WhosOnLocation’s latest integration brings us one step closer to a fully virtual receptionist. Introducing Alexa for Business by WhosOnLocation. Welcome to the future!

What is a virtual receptionist? 

When we think about virtual receptionists, two different scenarios spring to mind. There are teams of remote receptionists who are contracted to take calls for a number of businesses. And then there is the futuristic type – AI fuelled robots who automate the entire process for you. 

Fully functioning robots aren’t widely available just yet. However, there are a number of technologies that can automate tasks and take the strain off under-resourced teams. 

• Visitor management software can automate the sign-in process. WhosOnLocation allows visitors to sign themselves in, presents instructions on where to wait, and automatically notifies their host. These self-serve kiosks are even available in a touchless, hygienic format. 
• Voice-activated assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa for Business, can further personalize this process. By integrating with visitor management software, we can take our virtual receptionists up a gear; audibly welcoming guests and announcing arrivals.

Benefits of a virtual receptionist

We’ve already hinted at a few of the benefits, but let’s take a closer look at why you might need a virtual receptionist. 

Your front of house team is busy

Small businesses can still make a big impact when their visitors arrive. Rather than scrambling to unlock a door or locate a visitor’s host, let a virtual receptionist take on some of the load. 

With visitor admin largely taken care of, your front of house team can use their time more wisely. They’ll also be able to run errands and take breaks in the knowledge the front desk is always ‘manned.’

You have a large facility with multiple access points

How do you cover every access point to ensure employees and contractors are always signing in? Whether you need to carry out health screening, contact tracing, or simply know who’s on-site for health and safety reasons, virtual receptionists can ensure no one slips through the cracks. 

Your facility contains a number of hazardous zones

Think of this less like a virtual receptionist, and more like a virtual health and safety assistant. By placing sign-in kiosks or QR code posters at the entrance to each of your hazardous zones, you can ensure your employees and contractors have the information they need. Check out this blog for more details. 

Alexa for Business integration 

WhosOnLocation’s latest integration with Alexa for Business enhances the way you use your subscription. Here are some possible use cases to get the creative juices flowing… 

Welcome your visitors

Have a spiel you need to communicate to all visitors? Whether it’s ‘please keep your visitor pass visible’ or ‘ensure you wear a mask’, have Alexa automate the process for you. Once a guest has finished signing in at your kiosk, Alexa can verbally welcome them, and pass on any important information they might need to know. 

Announce an arrival

Meanwhile, inside your facility, you can keep an Alexa device close to your employee workstations to act as a doorbell. Alexa can announce when a visitor or contractor has signed in and is waiting to be collected from reception. This announcement can include their name and who they are visiting. 

Deny employee entry

Currently, carrying out health screening or imposing maximum occupancy to adhere to social distancing? Whatever your reason for denying an employee entry to your facility, create a trigger in WhosOnLocation to automatically prevent sign in, and have Alexa communicate the reason why. 

Remind contractors of expiring documentation

Whether it’s a safety induction, insurances or a qualification in need of renewal, have Alexa verbally remind your contractors of expiring documentation when they sign in. 

From visitor management software to voice-activated assistants, we are certainly edging ever closer to a truly useful virtual receptionist.

Ready to get started? 

To get started you’ll need an AWS enterprise account and a WhosOnLocation subscription. Visit our Help Center for step-by-step instructions on enabling the Alexa for Business integration. 

New to WhosOnLocation? 

Get started with a FREE 30 day trial today. No credit card required. 

Our integration with Brivo is one of our most powerful features.

Combining WhosOnLocation with Brivo’s cloud access control software can offer more advanced safety and security functionality to our people presence software.

In fact, it’s so good, we’re using it ourselves at WhosOnLocation HQ.

Signing in and out: Brivo Pass

People who are regularly approved to be on-site (for example, employees or vendors/contractors) can use Brivo Pass to let them on-site.

If your entry point is a door, hold the button down in the app and the door will open. This syncs with WhosOnLocation, so you’ll be automatically marked as on-site.

Turn on Location Services for Brivo Pass to notify you when you’re close by. As soon as you’re in range, you can unlock the door and sign in.

Pro tip: To make it even easier, you don’t even need to open the Brivo Pass app! Save your most frequently used doors or access points to your favourites and they’ll appear on your lock screen in the Brivo Pass widget.

Keeping visitors moving

At WhosOnLocation HQ, we have our visitor Kiosk set up outside our secure front entrance. When a visitor signs in at the Kiosk, WhosOnLocation will automatically notify a nominated employee and/or the visitor’s host (if they have one) to let them know there’s someone waiting at the entrance.

If you work in a larger office or corporation that shares a building with other businesses, your visitors have likely experienced this scenario – they sign in and receive a badge pass, but they can’t use it to follow their host through the turnstiles or gates. Then when they need to visit the bathroom, they have to borrow their host’s pass to get back to the meeting room. Except, now they don’t.

With Brivo’s visitor groups and a supported optical reader, visitors can use the barcode or QR code on their own visitor label to access all the areas they need to. By setting up visitor groups in Brivo and syncing this information with WhosOnLocation, you can specify which doors, turnstiles, and barriers your visitors are able to access and make their visit even smoother.

Employee alerts

We have set up custom alerts at WhosOnLocation HQ.

If you’re the last person in the office, you’ll get a message once the second-to-last person signs out.

We also receive a message later in the evening if we’ve forgotten to sign out using either our Brivo Pass, the front kiosk, or our swipe card… woops!

Pro tip: You can use custom alerts for almost anything. For example, you could set up a notification for the last person in your facility to set the alarm, or the first person in the office to turn the coffee machine on!

After hours access

WhosOnLocation allows you to set up your own operating hours. For us, it’s 8am until 5pm, Monday to Friday. If you’re a manufacturing facility, it might be 4am until 7pm, Monday to Saturday. You can customize these however you want.

When an employee signs in outside standard operating hours at WhosOnLocation, Brivo unlocks the door, and our nominated security contacts are notified that someone is there after hours.

We’ve also set up a rule that allows specific approved contractors to be let in after hours. Our security contacts get an alert for those movements too.

Other than that, Brivo keeps the door firmly shut!

Pro tip: WhosOnLocation rules and actions (we call these Triggers) are extremely customizable and powerful. You could, for example, set up a Trigger for Brivo to unlock the door for vendors or contractors after hours if they’re from a specific company.

Note for WhosOnLocation customers: Brivo data syncs with WhosOnLocation, which in turn syncs with WolMobile and WolEvac. This means all your people presence data will be up-to-date across all apps, so your list of people on-site in an emergency will be accurate.

To learn more about using the Brivo integration to its full extent, visit our Helpdesk.