The sign-in screen is the product, as far as a visitor is concerned. Everything else in a visitor management system happens somewhere they cannot see. So the questions it asks, the order it asks them in and what it does when a visitor has been before are the decisions worth spending time on, and they are usually made in ten minutes at setup and never revisited.
Ask for what the record needs, in the order a person thinks
Name first, because that is what a visitor expects. Then who they are here to see, because that is what they know. Company, if it matters to you. The reason for the visit only if a decision depends on it. Anything you would not read later does not belong on the screen, and every question you keep is one you are asking several thousand times a year.
Returning visitors and contractors
The contractor who comes every Tuesday should not retype everything every Tuesday. A good kiosk recognises a returning visitor from a phone number or a code and turns a sign-in into a confirmation. This is where the fifteen-second budget is actually won, and it is worth asking a vendor to demonstrate it rather than describe it.
Badge printing belongs to the same act
If a badge is going to be worn, it has to come out of the sign-in without anybody pressing anything else. A badge that requires the receptionist to do something is a badge that will not exist on the mornings when it matters. Check what happens when the printer is out of stock, too: the sign-in should complete and flag the badge, not fail.
Signing out is half the record
The screen that signs people in should make signing out obvious, and something should chase the gaps: a prompt on the badge, an end-of-day list, a nudge to the host. Without it the site's list of who is inside is wrong every evening, and the one morning it matters it will be wrong then too.
Questions people ask about visitor sign in kiosk
Should the kiosk print a badge for every visitor?
Only if badges are read in your building. Printing one for every arrival in an office where nobody looks at them wastes stock and slows the desk.
How do returning visitors sign in faster?
Most products recognise a phone number or issue a code, turning the second visit into a confirmation. Ask for a live demonstration; the implementations vary a lot.
What if the badge printer runs out mid-morning?
The sign-in should still complete. Keep a spare roll where the desk can reach it, because this is the most common failure in the whole setup.