By Alesha Capone
Hoppers Crossing man Vig Vaidianathan has helped to develop a method which allows businesses to quickly and simply collect visitors’ details for COVID-19 contact-tracing purposes.
Mr Vaidianathan and co-creator, Narre Warren resident Ananth Prakash, have made their visitor check-in system RecordMyVisit free to businesses and venues.
“We developed this solution as we were concerned that the systems in place currently did not cater to our elderly and non-smartphone users,” Mr Vaidianathan said.
RecordMyVisit works by allowing people to use their camera’s phone to scan a QR code – which is unique to a business – to open up an SMS.
Customers simply type in their first name and send the text. Their information is stored for 28 days, after which time it will be discarded.
Mr Vaidianathan, who has worked in IT for 15 years, said the data would be shared with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) if need be.
He said the data would not be used for commercial or promotional purposes.
RecordMyVisit can send SMS alerts to anyone who visits a site affected by COVID-19.
Mr Vaidianathan said he and Mr Prakash decided to make RecordMyVisit free “because small businesses have taken enough of the brunt of the pandemic already”.
He said they decided to develop RecordMyVisit after noticing flaws in the present COVID-19 tracing system used at some eateries – such as requiring staff to cleanse pens after a single-use.
Mr Vaidianathan said he and Mr Prakash developed RecordMyVisit over two and a half weeks, working at night and on weekends.
“We would like to thank our families for putting up with us in this time,” he said.
A Cranbourne community centre and cafes have already started using RecordMyVisit.
Businesses that use RecordMyVisit can make a donation to help with the cost but are not required to do so.
Detail: www.recordmyvisit.com.au or www.facebook.com/recordmyvisit/
