When planning an event, a new concern must be a part of the many things you keep track of. How are we ensuring a safe environment in the wake of COVID-19? Event planners now must figure out how to ensure that their gatherings are safe and don’t turn into super spreader events while we continue to get back to normal. Adding this to the list of things event planners must keep track of is a taxing ask, however. They already must coordinate numerous vendors and services, as well as predict guest behavior and try to plan an event that will be pleasant and engaging. Event planning staff and administrators don’t have the time to screen each guest beforehand or provide public health with the information they need to handle the pandemic in each area. The event staff need an automated screening and check-in process.
Digital check-in systems are not a new idea. The days are long gone when event administrators manually kept track of who attended an event or whether they had the correct documents. Even in a manual era, this was often done by doorpersons, bouncers, ushers, and so on. In the age of digital enhancement, organization administrations can handle nearly all event-related situations by using automated solutions. Every day, more solutions are being innovated to ensure event check-in systems run smoothly.
COVID-19 screening and check-in automation is one of these groundbreaking solutions.
This solution deals with screening and check-in issues for any event and can even remind guests to fulfill this required function automatically. Event planners can set templates and keep track of who has and has not provided the required documents at the click of a button, allowing them to focus on other tasks that require human intervention.
With an automated COVID-19 screening and check-in solution, event management can rest easy knowing that all the guests have been contacted automatically and that the review process has begun. They will be notified when documents need to be checked on a case-by-case basis and can remind people who have not yet filled out the screening form. The solution will also automatically log who has checked in to an event, allowing the event management to submit an accurate guest list based on who attended in the event of an exposure.
Sounds a bit complicated, doesn’t it? Here is an example to make it easier to follow:
Organization ABC has planned an event. They need to screen for COVID vaccinations and symptoms, to ensure that everyone attending has been following public health guidelines to the best of their ability. They also need data to provide to Public Health in case of an exposure, listing who was present at the event and therefore who is potentially at risk.
They can do this by manually stopping each guest at the door and asking for documentation and a signature and then compiling all of that via data entry later, but this would require an astronomical amount of extra staff and cost them large amounts of money. Should they go ahead with a costly manual process that will result in long lineups, frustrated guests, and a reduced venue capacity due to the extra staff?
Or should they use an automated screening and check-in solution to send messages ahead of time and collect the information in near real time without needing extra staff?
Certainly, the second option is the most viable because it saves time, makes the screening and check-in process more efficient, and helps event managers to optimally mobilize resources and assemble the requisite data to protect everyone involved in the shortest amount of time.
How to Set Up a COVID-19 Screening and Check-in Solution
Well, the most critical steps of setting up an automated, digital screening and check-in solution are having a strategy, figuring out the set of tasks needed to build the process, and finally, finding the right digital tools to build the perfect screening and check-in process. It is a big job, since it involves a lot of technical labor and skills.
Fortunately, event managers do not have to build this solution from scratch.
SimplyCast anticipated the growing need for an automated screening and check-in solution and built a ready-to-go system that can be customized for every single event in any organization.
All you need to do is to follow these basic steps to get your screening and check-in solution ready:
Step 1: Screening Form
The core of this process is your screening form. Without this, there is no way that you can collect the required documents for proof of vaccination, and you have no way to track the screening questions and who replied how. Templating this form will allow you to include it in messages that suit your guests’ contact preferences and collect the information you need in one easy-to-access location. The form will apply this information to guest profiles in a central database and allow for the easy collection of documentation for review.
Step 2: Automate Reminders
Once the form is built, you’ll want to template your reminder messages. These will be sent at pre-set time intervals to remind your guests that if they want to attend the event, filling out the screening form is a mandatory prerequisite. These messages can be sent via email, SMS, or even voice calls if your guest prefers that. They will be simple reminder messages that tell the guest how to access the form and what information is required. This makes things clear to the guest and saves time explaining exactly what it is you are looking for. These messages can draw on the guest profiles to insert personal data such as the guest’s name, the date of the event, and more. Thus, maintaining the central database using your screening form is especially important.
Step 3: Confirm Vaccination
Once you have reached this step, the guest has received their thank you message for providing their information and a task has been created for someone in your event staff to manually confirm their documents against the guidelines that your jurisdiction has set regarding vaccination documentation. Once the staff has completed their review, they can continue the automated process. The guest will then receive a thank you, or a request for more information, both of which should be templated beforehand.
Step 4: Check-In Process
When guests arrive, their screening process has been completed, and they can check-in to the event for contact tracing purposes using their cell phones. They can either text a shortcode number to check in, or they can scan a QR code and fill out the form that it opens. Check-in instructions can be presented at the entrances of the event or other places where they are clearly visible to guests. When a guest checks in, their information is added to a list. In the event of COVID-19 exposure, Public Health can be provided with an accurate list of all those potentially affected.
Step 5: Reports and Metrics
After the event, reports will be available to you. These can be used to ensure that everyone went through the screening process and checked in, and that the information provided was accurate. You can also see how effective your automated screening and check-in process is, based on how many guests opened your messages and how many took action once reminded. This information will help you not only improve existing and future campaigns, but improve the accuracy of the data gathered and provided for public safety.
Why SimplyCast?
So, there it is! You have a complete, digital engagement-powered COVID-19 screening and check-in solution.
As mentioned before, it is completely customizable technology so you can tweak the solution to meet your organization’s specific requirements. We have used our in-house marketing automation tool and incorporated our SMS, Email, Voice Broadcasting, and CRM software to build this solution.
Don’t worry about scalability and security! SimplyCast is an ISO 27001:2013-certified company with data centers in the USA and Canada. This means we can assure you that your confidential data is safe on our secure server and the messages you transmit are completely encrypted. Our platform has the capacity to send nearly 100,000+ messages every hour and allows 10,000+ concurrent sessions. We can also get additional gateways and servers if you need them.
Most importantly, we have a 99.5% minimum uptime. With our COVID-19 screening and check-in solution, you can have peace of mind.
Interested?
Don’t wait! Our experts are ready to give you a one-on-one demo to explain how this solution works.
Simply request a demo by clicking the button below and let us show you how our solution can help you manage your screening and check-in system more efficiently.
