QR codes have had a new lease of life in 2020, as many businesses have had to monitor and record every visitor due to COVID-19. QR codes have been essential in managing the people that we allow on our premises throughout 2020, but many businesses were also using them prior to COVID in order to carry out effective visitor management.
QR codes can be exceptionally helpful in managing visitors and contractors onto a site, and help to manage the flow of traffic that can sometimes become tricky for one person to manage. Take a look at how QR codes are proving themselves essential to visitor management in 2020.
What Are QR Codes?
A QR code can be defined as “a machine-readable code consisting of an array of black and white squares, typically used for storing URLs or other information for reading by the camera on a smartphone”.
They are a relatively new technology that is essentially a machine-readable label that can be scanned and holds information about the thing that it corresponds to. It is a great way to communicate and hold information in a tiny label.
Why Were QR Codes Created?
QR codes originated in 1994 in Japan, and were originally created to work within the automotive industry. The word QR code is short for Quick Response – and this is why QR codes were created – to be able to respond quickly in carrying information from one device to another.
They were created to aid the manufacturing process when building cars, as QR codes enabled high speed component tracking. Nowadays, they are still used in a similar manner in order to share information, however their use has been transferred across many industries.
How Do QR Codes Help With Visitor Management?
QR are now essential to visitor management for an array of reasons. These can be defined as:
- They Make The Sign In Process Seamless
The issue with traditional visitor management with a pen and paper isn’t that it doesn’t work – it does when it’s completed correctly. However, one of the main issues with paper-based systems is that they rely on human brain power to ensure that the sign in is completed and then stored.
QR codes take stress out of the sign in process and make it easy for visitors to sign in as soon as they get on site. In a post-COVID world, pretty much everyone is ready to sign in wherever they go, and when people see a QR code they are already familiar with the QR code process.
- They Allow People To Self Check In
Your employees will benefit from allowing people to self check in and not having to monitor visitors coming in and out themselves. The QR code process means that a visitor is able to fill in the contact form themselves, which frees up your staff’s time.
- They Move Visitor Details Online
There is nothing worse than having a paper based system and losing track of visitor details. This is especially true in the time of COVID, when it is a legal requirement to keep visitor data safe. With QR codes, the information is stored and saved digitally so that you never have to worry about misplacing your visitor information.
- They Can Be Used For A Contactless Sign In
QR codes are very helpful for ensuring a safe visitor sign in from a social distancing point of view. With QR codes, the visitor needn’t come into contact with a staff member and can fill in their details easily. This means your team has one less thing to worry about when managing a project.
- They Enable Pre-screening Questions
QR codes allow you to add pre-screening questions when someone leaves their details. This means that all information is stored digitally instead of manually and doesn’t rely on someone having to ask the awkward questions of how well someone has been feeling. The person simply fills it in on their phone without having to share personal information.
Are you looking to learn more about QR codes for visitor management? Discover the Beakon solution to visitor management that can transform how you sign visitors in.
