Solve These 16 Problems With Swiftlane Office Intercom

Modern offices have many challenges when it comes to physical security and visitor access. Swiftlane Office Intercom solves those problems while maintaining a high level of security and workplace efficiency.

Table of contents

1. Visitor Entry To A Locked Office Door
2. Minimize Overhead From Temporary Use Key Cards
3. Easily Manage Forgotten Key Cards
4. Never Miss A Visitor
5. Lower Operational Burden From Managing Multiple Access Points
6. Eliminate Technical Burden of Legacy Intercom Software
7. Simplify Management With An Intuitive User Interface
8. Don’t Have A Receptionist? Use A Virtual Front Desk
9. Manage Visitors For Multiple Office Locations and Satellite Offices
10. Granting Remote Access After Hours
11. Deter Vandalism and Theft
12. Integrate With Existing Access Control
13. Cutting Costs With An All-In-One Solution
14. Increase Data Security With Single Sign On
15. Receive Visitor Notifications On Any Device
16. Security Logs and Audit Trails

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1. Visitor Entry To A Locked Office Door

Physical security is top of mind for offices, but staffing and resource limitations leave workplaces vulnerable when it comes to visitors. Reception, front desk, and lobby staff are traditionally the first point of contact when visitors arrive at the office. So, offices leave their doors unlocked and accessible to everyone to ensure that a visitor does not get stuck outside and go unnoticed. But, these building staffers have more responsibility than simply overseeing the front entrance. And while the front desk or lobby is unattended, there is no way to safeguard who is coming in and out. 

Swiftlane Video Intercom allows office buildings to keep their doors secure and simultaneously ensure that visitors have multiple modes of access to the workplace by offering: 

• Front desk intercom
• Multi-tenant intercom
• PIN code access for visitors

Swiftlane’s front desk intercom allows visitors to easily contact the reception or front desk staff via video intercom. Front desk staff can remotely pick up a visitor call on the web-based browser or a traditional landline telephone. If they are not at the front desk, they can pick up the incoming intercom call via smartphone or tablet and remotely unlock the door.

Swiftlane’s commercial, multi-tenant intercom enables visitors to communicate with office employees or other office managers and admins directly via the touchscreen directory. One- or two-way video intercom allows the incoming intercom call recipient to visually verify who is at the entrance before granting remote access. 

Finally, visitors can enter unique PIN codes generated by an admin. Swiftlane allows office managers to generate unique single- and multi-use PIN codes that can be distributed to delivery persons and recurring visitors. PIN codes can be given out over the phone, via smartphone, email, and do not require a smartphone to access the office, unlike QR codes. Single-use PIN codes can be given to delivery personnel for secure one-time access to ensure an office delivery is never missed. These can also work for interviewees and other one-time visitors. Multi-use PIN codes can be scheduled to grant access for nightly cleaning crews and other recurring visitors. 

Making offices more accessible with Swiftlane intercom allows offices to maintain secure access points with locked doors  for the highest level of security, while also ensuring that a visitor will never be missed. 

2. Minimize Overhead From Temporary Use Key Cards

Even more cumbersome than the management of key cards is the generation, distribution, and tracking of temporary-use key cards. Managing temporary-use key cards often requires several dedicated front desk staff to distribute temporary badges, and yet still facing bottleneck for visitor management. Also, vendors and visitors often forget to return the badge, causing security risks and costs. For the amount of time and frequency they are used, temporary key cards require much more overhead than the task is worth. But, they are required in every office setting for deliveries, travelling employees, cleaning staff, etc. 

Swiftlane effectively eliminates the overhead associated with having to deal with temporary key cards. Instead of frequently programming a new key card, coordinating distribution, and ensuring the return of the card, Swiftlane’s office intercom solution allows office admins and managers to schedule single-use or multi-use unique PIN codes for visitors needing intermittent access. These 6 digit PINs are unique to each visitor, can be granted or revoked instantly, and can be defined to limit access to certain time intervals and doors.  PIN codes can be easily managed, generated, or revoked from anywhere on Swiftlane’s admin dashboard. PIN codes can also be shared via smartphone, telephone, or computer so that coordination takes no time at all. 

3. Easily Manage Forgotten Key Cards

It’s inevitable — employees forget their keycards. Whether at home before they leave for the office or in the building after they have left the office for the day. This is a major pain paint for offices as a temporary key card then needs to be created, issued, and later returned. 

In the event that an employee temporarily cannot get into the building, Swiftlane’s office intercom allows managers or admins to remotely grant them access. Doors can be unlocked via mobile app or from the web-based dashboard, so doors can be unlocked for employees even if the admin is off-site. 

Alternatively, Swiftlane allows office managers and admins to quickly and easily generate a multi-use PIN code to send to the employee for seamless access throughout the day. 

4. Never Miss A Visitor

Receptionists, security, front desk, and hospitality staff cannot always be at their front desk to receive visitors. They might be out for a lunch break, or managing their other responsibilities that take them away from their desks. During this time, visitors and deliveries can come and go, causing major inconveniences in the office. 

When these employees are away, Swiftlane allows them to receive incoming intercom calls via mobile device, such as a smartphone or ipad. Similarly, if an office doesn’t have any dedicated staff to receive visitors, office managers or admins can intercept these intercom calls even if they are off-site. That means freedom from sitting at the front desk without being able to take a break. Once an intercom call is received and the visitor is authorized to come into the building, the door can also be unlocked remotely by either pushing a button in the app or pressing 9 on the telephone keypad. 

5. Lower Operational Burden From Managing Multiple Access Points

Office buildings can be large and have access points dispersed throughout the facility like the front lobby, elevators, back entrances, loading docks, parking gates, etc. Managing security and access to all the doors can be a job in itself as it requires the manual programming of individual key cards with specific access to each door. This becomes even more time consuming when managing multiple entrances becomes so complicated that resorting to physically letting visitors in at each entrance becomes more efficient than programming key cards. 

Swiftlane effectively solves this problem by providing centralized control for every access point throughout the office without needing to change or program a single key card. Through Swiftlane’s intuitive admin dashboard, admins can quickly and easily assign different access points to different groups of users to ensure access is always granted to those authorized to have it and restricted to those who are not authorized. Watch how Swiftlane’s User Groups work and how easy they can be used to manage multiple access points. 

Even if a user is not yet programmed into the Swiftlane system, they can use video intercom calling to be granted access by office managers and admins remotely. 

6. Eliminate Technical Burden of Legacy Intercom Software

Legacy intercom systems operate over software that is installed on local hardware that can only communicate over an IP address on an outdated, technically complex windows application. This software is expensive, requires technical training, and needs regular updates and maintenance from a professional in order to work properly. The data and information stored with and on the software also lives locally, and cannot be accessed or altered from anywhere but the hardware on which it’s installed. Overall, this makes operation clunky and requires being onsite and trained on this technical system. 

Swiftlane’s office intercom system is designed with the most intuitive user interface that does not require any technical training or unnecessary burden on staff. As a cloud-based system, Swiftlane receives regular, over the air updates automatically, so the latest software is always installed. Over-the-air updates also mean that it’s not required to make an appointment with a professional to come on-site to make the update. 

The biggest benefit to Swiftlane’s cloud-based intercom system is that it can be managed remotely, not just through an on-site system like legacy intercoms. Through the mobile app or web-based browser, every component of the office intercom — managing user permissions, generating and issuing temporary PIN codes, editing user profiles, etc. — can be managed from anywhere. 

7. Simplify Management With An Intuitive User Interface 

Typically, the dashboard or admin interface with legacy intercom systems are outdated and unintuitive. Which is why they are typically managed by the IT team or the manufacturer themselves. Either way, neither option involves the office employee responsible for initiating changes or updates to the system, which causes significant friction throughout the workplace.

Swiftlane’s admin dashboard is built in the cloud and caters to the user experience through an  intuitive, simple interface that requires no extra training. Swiftlane admins can easily manage access points, visitors, and user credentials under one platform. This allows the office manager or admin to be self-sufficient in managing visitor access for the office. Which in turn reduces the burden put on IT teams and creates a more efficient workplace. 

8. Don’t Have A Receptionist? Use A Virtual Front Desk

Some offices just don’t employ receptionists or front desk staff. If that is the case, the office manager, or closest employee at the time, manages office visitors. This practice is far from efficient. It also risks missed visitors and deliveries since there is no dedicated staff to manage them. Deliveries, especially, are a concern because of the growing rate of package theft. 

Offices can effectively navigate their own visitor management with Swiftlane Video Intercom. Swiftlane admins can answer incoming intercom calls from anywhere and can remotely grant access after visual identification and verification of the visitor so that employees or other staff are not left to perform reception duties. Swiftlane’s remote unlock also enables a seamless visitor experience, arguably more so than a receptionist, who has other duties on top of managing visitors. 

Moreover, any user can generate and distribute a multi- or single-use PIN code that can be input into delivery instructions for secure package management. This allows employees to manage their own deliveries in a secure way while also minimizing any overhead operations that would otherwise be required. 

9. Manage Visitors For Multiple Office Locations and Satellite Offices

Companies with several office locations or satellite offices run on siloed security and visitor management systems. Each office requires its own system, which operates independently of all other office locations. The systems themselves are expensive, but more so is the time and effort needed on behalf of the office manager overseeing them. This fragmented process is not transparent nor easy to operate for a manager overseeing those locations. 

By contrast, Swiftlane Office Intercom increases visibility for managers overseeing multiple locations or satellite offices by operating under one platform. Swiftlane’s dashboard acts as a hub for all access events and activity for all locations, which makes visitor management simple and easy. Beyond just the administrative component to visitor management, office managers can also remotely grant access to the visitor of any office they oversee by receiving intercom calls to their mobile device. Finally, Swiftlane’s intercom system allows office managers to generate, distribute, and manage PIN codes for all one-time or recurring visitors for all offices. 

10. Granting Remote Access After Hours

Often employees get locked out of the building when they try to leave and come back after hours. Or someone forgot their badge at their desk, left and came back. Every facility team has gone through scenarios like these that require driving over late at night to grant someone access to the building. No one wants to be in charge of managing access after normal business hours. But still, office buildings require intermittent cleaning, maintenance, and security staff that work during abnormal hours. For example, if an office needs elevator maintenance, that cannot be done during the day when employees need to use it. Being physically present on-site to manage these jobs is a major burden for office staff.  

Swiftlane allows easy remote unlock with the mobile app to the facility teams. With Swiftlane, office managers or admins can generate unique PIN codes to distribute to one-time users or intermittent workers. PIN codes can be generated via the Swiftlane app or web-based dashboard from anywhere. PINs are highly customizable in that they can be scheduled to grant access on certain days, and even during specific hours. Alternatively, single-use PIN codes can be issued and expire 5 minutes after their initial use. Scheduling PIN codes restricts office access when it isn’t necessary which further increases security, and relieves the burden from office managers and admins. 

11. Deter Vandalism and Theft

Just by simply having a visible security camera, alarm, or other surveillance system present has been proven to deter burglaries and other crime. Vandalism and theft can cause major losses for businesses, so the cost of implementing any security system far outweighs the consequences of not having one. 

Swiftlane Intercom provides a photo log within the visitor log, which maintains a high security audit trail for the system. This acts as a deterrent and also provides strong security and audit trailing in the event that there is an incident. 

12. Integrate With Existing Access Control

While Swiftlane provides its own complete access control solution, the intercom can easily coexist with the existing key card system already in the building. The wiring from Swiftlane intercom board can connect into third party access control systems easily and universally, providing a simple way to coexist alongside access control systems. 

13. Cutting Costs With An All-In-One Solution

Offices that have separate systems for intercom and access control suffer from increased cost from operation, training, hardware expenses, software, and more. There are costs for licenses, software, and hardware for separate devices. Also, you have to maintain staff that’s trained on multiple systems. Having two separate systems also means that the data of each does not work together, so office managers have limited insight into the flow and physical security of the workplace. 

Swiftlane is an all-in-one intercom and access control solution. By using a single system, offices reduce the cost, overhead, and training of using two different systems. Swiftlane simplifies the office manager’s job by allowing them to use just a single, intuitive platform to manage employee and visitor access. It also allows office managers and admins to have a high level of insight into building operation and security. 

14. Increase Data Security With Single Sign On

We live in a world of security breaches and vulnerabilities. Offices cannot afford to suffer such incidents, so they are constantly relying on IT teams to mitigate risk. But, regardless of their efforts, legacy security systems are still built on a foundation of outdated technology that leave offices at risk. 

Swiftlane has built their foundation on solving modern problems like data security and privacy. So, Swiftlane Intercom has integrated with Single Sign On and Identity providers OKTA, G Suite, and Azure Active Directory for the highest level of data security, privacy, and consistency throughout the office. 

15. Receive Visitor Notifications On Any Device

Swiftlane intercom calls can be received on various devices like video calling to a mobile phone, tablet or computer. It can even be set up to make a regular phone call and pressing the #9 will unlock the door. That way, no one is stuck on a computer at the front desk handling visitors so they have the freedom to move around the building and still provide instant visitor notifications and handling. 

16. Security Logs and Audit Trails

Security incidents happen. But, many offices do not have proper security logs and audit trails available within their current access or security system. If an office doesn’t have an access system, they must rely on sign-in sheets and other methods of tracking access for this information, which is unreliable and inconsistent.

Swiftlane’s cloud-based dashboard logs and stores every access event and its details — which door was accessed, how it was accessed, who issued the visitor PIN if a PIN was used, etc. These logs can be monitored in real-time or downloaded and reviewed when necessary. Office managers have the peace of mind that they will not have to worry about compliance in the event of a security incident.