Housing.com iPad receptionist app wows company visitors

Mumbai-based Housing, like most offices today, does not employee a live receptionist. The world’s fastest-growing online real estate platform has a corporate vision of initiating change for the best. So they wanted a tech-forward office lobby that matched that ambitious vision.

Earlier this month, Housing installed Greetly, an iPad receptionist solution, to welcome visitors and handle deliveries to their headquarters. Situated adjacent to their unmanned reception desk, visitors use the digital receptionist to check themselves in. Greetly instantly notifies employees via phone call, text message and email. The digital receptionist app, developed by a US company, also handles package and food deliveries.

“Visitors really enjoy checking themselves in”, says Ashish Jaswal, procurement manager at Housing. “Employees get notified on their smartphones so they don’t need to stay near their desks while waiting for visitors to arrive.”

In addition to efficiency, Housing is saving money. Greetly is free to download from the iTunes app store. After a 30-day free trial, the service cost ranges from US$49 to US$199 per month based on the number of employees and office locations. That’s a huge cost savings compared to the salary of a receptionist. And unlike a receptionist, Greetly is always available to welcome visitors.

Housing’s new receptionist solution includes a cloud-based digital visitor log. This allows the company to know which visitors are onsite from any web enabled device. Greetly’s visitor log also includes visitor photos taken during the check-in process.

“Housing is about using technology to create better human experiences. Greetly provides exactly that for visitors to our office” Jaswal concludes.