In this featured piece by WMTV News (NBC 15), the outlet reports on how Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District began using visitor management software called Visitor Aware to digitally manage who enters and exits district buildings. Asher Torbeck, the district’s safety and security coordinator, explained that the system replaces handwritten sign-in sheets with a digital process that checks visitors against the sex offender registry, the FBI and Interpol watch lists, and any internal bans the district has created. Visitors create an account in under five minutes by taking a photo of themselves and scanning their ID, then receive a printed badge with their photo. The same software is also used by the Madison Metropolitan School District and the Waunakee Community School District.
Key Takeaways
- Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District began using Visitor Aware on Tuesday to digitally manage visitor check-ins across district buildings.
- The system checks visitors against the sex offender registry, the FBI and Interpol watch lists, and any internal bans the district has created.
- Visitors create an account in under five minutes by taking a photo of themselves and scanning their ID, then receive a badge with their photo.
- The district can digitally track who is in a building at any time, which helps during an evacuation.
- The same software is also used by the Madison Metropolitan School District and the Waunakee Community School District.
Original Story
Families in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District will notice changes to the visitor check-in system the next time they make a stop at their child’s school.
Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District began using the software, Visitor Aware, to digitally manage who is coming in and out of the building.
“It’s a system that we can take away from the handwritten sign-in, and so we have something digital,” Asher Torbeck, the district’s safety and security coordinator, said.
It was implemented on Tuesday to better account for visitors and improve communications between staff while also keeping students safe.
“It does run checks against the sex offender registry program,” he said. “It also runs the FBI, Interpol Watch List and then any internal bans that we created. If there’s an issue with somebody, we can create a ban just so that it would make our staff aware if somebody were to come into the building.”
It also keeps track of who is coming in and out of district buildings.