Clock-in methods
Choose how staff clock in and out, at the kiosk or on their phone, and what each plan includes.
Agoo is in early access. This page describes the feature as it ships to early-access organisations; screens are illustrative.
Staff can clock in at the kiosk by the door or on their own phone in the Workspace app. You choose which methods your organisation allows in Console → Attendance → Settings, and each site can narrow or widen them.
The methods
| Method | Where | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| QR | Kiosk | The employee scans their staff QR at the kiosk. |
| Rotating QR | Workspace app | The kiosk screen shows a code that changes every 30 seconds; the employee scans it with the Workspace app. A photo of the code stops working within a minute, so nobody can clock in for a colleague. |
| PIN | Kiosk | The employee picks their name and enters a personal PIN. You can switch PIN off (for example "face only"); the kiosk still offers it as the fallback after a failed face match. |
| NFC card | Kiosk | The employee taps a staff card or tag. Android tablets with NFC read it directly; an iPad needs an external reader. Arrives in P8. |
| Geofenced phone clock-in | Workspace app | The app clocks in only when the phone is inside the site's geofence, or on one of its Wi-Fi networks when you turn the Wi-Fi check on. You can add a selfie. |
| Face on kiosk | Kiosk | The kiosk matches the employee's face, with PIN as the fallback. Staff only. Arrives in P8. See Face clock-in. |
| Terminal | Your system | Your own turnstile or reader sends punches through the API. |
What each plan includes
From the price book (each plan includes everything in the plan before it):
| Plan | Clock-in methods |
|---|---|
| Free | QR, rotating QR, PIN, NFC cards |
| Starter | + Geofenced mobile, with the Wi-Fi check and selfies |
| Growth | + Face on kiosk |
| Pro | + Biometric terminals |
| Enterprise | + HR and payroll sync |
If you move to a plan that doesn't include a method, Agoo switches that method off and records the change in the audit trail. Punches already made with it are kept.
Biometric terminals are dedicated face and card readers at the door, such as the Attendance terminal in our hardware kits, configured to sync with Agoo. They're included on Pro and Enterprise and connect to Agoo when the terminal integration ships with the hardware work in P10. See NFC and terminals.
Set up clock-in
Open Console → Attendance → Settings
Pick the site you're setting up. Each site can allow different methods; a warehouse may use cards while head office uses phones.
Turn on the methods you want
Kiosk methods work on any kiosk paired to that site in Console → Devices. For phone clock-in, check the geofence in Console → Settings → Sites: drag the circle or draw the outline so it covers the building and car park, not the street.
Issue QR codes, PINs or cards
In Console → People, open an employee to issue their QR badge under Attendance badges (print it or save it as a PNG when it's shown), reset their PIN or link an NFC card. Employees can also see their QR in the Workspace app.
- PINs are 4 to 8 digits. Agoo refuses easy ones, such as 1111, 1234 or 9876. An employee can set their own PIN in the Workspace app. After 5 wrong tries the kiosk pauses that person's PIN for 15 minutes, and longer if the wrong tries continue. Each pause appears in the audit log.
- NFC cards belong to one person at a time. Revoke a lost card, and it stops working on every kiosk at the next sync.
- Staff QR badges are shown once when you issue them, so print or send them straight away. Issuing a new badge doesn't cancel the old one; revoke the old one if it's lost.
Agoo never stores PINs, card numbers or badge codes, only values derived from them. Kiosks can check them without a connection.
Tell your staff
Employees install the Workspace app and sign in. The first time they clock in by phone, the app asks for location permission.
Switching methods off
Each organisation keeps at least one method on, and so does each site. Whatever you switch off isn't offered, with one exception that makes sure nobody is ever locked out: when face clock-in is on and a face match fails at the kiosk (an injury, poor light, glasses), the kiosk offers a fallback, even if that method is off:
- the person's PIN, staff QR or card, or
- a supervisor-assisted punch, where a supervisor at the kiosk confirms who it is.
The fallback is only offered after a failed face match on that kiosk, never as a free choice, and never from a phone. Every fallback is marked face not verified and goes to the review queue; you can also require a supervisor to approve it at the kiosk (an assisted punch always has one). See Face clock-in.
Evidence on each punch
Face, selfies and location are evidence: they're off until you turn them on, and each needs a notice your employees see. See Evidence and notices for the choices and what Agoo keeps.
- Phone clock-in records the location check's result (inside, outside or unavailable) and its accuracy. You can choose to keep the coordinates too; they're cleared after 90 days by default.
- The Wi-Fi check records whether the phone was on a site network. You can choose to keep the network's name and address.
- Selfies can be off, optional or required, for QR, PIN, NFC and phone punches.
Offline and tamper checks
Every clock-in is saved on the device first, with the time it happened, then synced when the network returns. Agoo uses trusted device time, so changing the phone's clock doesn't move a punch. It flags anything suspicious, such as a device clock that disagrees with the server, or a phone whose reported location disagrees with its coordinates, and managers see the flags on the attendance board.
A phone punch from outside the geofence, and not on a site Wi-Fi network, isn't accepted: the employee clocks in at the kiosk instead.
Geofences and GPS
Phone GPS can drift by tens of metres indoors. Make the geofence a little larger than the building, and add a Wi-Fi check for offices where GPS is weak.