In a matter of a few months apartment complexes, housing societies, gated communities and residential layouts have had to reconsider their gate security and visitor management system. History shows, it takes years to get a pandemic under control and rule out its potency. Therefore, we can safely assume COVID-19 is going to be a part and parcel of our lives for sometime now. In such a situation, it becomes important for RWAs, Associations and Management Committees to rethink the dynamics of their gate management.
How Has Gate Management Changed in Housing Societies?
The obvious answer that comes to mind is restriction of entry and in some cases, exit as well. However, is this restricted entry and exit sustainable in a world that thrives on physical connection? The answer is No. Let’s have a look at how gate security and the visitor management system has changed.
Visitor Registration
The expectation is for visitor registration is contactless. Touching the same ledger and pen, also touched by hundreds of other visitors is no longer preferable. Yet for the sake of security, Association and residents both want to keep a record of people visiting their communities. Gate management of visitor registration these days also require visitors to go through thorough temperature checks and checks on wearing masks. In some cases, communities also prefer to have a look at apps that determine if a visitor is from a containment zone or not. Beside this, the recommendation of Associations is to have expected visitors and few in number.
Contactless Deliveries
The bulk of visitors to a residential community are delivery executives. It has been a prerogative of Associations to cut down on this section of visitors. This means an infrastructure to manage delivered parcels at the gate, has become an integral part of a visitor management system.
Emergency Management
Another important development in the changing dynamics of gate management is to integrate a robust emergency management system. Residents have a dire need to be equipped with systems that can help get them instant help in times of trouble. It can be through sending SOS messages to configured emergency contacts, or access to emergency services that serve the particular neighbourhood. In times of crisis, sifting through the volume of data on search engines or dialling specific numbers may not always be a possibility.
Has Visitor Management System In the Market Evolved Accordingly?
The answer is yes. Visitor management systems have for long visualised an automated gate management system in residential communities. The pandemic has thrown a favourable light on this piece of technology.
Touchless Visitor Registration
A visitor management solution promotes touchless registration. The device need not be touched by several visitors and can be manned by a single security personnel. This does away with the ledger and pen. In the long run, a visitor management system, which by the way, runs offline too, can save thousands of data without additional costs. This also helps to record temperatures of all visitors. Any visitor found to have a temperature higher than normal, can be immediately asked to leave without setting foot in the premises. Day reports to the Admin helps to keep a check on guards registering these vital information.
Parcel Management
With contactless deliveries at the gate, the primary question that arises : What about parcel mismanagement or parcel mixup? Who takes the liability?
A visitor management system helps with the logistics of this. A simple OTP once a parcel is checked in can avoid the hassle of parcel mismanagement. With each parcel checked in, the guard can record pictures and relevant details of the parcel. These details shall be received as notification by the relevant users.
With a visitor management system in place, 67% of visitor entry into the premises can be cut down. At a time like this, it is of extreme significance to make this happen.
Emergency Management
Visitor management systems come loaded with the infrastructure to trigger panic alarms that immediately informs security guards and other emergency contacts of distress. Help is made easily available. This is extremely helpful for children, senior citizens and individuals who live alone.
There is also a list of Emergency contacts available at a tap, to help residents of a particular neighbourhood to access all Numbers of services that serve a particular neighborhood. Being an open field, any number deemed to be an Emergency Contact can be added to this list.
A visitor management system can revolutionise gate management. It can help associations track move-in/move-outs from their community, incident reporting, integration with security hardware. All these premium features help to have all gate security data at one place. This data can assist Associations/RWAs to audit their security measures and tackle loopholes if any. To know more about the need of a visitor management system for residential communities, contact us. We shall be happy to help you make your community safer.
