PRIME GROUP REALTY TRUST

About Prime Group Realty Trust

Prime Group Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust that owns, manages, and leases nearly 4.6 million square feet of rentable office space in the metropolitan Chicago area. Its 1.5 million square-foot tower at 330 North Wabash Avenue is one of Chicago's most recognizable office buildings and home to prominent tenants, including law firms Jenner & Block and Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney. The building draws a considerable number of visitors daily.

Client Challenge

To visit one of the building's 52 floors, a person waited in line in order to be registered, verified, and admitted by a security guard. The registration lines became bottlenecks, creating congestion during business hours, which frustrated tenants, visitors, and Prime Group employees. Security guards dedicated most of their time to registering visitors and processing paperwork. As a result, they couldn't focus on other security responsibilities. To acquire insight on visitor traffic, building managers had to navigate through the stockpiles of registration forms filed by the security guards. Even then, the information was incomplete and unreliable. Prime Group realized that a visitor and lobby management system was needed to maintain the building's amenity-rich reputation.

Problem Solved by Kastle

Launched in 2005, Visitor Link – Kastle's advanced visitor processing system – streamlined the building's visitor registration process and reduced lobby congestion.

How Visitor Link Works. Visitor Link has made it easy for tenants to authorize guests for admittance. Via the Internet, tenants or building staff add their guests' name to the building's authorized visitor log, which is maintained in a secure central database by Kastle. Upon arrival, pre-authorized visitors register at one of two self-service kiosks in the lobby by inserting a driver's license or credit card into the scanner to verify their identity. The terminal prints an admission badge to indicate the person is authorized to enter the building.

Improved Security. Security is a top priority at all Prime Group Realty Trust properties. Kastle's Visitor Link system has made it more difficult for unauthorized individuals to gain access to the building. Visitor Link not only enhances existing security measures, but also offers speed and convenience for tenants and their guests.

More Efficient Building Personnel. Security guards are no longer bombarded with long lines and mountains of paperwork. They have assumed new responsibilities designed to further improve security.

Visiting Is a Pleasure. For visitors, Kastle's Visitor Link system is a welcome alternative to waiting in long lines for guards to check their names on a list, verify identification, record the visitor in a log book, and issue an admittance badge. Tenants, visitors, and building staff are pleased by the less congested lobby, resulting from the deployment of the Visitor Link system.

Centralized Reporting and Control. Following the implementation of Visitor Link, building management can access comprehensive, real-time reports of visitor traffic. Records of authorization, admittance, and traffic may be obtained conveniently over the Internet.

Frustration Reduced, Security Enhanced

The efficient lobby of 330 North Wabash today is noticeably less congested after the implementation of Visitor Link. Lines are shorter, visitors are less frustrated, and security guards are operating more efficiently. Tenants appreciate the reduction in congestion and chaos. Prime Group is confident that it can manage the flow of visitor traffic and better track visitor activity.