The paper visitor sign-in sheet is the most widely accepted security theater in commercial real estate.
Consider what a paper log actually captures: a name (self-reported, unverified), an arrival time (rounded to the nearest convenient minute), and a host name (frequently left blank). It captures nothing about the visitor's identity, nothing about where they went in the building, and nothing that would survive a legal or regulatory challenge.
Beyond the documentation gap, the paper log creates a privacy liability: every visitor can see every other visitor's name, company, and host — a goldmine for competitive intelligence in buildings where multiple competing tenants share a lobby.
Digital visitor management with ID capture, pre-registration, and host notification closes both gaps simultaneously — replacing a security theater with a genuine audit trail and a better first impression.