Notifications not only add several benefits but those benefits have a positive impact on many people. Visitors, reception staff, general staff and couriers will all benefit from automatic notifications.
Without a visitor management system it is generally reception staff providing notifications. Whilst this may seem like a relatively quick and easy task that is not always the case. Reception staff are often very busy dealing with large volumes of visitors. This can mean notifying many staff their visitors have arrived. It can also mean notifying admin / post room staff of deliveries. All this needs to be done whilst ensuring the reception remains free flowing.
Staff will not always be contactable at the first attempt. Visitors can be left waiting for a host who is unaware they have arrived. Queues at the reception desk can move more slowly than they need to. Customer service is also almost certain to suffer in this situation. There is also the extra stress caused to the reception staff when juggling tasks.
Allowing a visitor management system to send notifications removes this task. As such you remove all the concerns above. Hosts are always contacted with the news their visitor has arrived. Visitors are not left waiting longer than necessary. Arguably most important of all, reception staff can offer a higher level of customer service. This higher level of service creates an improved first impression to your visitors.
For organisations looking to operate an unattended reception area, automatic notifications are essential. Without a visitor management system like Welcm general staff members are often required to greet visitors. Generally this would be on the basis of who is closest to the door when a visitor arrives.
Studies show that interruptions like this cost around 15-25 minutes of lost productivity. A visitor management system can act as a gate-keeper. That helps ensure the only person who is interupted bya visitor is the host. Customised messages can also be provided to the visitor so they know what they should do after signing in.
So how does this actually work?
A visitor will either sign themselves in on an iPad or a member of the reception staff will sign them in. This means collecting the visitors details and who their host is. The iPad, or of course the reception staff, can then issue instructions to the visitor. At the same time a notification is sent to the host via one of the available formats (e.g. email, Slack etc). The notification will inform the host of the arrival, provide the visitor details and a photo to help them recognise their guest.
In the case of deliveries the process is very similar. A courier will register their delivery on the iPad or with the reception team. A notification will then be sent to the addressee to inform them a package has arrived. The notification will also tell them whether a signature is required or not.