Aside from you and your regular employees, there may be a number of other people that make infrequent visits to your business premises. These could include clients, job applicants, technicians, cleaners, suppliers and professional advisors.
It’s important that you keep track of everyone coming in and out of your premises so that you’re not letting in certain unwanted visitors. Burglars and fraudsters may use it as a chance to scope out your office building or gain access to sensitive information. Essentially, you could become a victim of actual daylight robbery.
Here are just some of the steps that you can take to secure your business against unwanted visitors.
Re-evaluate your open-door policy
Some companies rely on customers walking in off the street. However, if you’re the type of business that can schedule appointments, it may be better to do so. An open-door policy allows anyone to wander in at any time. If you’re not in the office, employees may have no way of distinguishing whether someone is who they say they are. Scheduling appointments allows you to ask for people’s names and contact details so that you can ask them to provide this on entry in order to confirm who they are.
You may not have to do this to all visitors, but it could be useful for those visitors that want to access more private areas – whether they be technicians coming to fix a computer in your main office or interview candidates claiming to have an interview with the boss. Such visitors should always be required to book appointments, as they could be simply lying to gain access to private areas.
Set up a form of access control
There may be ways of limiting access to certain areas and ways of identifying authorised personnel. A few different forms of access control could include:
- A door intercom: This requires visitors to state their name and purpose at the door before being allowed to enter.
- ID verification: You could ask a member of staff to man the entrance and check the ID of anyone that enters to check that they are who they say they are. This could be recorded in a visitor register.
- Access keys: You could set up an access control system that allows only those with a contactless key to enter. Authorised visitors could be given temporary access keys or someone with an access key could be given permission to allow them in.
- Lanyards: Some companies print off lanyards for all people who enter to wear. If someone isn’t wearing a lanyard, it’s easier to then identify them as an intruder. Lanyards can be combined with access keys.
Don’t display sensitive information in plain sight
It’s important that visitors aren’t exposed to information that could be potentially dangerous if it leaked such as passwords or account details or unfinished concept designs. Hide such information in places that cannot be accessed by general visitors. Don’t pin this information to noticeboards or write passwords on sticky notes before sticking them on computers.
Safes should also be hidden from view – if a potential burglar knows that you have a safe, they’ll know that you’re hiding valuables worth stealing. Put this safe in an area that cannot be easily accessed and make sure that it is fixed to a wall or floor and not fixed to a desk or piece of furniture that can be easily carried out.
Consider security cameras
Security cameras allow you to monitor visitors and catch any criminal behaviour. In shops, they can be a great way of catching shoplifters and personal injury lawsuit fraudsters. In an office, they could catch visitors nosing around in areas that they shouldn’t be looking.
In most cases, security cameras can serve as a deterrent for unwanted behaviour. Most criminals are unlikely to take the risk of getting caught on camera and are likely to leave your business alone.
Know when to accompany visitors
Don’t leave a visitor alone in an area where they can easily nose about for sensitive information. Accompany visitors at all times when in these areas so that you know exactly what they’re up to.
Security cameras may be able to monitor visitors for you, but you won’t be able to stop a crime happening there and then if no-one is watching these cameras. This is why it’s important to always have a trusted staff member around.
Maintain the balance between secure and welcoming
While it’s important to track visitors, it’s important that you still remain welcoming. If you come across too guarded and untrusting, potential customers and job applicants may not get a warm impression.
Many offices have a reception area in which visitors can wait and sit until they are given authorisation by a member of staff to proceed further. Try to make this waiting room comfortable by choosing cosy furniture and consider adding a water tank or a coffee machine. You could even supply information packs and brochures that tell your visitors more about your company.
If you don’t have space for a waiting area and visitors have to wait outside, make sure that there is a canopy above the entrance to provide shelter from rain. You may even be able to add a bench outdoors
If you have a car park, you could consider adding some visitor bays. This ensures that visitors have somewhere to park. Make sure that these visitor bays are a convenient distance from your premises so that you’re not asking visitors to walk far.
Finally, using signage to help direct visitors can help to make them feel more welcome. This could include a sign telling visitors where to park or a sign telling visitors where the entrance is.
All of this can be done without compromising security. For instance, the waiting room can be kept free of any sensitive information, while visitor bays could be separated from employee bays with a barrier between. You want the wrong kind of visitor to steer clear, but at the same time you want the right kind of visitor to feel accommodated.
