A practical comparison using the Wildon 250W Corporate Visitors Register and Teamgo Essential.
If you asked most Australian businesses whether a paper visitor sign-in book or visitor management software costs less, the answer would probably be immediate.
“The paper book.”
After all, you can walk into Officeworks today and buy a Wildon 250W Corporate Visitors Register for around A$30. There’s no software to install, no subscription to pay and virtually no training required.
On the surface, it seems like the obvious choice.
However, the purchase price tells only part of the story. Every visitor who walks through your door creates a process that someone in your business must manage. Administration, privacy, emergency preparedness, record management and security all contribute to the true cost of managing visitors.
The Cost of a Paper Visitor Register
The Wildon 250W Corporate Visitors Register records visitor names, organisations, hosts, arrival and departure times and badge numbers. It performs exactly as intended by recording visitor information on paper. For businesses with only occasional visitors, that may be sufficient. The question is whether it remains the best solution once visitor numbers increase.
How Long Does a A$30 Visitor Book Last?
For this comparison, each page is assumed to accommodate approximately ten visitor entries, providing capacity for around 560 visitors per book.
| Average Visitors/Day | Annual Visitor Entries | Books Required | Annual Cost |
| 5 | 1300 | 3 | A$90 |
| 10 | 2600 | 5 | A$150 |
| 20 | 5200 | 10 | A$300 |
| 40 | 10400 | 19 | A$570 |
| 80 | 20800 | 38 | A$1,140 |
Administration Is Usually the Biggest Cost
Every visitor requires time to greet, sign in, notify hosts, answer questions and manage records. Even ten minutes of administration per working day adds up to more than 43 hours annually. At A$35 per hour, that’s approximately A$1,500 in labour.
Finding Historical Records
Searching paper books is manual and time-consuming, while digital visitor records can be searched in seconds during audits, investigations or insurance enquiries.
Privacy Is Often Overlooked
Paper registers may expose visitor names, organisations, hosts and arrival times to everyone who signs in afterwards. Digital systems restrict access to authorised users.
What Happens If Someone Steals the Visitor Register?
A stolen register can contain months of visitor and workplace information in one portable record. The person who takes it may gain access to visitor names, company names, employee names, arrival and departure times, and patterns showing who regularly visits the site.
That information could be used for targeted scams, social engineering or planning unauthorised access. A paper book has no password, access log or remote lock. Once it is stolen, the organisation cannot stop someone reading, photographing or copying it.
The business may also need to assess whether the loss creates a notifiable data breach under Australian privacy law. Teamgo reduces the physical theft risk by storing visitor records digitally and limiting access to authorised users.
Emergency Preparedness
Digital visitor lists help authorised staff identify who is on-site during an evacuation, whereas paper relies on the physical register being available and accurate.
What Does Teamgo Cost?
Teamgo Essential is currently advertised at US$29 per month, with a lower effective cost when paid annually. Teamgo prices its service by plan and workplace location, rather than charging for each visitor. Updates, support and visitor data storage are included, while hardware is separate. Businesses may use compatible existing hardware or QR-code check-in.
Paper Visitor Book vs Teamgo
| Comparison | Paper Visitor Book (Wildon 250W) | Teamgo Essential |
| Purchase cost | Approx. A$30 | 30-day free trial |
| Estimated Annual Cost | A$90–A$1,140+ (books only) | US$348/year or around US$278/year when paid annually |
| Visitor check-in | Manual handwritten sign-in | Self-service QR code or iPad |
| Staff involvement | Reception manages each arrival | Automated workflow with minimal staff input |
| Host notifications | Phone call or email | Automatic SMS and email notifications |
| Visitor privacy | Previous visitor details may be visible | Access-controlled digital records |
| Photo ID badges | Not available | Optional printed visitor badges |
| Emergency evacuation | Physical register required | Live digital list |
| Finding past visitors | Manual search through registers | Instant searchable history |
| Contractor inductions | Separate manual process | Integrated digital workflows |
| Visitor overstay alerts | Manual monitoring | Automatic notifications |
| Lost or stolen records | Physical information can be exposed | Secure cloud storage with controlled access |
| Reporting & audits | Manual compilation | Built-in reports and audit history |
| Professional appearance | Traditional paper process | Modern digital visitor experience |
| Multi-site reporting | Separate visitor books at each location | Centralised reporting across all locations |
| Scalability | More visitors require more administration | Handles thousands of visitors without extra paperwork |
| Estimated Total Annual Cost* | A$1,600–A$2,700+ (books + administration) | Approx. A$430–A$540 (depending on exchange rate and billing option) |
*Estimated paper cost includes the cost of replacement visitor books and approximately 10 minutes of visitor administration per working day at A$35/hour. It does not include the financial impact of privacy breaches, compliance, emergency management, lost productivity, or stolen visitor records.
Which Option Costs Less?
For organisations with only a handful of visitors each month, a paper register may still be economical. As visitor numbers increase, administration, privacy, compliance and emergency responsibilities increase, making the overall process significantly more expensive than the purchase price alone.
Final Thoughts
A paper sign-in book is inexpensive to buy, but it carries costs and risks that are easy to overlook. The more visitors a workplace receives, the more books, staff time and record management it requires. If the register is lost or stolen, the organisation may lose control of months of visitor information in one incident.
For workplaces with regular visitors, security obligations, compliance requirements or emergency-management responsibilities, Teamgo provides more value than a simple paper replacement. It turns visitor sign-in into a controlled, searchable and more secure workplace process.
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