How to Staff the Door During Business Hours

[Amy King]

We are opening a very large coworking space this fall and I want to create a very welcoming environment for visitors/ guests / members without staffing a dedicated receptionist or requiring our community ambassadors to sit at the front desk full-time. 

What are different models out there for this? Have some kind of technical fix where our ambassadors and other staff get a text or other prompt when there's a visitor at the front desk, so they can go greet them? We will have keyless entry of some kind for members, so this is more to let visitors in, accept packages etc .Looking for very candid advice, suggestions etc. Thanks!

[Elizabeth Trice]

We have 80 members in 4600 sf, and have a successful program with member ambassadors staffing the front desk. Our doors are unlocked and staffed 9-5 M-F except holidays, and almost all members have 24/7 keys. They don't have to be at the desk, they just have to be within sight of the front door in case someone new comes in. There's a remote handset for the desk phone so they can take it with them. Our space has lots of other desks and couches right around the front door, so even sitting at the front desk they are part of the space; it's not like there's a separate lobby. At this point, most of the ambassadors have had the role for 2-3 years, and they're very happy as they get to know all the other members and take advantage of all the resources the space has. We have a quarterly dinner and meeting, and we also just started providing reimbursement for conferences or education they want to attend. I'm happy to provide more detail in direct message.  

Pelotonlabsportland.com

[Ehmandah R.]

Thank you for the response. I had the same question.

[Jamie Russo]

Check this out for a technology solution: http://www.yourvirtualbutler.com/

[Amy King]

Thank you Elizabeth! It's especially helpful to know that you let them go away from the desk as long as they are in sight of the front door. I've seen so many spaces that require the ambassadors to sit at the desk all the time like receptionists. It's just as important to me that the ambassadors interact with the members in the space, as it is to greet visitors. I'm definitely looking at some technology options that can alert our ambassadors / staff that someone is at the front door, as our space is pretty large, so they may not always be within eyesight of the front door. 

I'm sure I'll reach out with more questions at some point soon!

[ca...@getkisi.com]

Kisi and Ring integrate together to create what some users like to call a "virtual doorman." Essentially, someone would ring the Ring doorbell and your staff member would get a notification on their mobile device, tablet, etc. that gives them a live stream of whoever is at your front door in the Ring app. Once the visitor is authorized (i.e. a delivery, someone visiting a member, etc.) then you would use Kisi unlock your door and let the visitor in. This can be done remotely from anywhere in your space (or anywhere in the world for that matter!). You can learn more about it here.

[Melissa T. Goldman]

I'm also super interested in this question, too!

One thing that came up in the legal session at GCUC was running afoul of labor laws with ambassador programs if you're having members do tasks that someone is sometimes paid to do (regardless of whether they get perks other than hourly compensation). Can anyone share how they've approached this? I can't find anything in the list archives, but maybe I'm not looking in the right place. I'm sure it would be helpful to everyone to answer here, but if you'd rather talk off-list that is also fine. 

Melissa T.G.

__

Melissa Tapper Goldman

mel...@workshopbrookline.com

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

Office Nomads has a nice setup. There is a coworking area right by the front door so if staff isn't their, the community cultivators are working up there and can greet people AND work with coworkers at the same time. Perfect.

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

Ignore all my grammar. All of it.

[Alex Hillman]

Amy - I'm curious, can you get a little more specific than "very large"? 

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On Sun, Jun 26, 2016 at 5:05 PM, Amy King <amarga...@gmail.com> wrote:

We are opening a very large coworking space this fall and I want to create a very welcoming environment for visitors/ guests / members without staffing a dedicated receptionist or requiring our community ambassadors to sit at the front desk full-time. 

What are different models out there for this? Have some kind of technical fix where our ambassadors and other staff get a text or other prompt when there's a visitor at the front desk, so they can go greet them? We will have keyless entry of some kind for members, so this is more to let visitors in, accept packages etc .Looking for very candid advice, suggestions etc. Thanks!

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[Amy King]

Thanks Alex! The 2 floor building is approx 55k sf, which includes retail and 12 residential lofts. The coworking footprint is about 60% of the first floor, around 12-14k sf. We have two entrances for members - a front reception entrance and the rear entrance that accesses the parking lot. 

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