Automated Systems Company

Business Needs & Challenges

The number of visitors to the ASC headquarters is increasing rapidly. The company takes the security of its assets, employees and visitors seriously and hence, it built security gates whereby every person entering the facility is identified by a badge. This easily applies to its employees, as everyone can be identified by the badge issued by Human Resources. This does not, however, apply to the visitors, as they are unmanaged.

Visitors present their credentials at the front desk in order to obtain a visitor badge. This badge is used by the visitor to pass through the security gates. When a visitor completes the visit, s/he needs to visit the gate, return the visitor badge and collect her/his credentials. At this stage, no records are kept of any of the visitors. This is due to several challenges:

1. The number of visitors during peak operation hours is very high, making it difficult for Customer Service Representatives to collect visitor details, pass a visitor card and store the provided credentials securely in the drawers.
2. Visitors usually present different forms of identification. Some use their Civil ID, others use their Passport, etc. It is not easy to capture a visitor's details from these different forms of identification.
3. Capturing visitor demographics is a time-consuming and error-prone process. Visitors expect a swift and efficient process of getting their visitor badges and are not willing to wait until their details are captured.

Due to the above challenges, ASC was not keeping any records of the visitors. This imposed a risk in case of any security breach or other incidents, as it is impossible to identify the visitors.

Characteristics of a viable solution

A viable solution needs to provide the following capabilities:

1. Capture Visitor Demographics as accurately and efficiently as possible, without forcing Customer Service Representatives to enter too much detail.
2. Keep a copy of the presented credentials in records.
3. Make no compromises in terms of visitor data quality.

Solution

Automated Systems Company teamed with Sharper Software to provide SharperVisitorLogs for every Customer Service Representative. Sharper Software delivered a set of readers and the accompanying software and trained the end users on how to use the technology. All visitor-facing customer service representatives have to do is a visitor's Smart Civil ID, passport or Kuwaiti Driver's License into the reader and press a button on the application. The visitor's demographics, including name in both English and Arabic, Sex, Date of Birth, Blood Group, Nationality, Address, etc. are all captured automatically off the presented credentials and displayed on the application's screen. While the credentials are being scanned, the Representative specifies the visitor badge number and the tenant sponsoring the visit. When the record is saved, SharperVisitorLogs automatically timestamps the record and keeps a copy of the provided credentials. This saves the time required to have a no-compromise visitor data accuracy. Since this information is maintained by the Public Authority for Civil Information, all such data is according to the official records. This serves as a good measure against repudiation.

When a visitor wishes to leave, s/he presents the visitor badge back to the Customer Service Representative, who in turn navigates quickly to the Check-out screen and finds the badge. By double-clicking the badge, the visitor is marked as "Checked Out", saving the time and effort necessary to keep track of the visit.

At any point in time, an administrative person can query the system to find details about a visitor, providing means to perform security audits when necessary. Management can also get statistical reports about peak operating hours, tenants with the highest number of visitors, etc.