Appointments, not a visitor book: reception for an office block
In an office block, every visitor is expected by someone. Why the visitor should be booked in by that person, not written up at the desk.
Every visitor to an office is there because someone who works there asked them to come. That fact is already known to the person they are visiting. The usual process throws it away and asks the visitor to write it down again at reception.
The person who knows makes the code
Staff make a code for the person they are expecting. The officer checks it, and the visitor is on their way to the right office. There is no ID number written down and no queue of strangers each filling in a line of a book.
Deliveries and couriers
Parcels are the largest source of “where did it go” in a building. Each delivery is recorded against the office it is for, so a parcel that never arrived has a line saying where it went and who was on duty.
Drivers and family
Staff often have a driver or family who come and go all week. They can be listed once, so the officer records them without a code every time.
Functions
A launch, an open day or a training session can use one code for everyone invited, with a headcount the gate will not go past.
What facilities management gets
A record of who came to see whom. Every visitor is tied to the staff member who approved them, every exit is recorded, every officer shift is named. That is a better answer to “who was in the building on Thursday” than a book with a column for ID numbers that nobody should be keeping.
Less personal data, on purpose
An ID number copied at reception is a liability for the company that holds it. A system that does not need it at the desk has less to lose. That is a security decision as much as a convenience.
If your reception still keeps a book, count how many visitors a week it holds. Each line is a name and a number you are responsible for.