Preparing for the new academic year with visitor management

As we approach the new academic year, it’s the perfect opportunity for education institutions to refresh their processes and enhance safety measures to create learning environments that pose minimal risk for their students, employees and visitors. One crucial aspect of improving school safety is visitor management. Implementing a robust visitor management system can significantly improve campus security and streamline administrative tasks.

In this blog, we explore how schools can effectively prepare for the new academic year by embracing Sign In App’s visitor management solutions.

Elevating campus security

Campus security should always be a top priority for educational institutions. With a rise in security concerns in education sites across the globe, schools must take proactive steps to protect their students, staff, and assets. Implementing a visitor management system like Sign In App provides a controlled and monitored entry process, reducing the risk of unauthorised access. By requiring all visitors to check in at the main entrance, schools can keep track of who is on site at any given time; this information is critical in case of emergencies or incidents.

Utilising our connection with Sign In Central Record, you’re also able to gather important information (e.g. DBS checks) and automatically deny further entry if the relevant documentation is not stored in your Single Central Record (SCR).

Streamline administrative tasks

The beginning of a new academic year often comes with a flurry of administrative tasks, from updating records to issuing new identification badges. Sign In App can simplify these processes by automating data entry and storage. Visitor information, such as names, contact details, and reasons for the visit, can be captured digitally, reducing the need for manual paperwork and data entry. This not only saves time but also minimises the risk of errors.

With Sign In Central Record, once checks are completed in your SCR, their record in Sign In App is automatically kept updated for seamless sign in when they arrive on site.

Enhancing visitor experiences

First impressions matter, and schools can create a positive experience for visitors by adopting a streamlined check-in process. Our user-friendly visitor management system can make the check-in process efficient and seamless, leaving visitors with a great impression of your school. With pre-registrations, you can also send important site information prior to their visit, further speeding up the sign in process when they arrive.

Our integration with Sign In Scheduling starts the visitor experience long before they walk through the building and also helps to streamline administrative tasks by enabling you to offer a customisable appointment booking process. Whether it's parents attending meetings, guest speakers, or prospective students touring the campus, they can select their appointment slot from your Sign In Scheduling booking page; once completed, they’ll automatically be pre-registered in Sign In App for seamless sign in when they visit.

Improve emergency preparedness with real-time monitoring and reporting

In the event of an emergency, having accurate and up-to-date information of who is on site is crucial. A reliable visitor management system like Sign In App maintains a digital record of visitors, making it easier to account for everyone in case of emergencies. Intelligent connections with your existing MIS system also enables you to automatically sync your employee and student lists; with many MIS systems you are also able to write back late arrivals or early leavers. So, during evacuation drills or real emergencies, administrators can quickly access a list of all individuals on site through Sign In App, and complete shared evacuation reports across multiple devices.

As technology continues to evolve and safety remains a top priority, schools have an opportunity to leverage visitor management systems as a key tool in preparing for the challenges and opportunities that the new academic year may bring.

If you’re getting ready for the new academic year and would like to learn more about how Sign In App and our add-on solutions can help you to enhance processes and elevate safety in your school, we’d love to get talking. You can get in touch with our friendly customer experience team via live chat, phone, or email 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Find all of the ways to contact us here.