Free Visitor Management system – does it really exist?

I was asked recently if we could provide our visitor management solution free, that is the customer did not have to pay for the solution. Free is great for many things but always comes at a cost. My kids get a free ice cream at the local restaurant after ordering any meal over $12. the free ice cream really gets the kids going.

I was sent a link to a free Visitor Management software and I was asked what did I think of the product. Just like when I was asked about the iPad visitor management solution for 80 locations I simply stopped for a moment and completed some research.

So the free visitor management software has a number of notes about what you need to run the software listed as required to make it work…

To use this software fully you need to have three things:

1. Microsoft Access 2007, 2010 or newer.  If you don’t you have Access, you download a FREE runtime version direct from Microsoft HERE (select the 32bit Version).
2. If you want to insert pictures into the software, you need a cheap web cam.  Any will do, when you get your webcam set it up to take low quality still pictures
3. A small label printer capable of 2? x 4? printing.  I used a Seiko Epson 440 and a cheap knock off version of the SLP-SRL 2?x4? shipping label.  Note that to get the quality set to what I wanted I set the ADVANCED SETTINGS on the Label printer to DITHERING 6×6 and FINE print.  I also had to set the printer to print PORTRAIT.

The notes go on to say…. To modify the software:

1. just make sure Access 2007 (or newer) is installed on your PC
2. HOLD DOWN THE SHIFT KEY and double click the database file (Visitor-Management.mdb).  Holding down the SHIFT will put the database into EDIT mode
3. press F11 key on your keyboard which will open up the database menu on the left
4. Right click on the rptBadge form and select DESIGN VIEW make your changes.

In essence so long as you have a windows based PC with Microsoft Access installed (and you understand Microsoft Access) then you can try the free program. How much it will cost you and your IT team to set this up will depend on your infrastructure, I have no idea what happens with the free software should you think about a second location.

If this all seems to complicated then check out our cloud based Visitor Management software that is not free but gives you everything you need from any web browser.

Cloud based Visitor Management Software Book in a demonstration and let us show you how visitor management can help you in your business no matter how many locations you have around the world.