A lobby doesn’t need more hands – it needs better foresight
Emma Hinkka
Marketing Assistant
Our customers’ visitor numbers have increased by an average of around 14% per year in recent years. When visitor numbers grow, the first solution may seem obvious: add more staff to the lobby. But that growth is not evenly spread across weekdays or hours of the day. What matters is how well the lobby can anticipate peak times and focus its resources where they are needed most.
An average won’t tell you what kind of day is ahead
It is difficult to plan a lobby’s workload based on annual visitor numbers alone. What matters more is knowing when visitors actually arrive. Data from a visitor management system can reveal the weekdays and times of day when visitor peaks typically occur.
A common mistake is to plan lobby resources based on the total number of visitors. In practice, 500 visitors spread evenly across the week is very different from 500 visitors arriving during peak hours on just a few mornings.
Antti-Pekka Raitisto
CCO, Systam Oy
Once peak times are known, staff resources can be allocated accordingly. During busy periods, more time is needed to welcome and assist visitors. On quieter days, lobby staff can focus on other tasks.
Not everything can be anticipated, however. In our customers’ visitor data, around 60% of visits take place without a prior invitation through the visitor management system. A well-functioning lobby therefore needs to be ready both for visitors who are expected and for those who arrive without a prior invitation.
More visitors don’t have to mean more routine work
As visitor numbers grow, small manual tasks quickly add up. Checking visitor details, notifying hosts, providing access instructions, and handling other repetitive tasks may only take a little time individually. Across hundreds or thousands of visits, it is a different story.
Lobby staff should not have to handle everything manually. Pre-arrival messages, sign-in, and host notifications can be automated. This means the lobby’s workload does not have to grow at the same rate as visitor numbers.
Automation should free up time from tasks that do not require a person. When predictable routines are taken care of in the background, there is more time for situations where personal service makes a difference.
Visitors have an impact beyond the lobby
Fluctuations in visitor numbers are quickly felt beyond the reception desk. A busy visitor day can mean more cars in the parking area, higher demand for meeting rooms and more people having lunch.
That is why information about upcoming visitors should not stay in the lobby. When it reaches the right people, the wider impact of visits can be anticipated. The restaurant can prepare the right amount of food. Meeting rooms can be planned accordingly. Parking capacity can be adjusted before the visitor even arrives.
Automation leaves more time for visitors
Welcoming a visitor, solving an unexpected situation or offering help are all examples of where personal service makes a difference. These interactions shape the visitor experience and the first impression a visitor gets of the company.
In a well-functioning lobby, technology takes care of the routines, freeing up staff for the situations where people are genuinely needed.
Antti-Pekka Raitisto
CCO, Systam Oy
Lobby staff play an important role in identifying which tasks are worth automating. Not every visitor, building, or situation is the same. A smooth visitor process is not about automating as much as possible. It is about automating where it genuinely adds value.
Respond to growth smarter, not bigger
A 14% increase in visitor numbers does not mean adding 14% more lobby staff. It means taking a fresh look at how the lobby operates. What can be anticipated? Which routines are taking up staff time unnecessarily? And how could visitor data be put to better use?
At Systam, we help businesses build visitor processes where routines are handled automatically, leaving lobby staff more time for what matters: welcoming visitors and providing great service.
