Understanding Visitor Background Checks and Alert Notifications

School Sex Offender Checks, No-Go Checks, and Alert Notifications with CENTEGIX Visitor Management

Ensuring the safety of students and staff is CENTEGIX’s top priority. CENTEGIX Visitor Management comes equipped with essential school safety features that verify every person who sets foot on campus.

Let’s discuss three key features of our visitor management system for schools: sexual offender background checks, No-go checks, and alert notifications to school staff.

Sexual Offender Background Checks

Sexual Offender Background Checks in CENTEGIX Visitor Management

Our visitor management system uses the information provided by a visitor or gathered by a staff member during check-in to scan the United States National Sex Offender Registry for a potential match. 

If a match is found, your staff members are immediately alerted. Staff can then review the information before deciding whether to allow a suspicious visitor on campus or deny them entry.

CENTEGIX Visitor Management stations use a driver’s license scanner to run sexual offender background checks. According to school safety best practices, an optical license scanner, rather than manual data entry, works best for collecting the necessary pre-check information. Thanks to our scanners, it’s impossible to use a fake ID to bypass this background check.

When visitors arrive at the CENTEGIX Visitor Management kiosk, the system prompts them to scan the back of their driver’s license using the optical license scanner. The license scanner reads the encrypted barcode on the back of the visitor’s license to gather their full name, date of birth, and state of residence. No other data fields are gathered. Schools can save a visitor’s information for faster check-in the next time they visit, but driver’s license information is never stored. 

The scanning of a license takes seconds and is highly accurate. Once the license has been scanned, the visitor can continue with the check-in procedure. When all prompts are completed, CENTEGIX Visitor Management approves the visitor’s entry or alerts school staff if it detects a potential match on the National Sex Offender Registry.

In the rare event that a visitor’s ID is unscannable—an ID’s barcode could be worn down, for example, or a form of ID such as a passport or military ID may lack a barcode—staff members are required to manually gather a visitor’s information and run the sexual offender check. 

Since a user could intentionally provide false information, it’s recommended that staff members verify proof of identification before manually entering a visitor’s personal data.

No-Go Background Checks

No-Go Background Checks in CENTEGIX Visitor Management

CENTEGIX Visitor Management can create a custom list of individuals or phrases to be flagged for review during a check-in. The No-go list differs from the sexual offender background check in that school staff members are responsible for adding, editing, and removing names or phrases from the custom No-go list. The No-go list is empty by default for all stations, and school districts tailor this list to fit their needs.

No-go checks work similarly to sexual offender background checks, but with two key differences:

• No-go checks are not connected to external databases. 
• No-go checks do not require an optical license scanner.

When a visitor checks in on a CENTEGIX Visitor Management station, the system checks the school’s custom No-Go list. If the visitor’s name is on that list, school staff members will receive an alert.

Alert Notifications

Alert Notifications with CENTEGIX Visitor Management

School staff members need up-to-date information to make informed decisions. With the CENTEGIX Visitor Management system for schools, staff members can opt to receive alert notifications when a visitor’s ID shows a potential match for sexual offender checks, No-Go checks, or if an emergency alert is ongoing.

Users can set up alert preferences within their CENTEGIX Manager account. The five different alert types include:

1. Sexual Offender Check – staff receive an alert if a potential match is found.
2. No-go – staff receive an alert if a match is found.
3. Sexual Offender Check Denial – staff only receive an alert when the check-in is denied. (helpful for users like the SRO or principal).
4. No-Go Denial – staff receive an alert only when a check-in is denied, also helpful for users like the SRO or principal.
5. Emergency – staff receive custom emergency alerts.

The three delivery methods for alert notifications include:

1. Email – the email associated with a user’s CENTEGIX account receives the notification.
2. Web School Manager – to receive these notifications, a user must be logged in and have the CENTEGIX Manager open on their device. The notification comes in the form of a desktop push notification.
3. Text message – users can add a cell phone number to their CENTEGIX account to receive notifications as text messages.

Users can set up accounts to receive any mix of alert types and choose the delivery methods they prefer.

CENTEGIX: The Best Visitor Management System for Schools

CENTEGIX Visitor Management can help create a culture of safety on your campus for students, teachers, and visitors.

The CENTEGIX Safety Platform™, featuring our visitor management system for schools, played an important role in protecting schools in recent years. CENTEGIX Visitor Management performed 2,251,075 SOC (Sex Offender Compliance Registry) background checks in 2023 and 1,604,649 searches in 2022.

These screenings resulted in 789 denials to visitor entry due to flags from the SOC and 188 entries from attempted visitors on No-Go lists. 

CENTEGIX Safety Platform can initiate a campus lockdown in the event of suspicious behavior and unauthorized visitors. CENTEGIX has secured a total of 3,893 campus lockdowns since its initial implementation.

CENTEGIX innovates safety solutions to empower and protect people every day. In addition to our visitor management system, the Safety Platform features:

• CENTEGIX CrisisAlert™ wearable emergency button empowers staff to quickly request the help they need during an emergency and can initiate alerts or campus lockdowns. 
• CENTEGIX Safety Blueprint™ critical incident mapping tool directs responders to the precise locations of alerts and school safety assets. 
• Reunification tools enhance communication and efficiently reunite students with parents or designated caregivers. 

To learn more about the best visitor management system for schools, schedule a free demo today.