Hello! I’m working on a business plan to start a coworking space.
I don’t want to hire a receptionist, and will have a couple different part-time packages that will limit usage to x number of days within a given month.
Both for security, access, and monitoring use, I would want a system that “counts” the number of times a certain user accesses the building, or has a date/time stamp of when accessed. Is anyone using a tool like this, and if so, what are you using/what do you recommend?
I’ve had the same worry a couple of months ago, and I’ve been researching for a while.
It’s easy to put an access point on the main entrance for your members to tap when they want to access (Kinda like employees punch in in the morning). But the problem is they won’t usually punch out as they leave.
This results in open-ended entries to your space, now if your memberships are daily then this is not an issue, but if it’s hourly then you will need to educate your members on the importance of tapping their card on their way out.
These access points usually link to a software that gives you a report of usage with the member’s card number - time in - time out etc.
That’s a very good question and good point to consider when coming up with a business plan (which most people already aren’t aware of).
I might be a bit biased since I am one of the founders at getkisi.com but we certainly allow the following:
Automatically provision keys onto smartphones via your membership software > If it’s a member they’ll have access, if they are not anymore, they don’t
Restrict access based on times: You can make the key expire in 3 days or make the key only valid for mon-wed in every given week
Access log of all access events with timestamps
What we don’t do: Counting how often people unlock the door (because sometimes they unlock multiple times).
cheers,
Bernhard
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On Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 1:49:00 PM UTC-4, Ruth Rosengren wrote:
Hello! I’m working on a business plan to start a coworking space.
I don’t want to hire a receptionist, and will have a couple different part-time packages that will limit usage to x number of days within a given month.
Both for security, access, and monitoring use, I would want a system that “counts” the number of times a certain user accesses the building, or has a date/time stamp of when accessed. Is anyone using a tool like this, and if so, what are you using/what do you recommend?
Hi Ruth,
I have so many questions for you! Who will greet members as they arrive? Why don’t you want a receptionist? Is it cost? What is driving your desire to be unstaffed at the door?
I REALLY believe in having someone near the door to greet members/visitors when you are a new community. Nothing and I mean NOTHING is more frustrating to me than when I visit a coworking space and I can’t find anyone to help me.
Angel
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On Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 11:49:00 AM UTC-6, Ruth Rosengren wrote:
Hello! I’m working on a business plan to start a coworking space.
I don’t want to hire a receptionist, and will have a couple different part-time packages that will limit usage to x number of days within a given month.
Both for security, access, and monitoring use, I would want a system that “counts” the number of times a certain user accesses the building, or has a date/time stamp of when accessed. Is anyone using a tool like this, and if so, what are you using/what do you recommend?
Greeting and onboarding a new member (most spaces I know set up times to do that and don’t really allow walk-ins)
Giving members who are already onboarded access to the space
To do the first task I think Ruth is correct, she doesn’t need someone sitting at the front desk. However I do see the need for someone at the front desk in higher end environments or if you think it is a community function. In spaces I’ve worked in we’ve had both. What I would say though is: Anyone who sits at the front desk has to be able to help you and build community. It can’t be “just” a receptionist otherwise that will be counter productive.
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On Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 11:32:52 AM UTC-4, Angel Kwiatkowski wrote:
Hi Ruth,
I have so many questions for you! Who will greet members as they arrive? Why don’t you want a receptionist? Is it cost? What is driving your desire to be unstaffed at the door?
I REALLY believe in having someone near the door to greet members/visitors when you are a new community. Nothing and I mean NOTHING is more frustrating to me than when I visit a coworking space and I can’t find anyone to help me.
Angel
On Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 11:49:00 AM UTC-6, Ruth Rosengren wrote:
Hello! I’m working on a business plan to start a coworking space.
I don’t want to hire a receptionist, and will have a couple different part-time packages that will limit usage to x number of days within a given month.
Both for security, access, and monitoring use, I would want a system that “counts” the number of times a certain user accesses the building, or has a date/time stamp of when accessed. Is anyone using a tool like this, and if so, what are you using/what do you recommend?
I am an Assistant Community Manager and sit at the front door because we have many guests walking in through out the day but am currently in the struggle to phase out this need since I need to be more mobile on the floor. We have Envoy check in system currently but so many guests miss it and particularly the people who are uninvited solicitors will walk right by to run around the office before I catch them. I have been looking into a volunteer based program of ‘Community Cultivators’ or ‘Member Ambassadors’ which will help me be able to get away from the desk more often. If maybe it helps to look into that to catch anyone that doesn’t get into the technical tool or software you are looking into. Good Luck!
Bernhard if I could ask you a few questions:
I was wondering if the Kisi system will log how long someone has been in the building. Particularly if there is a front door that doesn’t need key access to get into some of the time. As in their phone hits the area of the building and even if they don’t use it to unlock it still checks them in? And when they leave it checks them out? Does Kisi do this automatically or is this something that needs to be done manually on the app?
I’m Carmem from Cobot. We are a coworking management software and many spaces use our platform in combination to our KISI integration to do just that - control access based on time/place/date, manage access rights, issue &revoke key access, oversee all acces operations and monitor security.
The way it works is that members registered in Cobot are assigned to KISI access groups and are granted access via their mobile app, depending on their membership.
I’m happy to connect if you have further questions. My email is [email protected]
Thanks for the questions and I like your model you described!
What I’ve seen working is to just keep the door locked during business hours. It might seem a bit unfriendly first but everyone will feel more secure and will be happier to hang out in the space because not everyone can walk in. To catch people who don’t have access you can install a digital dorbell like ring.com or similar.
Now to your question if we can logically check in and check out people. Technically yes. The problem remains: What if someone doesn’t check in or doesn’t check out? You will have in the end more trouble correcting the data than it saves. That’s the only issue right now that I can see.
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Bernhard if I could ask you a few questions:
I was wondering if the Kisi system will log how long someone has been in the building. Particularly if there is a front door that doesn’t need key access to get into some of the time. As in their phone hits the area of the building and even if they don’t use it to unlock it still checks them in? And when they leave it checks them out? Does Kisi do this automatically or is this something that needs to be done manually on the app?
There’s another obvious answer here–you don’t have to monitor your coworkers. They are more than capable of knowing how many days they have worked in any week. Cohere has been unmanaged in this way for 6 years and had 1 issue with overuse, which the member immediately corrected after I pointed it out.
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On Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 11:49:00 AM UTC-6, Ruth Rosengren wrote:
Hello! I’m working on a business plan to start a coworking space.
I don’t want to hire a receptionist, and will have a couple different part-time packages that will limit usage to x number of days within a given month.
Both for security, access, and monitoring use, I would want a system that “counts” the number of times a certain user accesses the building, or has a date/time stamp of when accessed. Is anyone using a tool like this, and if so, what are you using/what do you recommend?
Thank you for your answers, Bernhard! Yes, it could be more troublesome. We have a slight snowball issue with guests coming after hours and not honoring the system, these are the ones where we would like to know the timestamps even if they aren’t manually checking in and out on the app. Possibly integration with wifi that once out of range will log them out of the system. I wish everyone did honor policies but it isn’t always the case.
Hey Rachael, I’m Doug from Meshwork. We also have a coworking management platform that we will be integrating with the guys at KISI in the next couple months. We’re also planning on doing some pretty cool location based services which will potentially automatically check members in and even let you know if and how long people are using specific conference rooms. Location based services have come a long way so there are a lot of interesting ways to use it.
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On Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 12:19:42 PM UTC-6, Rachael Wishart wrote:
Thank you for your answers, Bernhard! Yes, it could be more troublesome. We have a slight snowball issue with guests coming after hours and not honoring the system, these are the ones where we would like to know the timestamps even if they aren’t manually checking in and out on the app. Possibly integration with wifi that once out of range will log them out of the system. I wish everyone did honor policies but it isn’t always the case.