Look, we get it. We understand that you might be skeptical of putting a visitor management system at the front desk of your office or business.
What message will it send to your guests and customers? Will it confuse people? Will someone lose their job?
We hear you and your concerns, so we’ve set out to bust a few myths about visitor management systems that might help ease some of your doubts.
Here are the top 5 myths about visitor management systems we hear most often.
1. Visitor management systems are impersonal
The truth: With a visitor management system, it’s actually quite helpful for visitors to quickly check in without inconveniencing or interrupting anyone else, while immediately alerting your employee that their guest has arrived.
At companies that have a receptionist at the front desk, that person might be away on a restroom break, be on a phone call, or be working with another guest when your visitors walk in the door. Then visitors have to wait while they wonder what to do next, which can get real awkward and leave an unwanted first impression.
A digital check-in, with or without a smiling face to go with it, sure beats wasting time waiting around not sure what to do.
We’re the Receptionist, but we’re not replacing your receptionist. Learn more.
2. Visitor management systems take someone’s job
The truth: The Receptionist for iPad actually works best when paired with a real, live human being.
It has never been our intent to replace a human being with our visitor management technology. Does it happen? Yes.
For instance, at small businesses that cannot afford a front desk staffer or at a start-up that has not yet staffed a front office person.
However, the majority of our customers use our software to handle the mundane process of checking in guests and alerting staff of a visitor’s arrival, while the front desk staffer helps them feel comfortable by getting them water or coffee, showing them to their meeting room or the restroom, supplying WiFi credentials, or collecting their coats and hats.
Receptionists and front desk admins are usually tasked with so many other responsibilities that the visitor check-in process becomes a burden, and that’s where our system shines.
3. The data and network are not secure
The truth: Without getting all crazy technical on you, we want to make sure you have peace of mind that your data is safe and protected.
With The Receptionist for iPad, visitor data is safely stored using the highest security protocols on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud servers. (Download our Security Overview)
Now, that being said, we always advise our customers to not collect any overly sensitive or confidential information at check-in from their visitors, like social security or bank account numbers. Instead, most of the data our customers collect are harmless, like name, the reason for visit, and perhaps a photo.
All of the data transmitted between the iPad and our servers is over a secure connection so that the data collected on the iPad is never compromised.
4. People won’t know how to use a visitor management system
The truth: Guests and visitors typically start using a visitor management system without ever being told what to do.
We repeatedly hear from our customers that after they placed their Receptionist for iPad in their lobby, their guests and visitors immediately started using the system without ever being told what to do. This speaks to the ability of our customers to create their own unique home screens.
When our customers placed their iPad kiosk in a prominent location that visitors will see upon their arrival, the simplicity of the button-based workflow walks them through the entire check-in process in a simple and intuitive way.
And this applies to businesses in all industries. From health and wellness clinics to retirement homes to large manufacturing facilities, our customers continuously report never having to train a single visitor how to use the system.
Most touch screen technologies these days are so user-friendly they don’t even have a manual!
5. Visitor management software is expensive and difficult to set up
The truth: A visitor management system is incredibly cost-effective for all the ways a digital check-in system saves time and effort.
Let’s take the cost argument off the table right away. Small businesses with less than 25 employee contacts can get started for less than $50 a month — and that includes unlimited visitor check-ins.
As for getting set up, if you’ve got an hour or so, you can fully build out your Receptionist for iPad account, complete with your own branding, your employee contacts, and your own unique notification workflows.
And if you ever do need help or get stuck, just know that you will always have the backing of our Radical Support® team to get you unstuck and on your way!
Easing Your Fears About Visitor Management Myths
Introducing a brand new step into your current visitor process can seem like a particularly daunting process. It’s a tool that both your team and visitors have to get used to, and why risk the investment of time and money into the implementation? Your admin staff may also feel threatened or that the software will render them unnecessary, but the truth is that visitor management software like The Receptionist for iPad gives time back to your employees. The system takes on routine, mundane tasks like info collection and letting employees know someone is there to see them. Now that your front desk staff isn’t frantically trying to locate Frank who left his desk, they can focus on doing what the humans do best — forming authentic connections with your guests.
Want to see The Receptionist for iPad in action?
Join a 12-minute Product Tour for a fun walk-through of the most popular features of The Receptionist for iPad.
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