Instances of workplace and school violence happen too often, making security a prime issue today. To protect your employees, students, assets, and more, you need good building security strategies. One of the easiest to implement and manage is a visitor management solution.
Your solution could be as simple as color-coded labels distinguishing visitors from employees or students or as complex as a photo ID smart card that restricts access and clearance. The visitor badges you choose will be unique to your security needs, your budget, and your staff's ability to manage your visitor management solution.
Here are a few questions to ask before you decide on visitor badges.
1. Is it important to restrict how much time visitors have at your facility?
You might have several reasons to only allow guests on-site for a limited time. Or maybe you need a visitor badge that isn't valid after a day or a week so others can't reuse badges. If this is the case, expiring guest badges are a great option. Self-expiring badges show red lines or the word "Void" across the face after they expire. It's an easy way to immediately spot someone who's not authorized to be on site. And since they're disposable, you need not worry about collecting badges at the end of their visit.
2. Is your front desk staffed or unstaffed?
You obviously have more flexibility if your front desk is staffed in what types of visitor badges you use. But if your reception area is unstaffed, you might need a more sophisticated system that lets visitors register themselves and prints out the appropriate visitor badge.
3. Do you have budget constraints?
While finances shouldn't affect the security of employees or students, it's still a fact that everyone must work within their budget. You can truly spend anywhere from a few dollars up to tens of thousands. The good news is there are entry level visitor badges like the expiring badges that won't blow your budget and will still provide a level of security.
4. Do you need visitor photos for your badges?
Some organizations rely on photo IDs and other unique information to verify a person's identity for security reasons. You might need this information for visitors as well. If so, you'll need more formal ID cards than a self-expiring badge.
5. How many visitors do you process a day?
If the answer to this is "a lot," you'll need a more sophisticated visitor management solution that can produce badges quickly. One solution is to allow your guests to pre-register and then complete the registration process on-site once they arrive. Consider a PVC visitor badge your staff can print out in seconds to help you process guests more efficiently.
6. Do your visitor badges need to be immediately distinguishable from employees' or students' badges?
Visible distinction between guests and employees can be as simple as a different color badge or label or as complex as a unique design or card size. Either way, if your answer to this question is yes, you need some way to produce unique badges that identifies them as visitors.
7. How durable must your visitor badges be?
Some environments like plants and manufacturing facilities or construction sites are harsh. A paper visitor badge won't stand up well to adverse weather or heat and humidity. If you need a more durable visitor badge, consider a PVC or plastic ID card and an appropriate badge holder.
Final thoughts
Visitor management can be confusing. Trying to juggle security issues with budget constraints and a visitor badge that won't take your staff hours to produce is like trying to herd cats. With so many options for creating visitor badges, your choice depends on your organization's priorities and how the badges will be used.
The goal for any visitor badge solution is to serve as a gatekeeper to keep your business, your people, and your assets safe and secure. Visitor badges provide peace-of-mind about who's in your building.
At Idesco, we have over three-quarters of a century helping businesses just like yours stay safe. Contact one of our ID Experts at 212-889-2530 to discuss your visitor badge options. We'll help you find a visitor badge that meets your security, budget, and operational needs.