Case Study: Education

A Seamless Visitor Experience for a Major High-Tech Campus

Case Study by HID Global

Our client, a major U.S. technology company, was building a new flagship corporate headquarters and wanted to deliver a seamless experience to the visitors of this new facility.

“Physical identity and access management (PIAM) deployments are increasing due to technology and product development, compliance mandates, a greater desire to manage alternative user populations such as on-premises visitors and contractors, and a sharp emphasis on timely and secure access.”

Gartner Research; Physical Identity and Access Management; Feb 2012

The Challenges

Our client was seeking a visitor management solution that gave them the flexibility to modify the multiple workflows required for the many different types of visits and visitors they host. Another critical requirement for their visitor management solution was that the selected vendor needed to have experience with high volume visitor solutions, as the organization was expecting the solution to manage over 1,000 visitors a day.

Three options were being considered by the client for their solution:

  • Standard SaaS-based, modern, sleek visitor management products.
  • An off-the-shelf solution built on a physical identity and access management (PIAM) platform.
  • A custom solution built internally by the customer.

As flexibility and scalability were the two critical factors in the decision-making process, they eliminated standard SaaS-based off-the-shelf products which are generally intended for single lobby environments.

They selected the visitor management capabilities of an off-the-shelf PIAMbased solution which would help them control their costs and provide the option to extend functionality to the full PIAM suite in the future. Furthermore, the PIAM platform already contained expert knowledge and the ability to manage different identity types, a function which would be difficult to replicate with a custom-built solution.

The Solution

After determining a PIAM-based visitor management solution was the best option for their needs, our client selected HID SAFE™ Visitor Manager. HID Global included the following solutions and integrations with HID SAFE Visitor Manager to deliver the additional functionality and safety required at the site:

  • A shipping and loading management capability: Centralized the shipping and receiving functions to allow for scheduling deliveries and shipments, in addition to visitors.
  • Single sign-on (SSO) functionality: Integrated the visitor management solution with the company’s home-grown Digital Services Authentication Platform
  • Lenel enablement: Integrated additional security features to query person and status based on the badge scan

Usability and quality were two additional and extremely important factors to our client. Some key features that were introduced to meet these standards were:

  • Bulk printing for a smoother group check-in experience
  • PDF printing for higher quality badges
  • Ability to save the visitor invite in Apple Wallet for added convenience
  • Kiosk badge-scanning by host/escort for confirming receipt of the visitor

The Outcome

The set up and installation of the solution moved quickly, and the organization was up and running with HID SAFE™ Visitor Manager within days. Because the company wanted to create a unique and welcoming visitor experience, the HID Global deployment team worked very closely with them for several weeks after implementation to evaluate each aspect of the visitor experience and configure the product accordingly.

Once the HID SAFE Visitor Manager solution went live, the company conducted a series of surveys to collect usability feedback from their visitors, hosts and reception managers.

One example of the type of feedback collected was related to the notification a host receives once their visitor has checked in on campus. The hosts didn’t want to manually configure the email or text notifications; instead, they wanted the system to utilize the visit details in the system to send them the required notifications. This feedback was quickly implemented, and the updated solution received high user experience ratings from hosts.

The company’s reception managers were also excited by the visitor management solution. With the HID SAFE Visitor Manager’s dashboard, the reception managers were able to easily see the expected traffic for any day, and therefore plan for busy days in advance.

And finally, the company’s visitors also provided positive feedback for the solution. Visitors shared that they felt welcome from the moment they arrived on campus as a result of the solution’s coordinated notification process which provides arrival instructions, check-in prompts and arrival alerts for the host.

After their positive experience with HID SAFE Visitor Manager, HID is working with our client to add event management functionality for the numerous corporate events they hold on campus. We are also working to add workflows for handling tourist groups who may visit the campus in order to provide them with a better visit experience.