Visitor management system for South African sites
Guards scan the driver’s licence, ID card, passport or vehicle licence disc instead of copying details into a visitors book. Every arrival and departure goes on the record, and the app keeps only what the visit needs.
Book a DemoTL;DR — Quick Summary
Visitors Management is the visitor register on the Sentry handset. Guards scan South African driver’s licences, ID cards, passports and licence discs, the app checks the number plate against the disc, and people and vehicles are logged in and out.
- Licence photos shown for checking, then discarded
- Passports read from the machine-readable lines only
- Number plate checked against the disc
- Vehicle and driver logged as one visit
- What is a visitor management system?
- Software that replaces the visitors book at the gate. It records who came in, in which vehicle, and when they left.
- What documents can Sentry scan?
- South African driver’s licences and ID cards from the barcode on the back, passports from the machine-readable lines, and vehicle licence discs.
- Does it keep copies of ID documents?
- It keeps no images of them. The licence photo is shown so the guard can compare the face, and is not stored. Passports are read from the machine-readable lines only.
- Does it check the number plate?
- Yes, against the registration on the licence disc. If they differ, the plate that was read is saved with the visit.
- Does it work without signal?
- Yes. Visits are saved on the handset and sent when signal returns, with their original time.
How it works
Keeps what the visit needs, and no more
Identity documents are personal information under POPIA, so Sentry is careful about what it holds on to. The guard sees the licence photograph on screen to compare the face, and it is not stored. A passport is read from its machine-readable lines alone: no image is kept and the visa and stamp pages are never read. The number plate check keeps its result and no photograph.
Scans the documents people carry
Sentry reads the barcode on the back of an SA driver’s licence or ID card, the machine-readable lines on a passport, and the licence disc on the windscreen. It reads the code, so smudged print elsewhere on the card does not matter.
Vehicle and driver as one visit
On a vehicle visit the guard scans the disc first, then the driver’s document. The register shows who was driving which car, in one row.
Number plate checked against the disc
The disc already carries the registration, so the app knows what the plate should say. The guard points the camera at the car and the app compares the two. If they differ, the plate that was actually read is saved with the visit, so the call can be checked later.
Trucks with trailers
The guard adds each trailer’s disc to the same visit, so the whole rig is logged once.
Expired documents flagged
A licence, disc or passport past its expiry date is flagged at the top of the review screen, above everything else, where the guard cannot scroll past it. The site decides whether to turn the visitor away.
Damaged documents still get through
When a scratched barcode or a curled passport page will not read, the guard types the details and takes an evidence photograph, so a worn card does not leave a visitor stuck at the gate.
Works without signal
Visits are queued on the handset and sent when signal returns, with their original time.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Sentry Visitors Management, answered for security operators and site supervisors.
See it with your own sites
Book a demo and we will walk through the Visitors Management module with your own sites and shift patterns.
Schedule a DemoOther Sentry modules
The rest of Sentry, on the handset at the post and in the office