GPS attendance tracking: location check at each scan

Quick answer

#What it's good for

• You can see whether a scan happened at the workplace or, say, at home from a photo of the QR code.
• Nobody is followed around during the day. The location is recorded only when someone scans.
• An email about far scans alerts you without going through the list every day.
• If an older phone struggles, you lower the accuracy for that one employee only.

#Who it's for

#Step by step

1. Set the branch location.

   The distance of a scan is measured from the branch’s GPS point. Set it with the Set on map button – for the billing address in My Company › Company Details, and for other branches in My Company › Branches. Move the pin to the entrance where the QR codes hang. Projects have their own point in the project detail. See Branches.

   

2. Check the distance in Scan Details.

   In Scan Details, the columns First scan distance from branch and Second scan distance from branch show the distance in metres. Far scans are highlighted in red. Add the columns Arrival GPS scan address and Departure GPS scan address with the column chooser.

   

3. Open the map for a suspicious scan.

   In the row menu, click Open Map. The window shows the clock-in and clock-out points on the map and their distance from the site. If the point is by the employee’s home rather than the client building, you have something to talk about.

   

4. Switch on the email about far scans.

   In My Company › Notifications, switch on the rule Far GPS scan detected. Choose the recipients – user accounts or the Direct supervisor – and fill in Minimum distance. The app recommends 500 m to 1 km; a smaller value would flood you with alerts caused by imprecise positions indoors. Emails are sent within 30 minutes. See Email notifications.

   

5. Adjust the accuracy if there are problems.

   If an employee has an older phone and scanning takes a long time, lower their Geolocation Accuracy to Medium, for example. If their location shouldn’t be recorded for some reason, choose None (GPS disabled).

#The GPS clock-in map on the Dashboard

To see where your team scanned on a map, open the Dashboard and scroll to the Scans location card. By default it shows Today: each colour patch is a group of arrival and departure scans – the more scans in one place, the stronger the colour – and your branches are marked. Zoom in on a cluster that isn’t at one of your sites; for a single scan and its map, use Scan Details.

The map shows positions recorded at the moment of each scan, nothing in between. Scans of project QR codes appear where they were made, like branch scans. You can also show the map on a TV through a Public Dashboard URL.

#Where people scanned last month

Use the select in the card to switch to This month or Last month. Over a whole month the pattern is clearer: for Brightway in Dublin, the clusters sit on the client sites from Malahide in the north to Sandyford in the south and around the head office, with the equipment depot in Ballymount marked as a branch.

• An empty map means there were no scans with GPS in the chosen period. Until the first scan the card says Scan a QR code to show map.
• A point a little off the building is normal – phone GPS is less precise indoors.
• Branch and Project Managers see only the scans of their own branches or projects.

#Other ways to check presence

• Farthest GPS scans reportTable Reports has a Farthest GPS scans tab with the scans furthest from the site over a whole period. It’s good for a weekly check – see Farthest GPS scans report.
• Required photoGPS shows where the phone was. A photo shows what the workplace looked like. Together they are stronger proof – see Required photo on scan.
• A new QR codeIf someone scans a photographed printout, regenerate the code. Scans of the old code are then marked in red – see Clock-in and clock-out QR codes.
• Clock out only at the same branchIf you don’t want anyone to finish their attendance at another branch, switch on Block attendance closing on different branch in Mobile App Settings. This setting has nothing to do with GPS; it goes by the code that was scanned.

#Special cases and tips

A scan a few hundred metres away

Inside buildings, in basements and between tall buildings GPS is often imprecise. A few hundred metres doesn’t have to mean anything is wrong. Also check that the branch pin on the map is in the right place. What the employee can do is in GPS location when clocking in away from the branch.

The employee didn’t allow location

The app asks them to allow location. The steps for the employee are in Camera or location not working.

Project scans

For projects, the distance is measured from the project’s point if it has one.

An employee with GPS switched off

With None (GPS disabled) the distance columns stay empty and no far-scan email is sent for them.

#Related

Web app (administrator)Mobile app (employee)