Solon, Ohio – March 4, 2021 – MRI Software, a global leader in real estate software, announces that it has acquired New Zealand-based WhosOnLocation, which provides an integrated solution that empowers organizations to address workplace safety and security needs. An enterprise-class, cloud-based platform with employee, visitor, contractor and emergency management applications, WhosOnLocation extends MRI’s workplace management offering to cover anyone who might have a physical presence on a commercial property, including industries such as manufacturing, services, and education.

“We are excited to welcome WhosOnLocation to the MRI family at a time when ensuring wellbeing and safety in the workplace is more critical than ever,” says Patrick Ghilani, Chief Executive Officer of MRI Software. “The acquisition enhances the comprehensive capabilities of our integrated workplace management solutions to enable the increased business agility organizations need to reimagine their workplaces. WhosOnLocation boosts our ability to support health and security measures, covering both landlords and tenants, as well as the wider community that engages with a property – reducing risk for everyone.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic leading to an increased need for agile workplaces, WhosOnLocation enables organizations to manage presence by tracking who is onsite at a property – or across multiple locations – at any time. The solution brings additional automation and efficiency to workplace safety and security management with arrival notifications, access permissions, emergency and evacuation management, and more. WhosOnLocation’s global client base will benefit from the added resources and innovation that come with being part of a well-established industry leader.

Darren Whittaker-Barnett, WhosOnLocation’s Chief Executive Officer, notes: “MRI offers the scale and global reach we need to accelerate the growth of our business in both our existing markets and new territories. Becoming part of MRI also offers our customers the opportunity to tap into its broad range of innovative workplace management solutions, which enable organizations of all types to more effectively manage their real estate portfolios and meet today’s unique business challenges.”

Used by facilities management teams, property managers and others involved in building operations to manage visitor, employee and service provider presence, WhosOnLocation manages nearly 5,000 facilities for 1,600 customers across 46 countries. Headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, the company also operates in Australia, the UK, Europe, Canada and the US. MRI will continue to support WhosOnLocation users without interruption.

GrowthPoint Technology Partners, a Silicon Valley-based investment bank, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to WhosOnLocation.

About MRI Software

MRI Software is a leading provider of real estate software solutions that transform the way communities live, work and play. MRI’s comprehensive, flexible, open and connected platform empowers owners, operators and occupiers in commercial and residential property organisations to innovate in rapidly changing markets. MRI has been a trailblazer in the PropTech industry for over five decades, serving more than two million users worldwide. Through leading solutions and a rich partner ecosystem, MRI gives real estate companies the freedom to elevate their business and gain a competitive edge. For more information, please visit mrisoftware.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Platform Communications for MRI

Hugh Filman (+44 7905 044850)

or Zoe Mumba (+44 7725 832393)

mri@platformcomms.com

(US for MRI)

Rachel Antman rachel@saygency.com

+1 212-362-5837

All features mentioned are available in a single subscription cost. Start your free trial today – no credit card required. 

We are very pleased to announce that our CEO and founder Darren Whitaker-Barnett, has been recognized in the CEO Today magazine’s global CEO awards for 2021.

The awards recognize the achievements of CEOs honoring the most respected executives leading the global stage. A key component of the awards is to identify the most successful, innovative, and forward-thinking CEOs in business today.

No matter where the winners are located in the world, all were challenged during 2020 to bring their most innovative and forward-thinking leadership to guide their organizations through the global pandemic. 

Under the leadership of Darren, WhosOnLocation has successfully continued to grow and deliver a set of features to our customers to navigate the global pandemic and keep those in their duty of care safe and secure.

We’d like to congratulate Darren and all the other global leaders. To read the full list of winners and Darren’s article click here.

We hope you love the new site as much as we do. As always we welcome your feedback, if you have feedback to share good or bad please click here. 

• Pandemic screening and alerts when an at-risk person signs in
• Contact tracing with a digital record of everyone on-site / in contact with an affected individual
• Maximum occupancy rules to adhere to social distancing
• ‘Zoning’ to assign workers an area and minimise exposure
• Acknowledgment notices to communicate your entry policy

However, more was required. A global pandemic like COVID-19 puts every single customer at risk, and ensuring we had ways to mitigate these risks became our top priority. 

Having your say

When the world went into lockdown earlier this year, we started reaching out to our customers from all sectors to ask about their business needs, and how WhosOnLocation could help. 

From picking up the phone and having a good old chat, we identified a few key areas that needed addressing. These included:

1. A way to keep track of teams who were working remotely and from home.
2. A touchless solution to prevent the spread of COVID-19 when signing in at a kiosk.

Working remotely

First off, we got straight into a working remotely solution in response to businesses closing their physical facilities throughout the world. 

Released back in April, working remotely allows employees and service providers to sign in for work from their homes (or anywhere!). In doing so, our customers have a clear record of everyone who is working in their duty of care at any one time, regardless of where they are. 

This feature really comes into its own when used in the WolMobile application. Those who are signed in for work remotely will be able to view important safety notices in-app, receive instant messages from their employer and send their location to a nominated safety operator in the event of an emergency. 

Touchless sign in 

Before we’d even heard the word COVID-19, WhosOnLocation already accommodated a number of ways to sign in hands free, including: 

• Scanning a token
• WolMobile app
• Brivo integration using Onair app
• With the sign-in/out manager
• For pre-registered visitors using WolPass

However, from our conversations with customers, we realised a more seamless solution is required during a pandemic, and beyond. 

To get a deeper understanding of your needs, we carried out an in-depth survey.

Touchless – The results are in

So when it comes to a touchless solution, what was the verdict? 

We drilled deep asking a number of questions to help guide our solution. Here are the headlines: 

77% of those surveyed* said they’d rather use a touchless, self service kiosk than sign visitors in with their front of house team. 

76% would rather keep things digital, using a touchless kiosk to display a QR code, rather than a printable poster. 

64% would rather tailor the sign in questions they ask for visitors, than for employees or service providers. 

69% didn’t require a touchless solution for deliveries. 

*Of a survey of 240 customers with varying role types.

So what’s next? 

Our brand new, touchless solution will be released in the coming weeks, offering you a way to sign in all visitor types, and integrate with all the best parts of WhosOnLocation.

Our touchless solution will allow visitors, employees and service providers to register themselves as on-site using their own devices, for a simple, safer, sign-in experience. 

More information to come very soon, watch this space!

New to WhosOnLocation? 

Take a free 30 day trial today.

Since January 26, 2020, the world has watched closely as the outbreak of coronavirus has moved swiftly across the globe. 

The World Health Organization has developed educational material on what to do should you be affected by coronavirus. This program details what it is, how to protect yourself, myth busters, travel advice, and technical guidance.  The guidelines include; washing hands, staying educated and remaining diligent. You are most likely armed with a business continuity plan which will help you make decisions based on predetermined guidelines, should your organization become affected. 

As a WhosOnLocation customer, you can go one step further to ensure you are taking all the necessary steps to protect your organization. 

Every organization has its own way to manage guests on site but by making a few edits to your processes you can further reduce your organizations’ exposure to coronavirus by alerting the relevant members of your team to a possible risk. 

How can I limit my risk using WhosOnLocation? 

By taking a few simple steps you can add an extra layer of security to your organization by adding a question and triggers to your sign in process. These steps could be especially helpful for customers in manufacturing, construction or those with large amounts of external guests.

How do I set this up? 

Below is an example of a sign in question along with the options you could take to notify relevant parties within your organization. You may not need all of the options depending on your guest policies and procedures.

Example sign in question:  “In the last 14 days have you suffered from the flu or traveled to China?”  Answer “Yes” or ”No”. 

If your guest answers Yes you could implement all or some of the following steps:

1. A pop up on your Kiosk asking the guest to remain where they are and someone will be with them soon to assist. 
2. Trigger an SMS to your Facilities or OSHA Manager to notify them a guest has answered “Yes”. 
3. Make the guest’s host aware by using ‘Answer Share’ to send the response in the arrival email notification once the guest has signed in. 
4. Send the guest an SMS with a link to a dedicated page on your website that details your policy on coronavirus. 

Use these links for more information on setting up custom questions, triggers, and guest notifications. 

Not a WhosOnLocation customer but interested in protecting your organization? Click here to take a free 30-day trial.

Instant messages are not new, in fact, they date back to well before the internet and smartphones. In the early 1970s, the earliest version of an online chat facility was launched, it was called Talkomatic and allowed five people to chat simultaneously. 

Fast forward to 2010 and the world of instant messaging has exploded with the launch of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and WeChat (to name a few), intertwining instant messaging in our everyday lives. We have all become quite familiar and reliant on this technology, even our dentist is using an instant message to remind us of our next appointment. 

With instant messaging intertwined in our day-to-day lives, it’s a natural extension to use it in our work lives to communicate with employees, contractors, and guests while they are on site.  

Using instant messages in your organization 

Have you had to communicate any of these scenarios to any of your team recently? 

• A VIP has arrived on-site and you have forgotten to communicate it to the team
• A spillage has occurred and you need to alert employees 
• A hazard was identified in an isolated area and you need to let everyone on-site know
• Environmental factors are affecting access to your site
• Update employees on company policies

How did you share these messages with your employees, contractors and/or guests? The response we generally get is email. Email just doesn’t cut it, it is often missed causing incidents that the email intended to avoid.  However, most people carry their smartphone making it hard to ignore an instant message. An instant message allows you to communicate in an easy, efficient and timely manner.

With WhosOnLocation’s Instant Message feature you can communicate company-wide, to just a single location, to particular employees or just to contractors. Who you send an instant message to depends on the message but the options are endless for both sending and the message you communicate. 

Instant Message is included in all WhosOnLocation subscriptions. To find out how to use click here or to get started with WhosOnLocation click here to start your free 30-day trial. 

About WhosOnLocation

WhosOnLocation provides people presence management software that monitors the safe and secure movement of people through buildings and work sites. Our powerful, cloud-based solution unites visitor, contractor, employee, and emergency management, enabling organizations to secure their facilities and ensure the safety of every person on-site.

Armed with a rich, unified source of people presence information, our users are empowered to make more strategic, data-driven decisions that mitigate risk, reduce overhead costs, and streamline operations.

WhosOnLocation serves organizations in 35 countries around the world, protecting billions of dollars in assets and IP, and managing over 20 million secure movements through over 2500 facilities each year.

Our emergency management tool WolEvac helps you account for everyone on-site in the case of an emergency. You can track cleared zones, allow people to self-verify their safety via SMS, view requests for help and monitor real-time evacuation progress all within the WolEvac mobile application.

WolEvac syncs a snapshot from your WhosOnLocation account of who is on-site at the time the evacuation event is created so first responders, wardens and safety marshals have accurate information about who is on-site in an emergency. These users will be able to share critical messages, view real-time verification progress and manually verify the safety of anyone on-site. This makes evacuations effective and easily managed in what can be a high-stress situation.

Why use it?

WhosOnLocation actively encourages businesses to use evacuation management technology to run evacuations. An effectively exercised and accessible emergency response plan can minimize the impacts of an emergency on employees, the environment, and infrastructure. It can make all the difference not only around emergency services response time but the general organization of evacuation events.  

The benefits of emergency management technology:

• Inexpensive

WolEvac is included in all WhosOnLocation subscription so you don’t have to worry about any additional costs. 

• Instant updates

When an emergency takes place, as soon as you create a “WolEvac Event” it takes a snapshot of who is on/offsite at the time. This critical information will account for everyone, making it easier to ensure their safety.

• Efficiency

It is simply more efficient. Businesses are constantly changing, therefore, there is a need to maintain up-to-date response plans so you are always prepared. This technology will remove the time-consuming administration and eliminate repeat updates.

Get testing!

Use this chance to ensure your emergency processes and procedures are as effective as they can be before an emergency event happens. The risk from natural disasters, not to mention building fires and other events, is real, and there is a good chance your office building will have to be evacuated at some stage. Don’t leave the safety of those you are responsible for to chance.

Implement visitor/evacuation management technology today and make sure everyone is accounted for in an emergency.

A variety of apps offer an easy solution for keeping tabs on lone workers. For example, WhosOnLocation includes features like mobile sign-in, GPS geolocation and lone worker reporting. If you’re interested in finding the right app for your workers, take a look at our guide here.

3. Centralise your contractors’ documentation

Keeping track of when a contractor’s insurances, qualifications or induction processes need updating can be difficult in any organization. With WhosOnLocation, you can grant your contractors access to the Service Provider Portal, so they can fill in their own details. You’ll also receive notifications when their documentation needs renewing, so you know you’ll always be on top of contractor safety. Even better – these automated updates will save you some time, too. 

4. Use Photo ID Scanning to verify a visitor’s identity

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9190″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In high security organizations, just signing a visitor in using their name might not be enough. With WolScan, you can add an extra layer of security to the sign-in process by capturing the information from your visitor, contractor or employee’s ID card.

Not only does this allow the host to better verify the identity of those coming into the facility, it also makes sign-in a lot faster!

5. Make safety inductions more engaging with interactive training

The OSHA rules and regulations can be a stiff read, so it’s important to make your safety inductions as interesting as possible. We recommend using engaging formats – whether that’s induction videos, tasks or even interactive training modules.

One option is to use WhosOnLocation to create an eLearning Induction Course. You can even set restrictions using triggers, so anyone who’s failed to complete the course is unable to enter the organization.

6. Get your evacuations running like clockwork with collaborative, cloud-based apps

OSHA warns that workplace emergencies are often more common than people think, so it’s important to have a robust evacuation plan in place.

Employers need to be able to account for everyone on site quickly and easily during an evacuation to minimise risk. This can be tricky, especially if your employees and visitors are working across a multi-zoned or multi-level site.

By using a cloud-based evacuation app, you’ll be able to work collaboratively with other floor wardens or safety marshals to verify the safety of everyone on-site.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Manage visitors, contractors, employees and evacuations all within one easy to use application: WhosOnLocation works across businesses of all sizes including manufacturing, corporate, utilities, construction and ICT. Start your free 30-day trial here.