Office and reception security: visitors, access, incidents

• Welcome: courtesy and speed for anyone expected.
• Check: verification against the host’s registration, a visitor badge, a log entry.
• Deliveries: receipt, logging, notifying the recipient.
• Watching the entrance: who comes in behind whom, who is waiting without a reason.
• First response: medical emergency, alarm, evacuation, a confrontation in the lobby.

In the corporate buildings OVIT protects, lobby officers handle concierge duties, packages and access vetting in equal measure, with concierge and emergency-response training tailored to corporate settings (enterprise security). What goes into the post orders is covered in the post orders guide.

1. The host registers name, company, day, time and meeting place.
2. On arrival, reception confirms the person is the one registered.
3. The host is notified and collects the visitor from the lobby.
4. The badge is visible, expires the same day and opens only the areas of the visit.
5. On exit the badge is returned; a badge not returned is deactivated.

An unregistered visitor waits in the lobby until the host confirms them. They don’t go up “just for a minute”.

At OVIT, when a visitor arrives outside the approved window, reception, the host and security share one controlled request, the officer issues, limits or declines access, and the event joins the building’s timeline through the Guardly platform.

• Receipt: sender, recipient, time, condition of the packaging.
• Internal hand-over: the recipient signs or confirms collection.
• Large deliveries and technicians: treated as contractors, registered and escorted.
• Suspicious package: not moved and not opened; the written procedure is followed and the manager informed.

A reception buried in parcels stops watching the door. If volumes are high, set up a separate drop-off point or person; how many posts you need is covered in how many guards do I need.

• After-hours list: by name, kept current by the client, with each person’s zones.
• Crews: cleaners and technicians announced with times and areas.
• Closing round: doors, windows, meeting rooms, washrooms, car parks.
• Lone working: anyone staying late knows how to call for help.

A round time-stamped at checkpoints shows it happened, not just that it was scheduled. At OVIT the client sees rounds and incidents in one live picture, and a real person answers the operations desk.

• Physical barrier: speed gates or turnstiles at the entrance, where the building allows.
• Culture: staff send a stranger to reception rather than holding the door.
• Officer’s response: approach politely, ask whom they are visiting, walk them to reception and notify the host.
• Logging: every case is recorded, so a recurring door or time shows up.

The officer asks and escorts; they don’t search or hold anyone. If the situation escalates, they follow the written procedure and inform the manager.

1. Set routes, exits and an assembly point, and who is responsible on each floor.
2. List those who need help to get out, and who helps them.
3. Reception takes the current visitor list to the assembly point.
4. Run the drill, count, and note where people were slowed down or confused.
5. Discuss the findings and update the plan.

Legal fire-safety obligations depend on the building and aren’t covered in this guide; confirm them with whoever is responsible for your building’s fire safety. OVIT runs drilled response playbooks for fire, medical and intrusion scenarios, with liaison with first responders arranged in advance.

• Only what is needed: the Hellenic Data Protection Authority states that the GDPR requires measures so that, by default, only the data necessary for the purpose are processed (GDPR guide).
• Information: everyone has the right to know who processes their data, what it is and why, in clear, plain language (GDPR arts 12–14, HDPA).
• Discretion: the visitor list isn’t left open on the desk for the next visitor to read.
• Duration: the client sets how long entries are kept and what is deleted after that.

For cameras: signs go up before their field of view (Directive 1/2011, art. 12), footage is deleted within 15 working days at most if nothing happens (art. 8), and the Authority states that CCTV may not be used to monitor or evaluate employees (art. 27, Law 4624/2019). More in the guide to CCTV and GDPR.

The reception officer holds a personal work licence, category A or B, valid five years (Law 2518/1997, art. 3). Every OVIT engagement in a corporate building starts with a survey of access points, visitor flows and lobby procedures. Request a proposal for your offices.