WARRENVILLE, Ill.--Trucking manufacturer Navistar International Corp. is now managing visitor management capabilities from an enterprise-wide perspective and has plans to expand the program internationally.

Currently, 31 EasyLobby stations are live in 20 sites across North America, Canada and two locations in Mexico City and Escobedo, Mexico. It has plans to roll out enterprise capabilities to locations in Brazil and other South American locales.

Mike Scribner, head of security technical support and development for Navistar, said the company started out with "a single standalone solution at world headquarters. What we wanted to do was expand to more locations. Now, from my computer, I can see how many visitors we have in these locations and I can track a single visitor to see which location he or she is visiting."

Each of Navistar's VMS are linked to an enterprise-wide database to enable this information to be managed centrally. Scribner said the company's SQL database makes it easy for the company to add a site and quickly spread updates throughout the enterprise.

The solution also streamlines visitor enrollment, he said, as visitors only have to register once and the information is then stored for use at the same location or another. The company processes more than 12,000 visitors per month; it currently accounts for 65 locations and 13,000 employees.

Howard Marson, CEO of EasyLobby, said most customers are installing enterprise-wide systems in today's market because of the ability to manage information from a central location.

What the system does is "create accountability in the facility. The security officer checks their identification against who they say they are and they provide us with a signature when they come in that means they abide by our safety and privacy rules." Scribner said the registration process takes approximately 40 seconds.

Accountability in manufacturing sites is particularly important, Scribner said, because guests are required to follow certain safety rules, such as wearing steel tip shoes.

But if an individual is prohibited from entering a facility, Scribner said the solution enables that person to be placed on a watch list and an alarm is sent if the person tries to access a site. "We've had that come up numerous times, with hundreds of people on the watch list," he said.

At company headquarters, there are two visitor management systems in place: a self-registration machine in addition to the guard-service solution. Scribner said on average 65 percent are new and processed by security officers, but repeat visitors tend to use the automated kiosk.

Overall, this project not only enhances security but promotes an environment where employees are aware of who is populating work environments.

"We want to know who is in our facilities," he said. "Employees have access control badges and visitors have EasyLobby badges. We train employees that if you don't see one of the badges on a person to stop and ask them who they are."