Overview
When ARTS was first started, a second tool - Reception Desks - was added. This allowed departments to set up a "Reception Desk", where visitors could badge in, and then (with the help of the receptionist), select who they were here to see from a list of contacts. Given the large overlap with the general ARTS tool, the decision was made to add the functionality to the mainline ARTS tool and eventually retire the stand alone reception desk tool.
In the back end, both tools already shared the same log tables. The merge project was moving, albeit slowly, when COVID hit. But now, in October 2021, work has resumed and additional features and technology is now available to make it even better. This is very much a work in progress, but the basic function is about ready. Note that all of the work is taking place in the 2.1 version of ARTS.
Reception desk
- Ongoing use – single instance…..
- Manual Entry / Search Option (no card needed)
- Add reason for visit – drop-down list and radio button selection
- Select contact to visit
- Phone message option
- Reports for Contacts
Procedures
The reception desk mode starts like any other ARTS event; the visitor badges in (manual search is available for folks who forgot their cards), they are checked against the current set of Access Control List entries, and if they are ok, a window for additional information and contact selection pops up.
The additional information (optional) can be a reason for the visit (selected from a predefined list), free form text and possibly a few other items. There is also a list of "contacts" - click on the desired one, and the window closes and the desk is ready for the next person to badge in.
But in the "back room", the contacts can also have a window open that lists all of the people who have come to see them. This window can be set up to automatically refresh when a new contact has been added to their list (similar to Deli Mode). From that list, the contact can "dismiss" the entry, or "select" it, which will bring them to another window with some general information about the visitor (including their photo), a log of previous visits and (optionally), "operational comments" about this visitor made by contact and other members of the department.
Setup
You start with a normal event app, with agents to operate the reception desk, ACLs to limit who can check in, but then you need to make some changes to the "Desk Settings" and define some Contacts in the "Agents" page - both available from the menu.
[Events Check-in screen with Desk Settings fields]
Desk Settings
In order to use contacts, you must first enable them - this is done with the Show Contacts switch setting.
- Select "Yes" to display the contacts and more features appear
- Under Contact Format choose Block or Report.
- Under Contact Image Type, select the size of the photo of the contact to include in the display; I would suggest the IDThumb (Thumbnail).
- Scroll down to Visit Reason Format.
Choose from the following:
- Select List - displays a select list of choices - good with longer lists
- Select List (Terminal) - closes window after selection
- Radio List - displays a list of radio buttons
- Radio List (Terminal) - closed the window when selection made.
NOTE: Whatever choice you make, shows a widget that allows you to define a list of standard reasons.
3. Begin typing the visit reason within the Visit Reason Lit and then click "add" to add one, or select one in the big box.
4. Click "remove" to delete reasons from the box if necessary. This will NOT impact prior log entries.
NOTE: Having a predetermined set of reasons makes it easier to group and count for reports. Some departments only wanted to know WHY the visitor was there, not who they were there to see.
NOTE: The add/remove widget does NOT allow you change the order.
5. Comment Prompt text box feature. If you put a label here, a text box with that label will appear on the pop up box at tap in. This allows the receptionist to enter a free form comment that will be included in the visit log. NOTE: If you leave the box empty, the free text box will not appear.
Contacts
If you want to direct visitors at your reception desk to people, you need to add Contacts. These are managed via the "Agents" tab entry.
To add a new contact:
- Click the create button and then select "Contact" as the agent type.
This will update the form and add some new fields. These can be displayed on Contact "cards" during the selection process instead of the normal directory values. For many offices, a person's phone number is the office main number rather than the number at their desk, Likewise, their title in the directory may not directly indicate what they specialize in for office visitors.
Selected Display
When a contact selects a visitor to edit
NB - Under development
Futures
This is a work in progress - I hope to add additional functionality. But to do that, I need your help. I need your ideas and requirements, to help me solidify the design and to prioritize future work. I do have a few ideas that have been considered. If that sounds good, let me know!
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Role contacts - rather than selecting a person by name, several roles/tasks areas would be defined. In the back office, contacts would be able to select one or more roles they are interested in. When a visitor is assigned to that role, it will come up on the display for any back office person "interested" in that role. They can then "claim" that person, which will take them off the pending list - this is basically adding a "reason" to Deli Mode.
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Phone Message - facilitate taking of phone messages and directing them to Contacts via both the queue and also via email if desired.
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Contact Availability/Presence - provide tools to allow contacts to indicate when they are in the office and/or available for visitors - this would show up in the contact display at the reception desk.
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SMS notification of "Claims" - when a contact "Claims" a visitor, along with updating a waiting display at the reception desk (Deli Mode), send the visitor an SMS message that their contact is ready for them.
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Prescheduled slots - allow visitors to sign up for visit slots using a version of the COVID testing time slot tool. A visitors schedule request will be included when they tap in (On Time, Early, Late, no appointment).
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Contact Selected Display - when a contact selects a visitor from their list, what sort of workflow would be helpful?
- Visit log entry - including common visit reasons for later data analysis
- Referral - generate message with links to other contacts for additional action
- Access links for other applications where we can generate a link for other web based services, ideally with imbedded visitor ID and authentication.
- Generate email or SMS to the visitor
- Additional demographic or academic information - with appropriate authorization, we may be able to access schedule information, RU club affiliations, etc.
- Contact Reports - what sort of reports would contacts want to see of their visits?
References/Links
None at this time
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