage of when they combine Visitor Aware and InformaCast.
Enroll Visitors to Receive Notifications
Organizations have a duty of care to fulfill for anyone who comes through their doors, but they may not have an easy way to reach guests with the information they need should an emergency arise. Further complicating the issue is the fact that guests will likely be unfamiliar with safety protocols, so even if an organization starts sending out alerts, guests may be confused or unsure of what to do.
When organizations integrate Visitor Aware and InformaCast, guests can be presented with the option to receive text messages from InformaCast during their visit to let them know about safety or operational concerns. This could be a safety drill that is being run that day that the guest could be unaware of, a burst pipe that restricts certain areas of a building, or a violent intruder that may pose a risk. Being able to deliver clear instructions to guests via a text message helps keep them on the same page as the rest of the people within an organization, reducing confusion and prompting immediate action when it matters most.
Automatic Intruder Notifications
Using Visitor Aware, organizations can create a standard procedure all guests must follow when they arrive at a facility. This involves presenting an ID and having a picture taken. That information can then be screened against national sex offender databases, government watchlists, legal injunctions, and banned visitor lists to identify potential threats. If there is an issue, the person manning the front desk will receive a notice within Visitor Aware, but what if they need additional assistance?
The integration with InformaCast can extend the reach of issues flagged in Visitor Aware to deliver messages to key stakeholders like safety or security teams. This provides an immediate notification to people who can assist to prevent issues from escalating and ensure the banned visitor is escorted out of the building without incident.
Streamlined Reunification
In schools and districts across the country, countless hours are being spent planning for worst-case-scenario events, such as active shooters. These events can cause massive disruptions to ongoing operations and put students at severe risk. It also causes concern for parents and guardians who want to know with certainty that their children are safe and that they can be collected when an event has been resolved.
In addition to its visitor management capabilities, Visitor Aware also includes tools for reunification. When an InformaCast scenario is launched at the onset of an incident, it can also initiate a reunification event for Visitor Aware. Teachers are sent a one-time link to access their student roster and begin accounting for students, while InformaCast takes care of other notification and incident management needs.
Launch an InformaCast Scenario from Visitor Aware
The two-way integration between these solutions extends to being able to launch an InformaCast scenario from within the Visitor Aware desktop interface. Employees who monitor Visitor Aware can jump from that platform directly into InformaCast when they notice an incident has occurred and begin sending notifications and leveraging the incident management tools it offers to begin deploying a response.
These are just a few of the integrations that currently exist between InformaCast and Visitor Aware, with more coming in the near future. If you’re interested in how your organization can take advantage of these integrated safety solutions, please contact our team.
