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Learning the Lingo - Checking-out Check-in
Let's talk about vocabulary. Feel free to revisit this section as you go through the manual to clarify the meanings of these terms. Term Definition Check-in Configurations A check-in configuration is what you start with when configuring check-in. All the settings are associated with a particular configuration. When you start a check-in kiosk, one of the first things you'll be asked is which check-in configuration to use. Examples of check-in configurations include Volunteer Check-In and Weekly Service Check-In (for kids). Areas This is a high-level collection of related check-in groups. Typically, these will match your organizational structure. Within an area, you'll probably have several groups that individuals can check into. Areas allow you to organize your groups into collections of similar groups. Example areas in the default configuration include: Nursery/Preschool, Elementary, Jr High and High School. For those who like to know how things work under the hood, areas are simply Rock group types. For everyone else, it’s ok... just keep the hood closed. Sub-Areas If needed you can create sub-areas, which act as a hierarchy of areas. Even though Rock allows it, we strongly encourage you to keep your structure simple. (Some of the largest organizations using Rock do so without the need for sub-areas.) Group This is the classification unit that a person checks into. A newborn would be checked into the Infants group while a second-grader would be checked into the Grades 2-3 group. Note that these are just examples. You can easily customize your groups. Deeper...
Types of Customization - Checking-out Check-in
We've mentioned several times that Rock lets you customize the check-in process in powerful ways. Here are some details on the different ways you can customize the system and the level of effort needed for each. Type Level of Effort Description Area, Group and Schedule Structure Easy In all likelihood no two organizations will have the same areas, groups and schedules for their check-in. Rock's check-in configuration tools make these changes a simple process. Labels Easy/Moderate Depending on the type of customization required, labels can be easy or a bit tricky. Most of this depends on the level of graphics required for your labels. Read below for a deeper discussion about how to modify the labels. Look and Feel Moderate While Rock ships with several different check-in themes, you can add your own with some basic knowledge of HTML/CSS and Less. Workflow Process Difficult (but possible) Rock's check-in process runs on top of the workflow engine. The check-in workflow handles actions such as selecting families from the entered phone number and selecting rooms that match the chosen family member. Each step of the check-in process is controlled by a workflow activity or action. You can customize workflows to do certain tasks, such as checking room balance based on last name or family address. These types of changes do require deep knowledge of the workflow engine (and possibly of writing custom code). The out-of-the-box workflow is based on over 30 years of check-in experience through first-hand work with lots of organizations....
Sample Configurations - Checking-out Check-in
Before we get much further, let's stop and take a look at two different check-in configurations. The first is for our fictitious Rock Solid Church. It's also the default check-in configuration that ships with Rock. The second is a sample configuration for a larger church, Boulder Solid Church, which has two campuses. This second option will give you some ideas about how things can be modified to meet an organization's needs. Rock Solid Church Configuration Default Configuration Points of Interest Note how Jr High and High School have their own areas with only a single check-in group in each one. This is a preference. You could combine them into a single Youth Area and put both groups in it. In this case Rock Solid Church has broken them out for reporting reasons. Pay close attention to the age ranges in the groups. Notice how they are fairly wide. Wider ranges tend to work better because they give you some leeway in unique family edge cases. Also note that the age ranges overlap. It's important that there are no gaps in the age ranges. This church has decided to use a centralized kiosk for check-in. They have also defined a printer device for this kiosk. For simplicity's sake, we are not showing the mapping of the check-in schedule (service times) to the various locations (rooms). Keep in mind that each location can determine which service times it's available for. Boulder Solid Church Configuration Default Configuration Points of Interest Notice that Boulder...
Locations - Checking-out Check-in
Locations configure where individuals can check in. Think of them like buildings or rooms for your check-in. Locations are tied to check-in groups and enabled through schedules. Let's take a look at an example to see how they work. Sample Configuration The diagram above shows a configuration for a large church's Three Year Olds check-in group. As you can see, the church has two campuses it calls North and South and each of these campuses has multiple locations (aka, rooms) for their three-year-olds. Based on attendance patterns, all of these rooms are not needed during all services. In this configuration, the Crickets Room is not set up to be used during the second service of the day. Editing Locations Locations are edited under Admin Tools Check-in Named Locations. Locations are hierarchical in nature, so build them out to match the structure of your buildings. Named Locations Scheduling Locations Group/Location pairs are matched to schedules at Admin Tools Check-in Check-in Configuration (click the Schedule button.) Opening / Closing Locations We've seen how you can enable or disable a location based on a schedule. Each location also has an open/closed state. Say for instance you want the Bears Room to be used for your 9:00 am service but need to be able to close it if it reaches capacity. Once it reaches capacity, you can close the room from the Check-in Manager or the Device Manager (more info on these below) and it will no longer be available as an option for...
Printing - Checking-out Check-in
As we mentioned in the Welcome section, Rock's check-in is very flexible. This is especially true when it comes to printing. What printer you print to and where the printing takes place (client or server) is completely customizable. While this is very powerful, it can be a bit confusing. To help get you started, we have outlined a simple approach that should work for most organizations. We'll also dive a little deeper for those who want more options. A Simple Approach to Printing The recommended approach to printing is to always print from the client using the printer defined on the client. While this is a simple approach, it should meet the needs of most organizations. We recommend that you use either the iPad or Windows client application for running check-in. On your check-in kiosk device configuration set the Print Using setting to Device, leave the Printer setting blank and choose Client for the Print From setting. See the Kiosks chapter for more on these settings. Configure the iPad/Windows application to print to a specific printer. Diving Deeper Into Printing Ok, so the simple approach doesn't work. Never fear, we have many more options for you. When we break down the printing process, there are two bits of information that need to be determined: where to print and how to print. Let's look at each in detail. Where to Print The flowchart below breaks down the logic of how Rock determines where to print the check-in labels. Determining Where To...
Allergies and Legal Notes - Checking-out Check-in
Watching over someone else's child is a big responsibility and knowing specific details about a child's allergies or legal situations is especially important. Rock lets you easily store these details in a child's record and have them displayed at check-in. Here's how. Setting Allergy and Legal Notes To set an allergy or legal note on a child's record, first bring up their Person Profile page in Rock and click on the Extended Attributes tab. There you will see a section of attributes labeled Childhood Information. Click the icon to edit the values for allergies and legal attributes. Note To Self The text you enter for these attributes will print on the child's note label (see below), so keep the message short and appropriate for volunteers to view. If you get carried away, Rock will automatically truncate it to a reasonable length when printed. Viewing Notes at Check-In The notes you enter above will be printed at check-in in two ways. On the Child Label you'll see a notation that the child has an allergy or legal note in the system. Depending on the label used, the notation will be in the form of a letter ("A" for Allergy or "L" for Legal) or an icon. This label will be worn by the child and does not show the details of the allergy or legal note, for privacy reasons. Child Label The note label will print the complete note entered above for the benefit of the volunteer assisting with child check-in....
Ability Levels - Checking-out Check-in
We've already seen that you can filter groups by age ranges and grades. There's one more criterion you can use: ability levels. It's common for infants and preschoolers to stay in certain rooms until they achieve a special milestone activity such as crawling or potty-training. Rock can help you track and select these levels within the check-in process. Let’s see how it works. Ability Level Walkthrough 1 Initial Level Set The first time a child who matches the age range of ability levels checks in they will be asked which ability-level they meet. 2 Ability Level Set When the parent selects the ability level for their child it will be stored in the Ability Level person attribute on their Person Profile. Feel free to update their level here if needed in the future. 3 Subsequent Check-Ins Future check-ins will display their current ability and fade out previous levels. Parents can update the setting at any time. They can even select from the previous levels if needed. How Ability Levels Are Stored Ability levels are simply a person attribute that can be used as a filter to select a check-in group. If you go to the Extended Attributes tab of a Person Profile page, you’ll see the Ability Level attribute in the Childhood Information section. This is the attribute that will be considered when filtering groups. Rock comes with three ability levels configured: Infant, Crawling or Walking and Potty-Trained. You saw in the walkthrough above that an individual, or more likely...
Check-In Manager - Checking-out Check-in
It's critical for growing organizations to be able to view check-in data in real-time and react by opening and closing locations in response. Rock provides a check-in management site that gives your staff a dashboard of live check-in data and lets them respond to needs as they occur in real-time. The Phases of Check-in The check-in process doesn’t necessarily end when someone finishes checking in. Depending on your settings there are different phases of check-in. A person can be Checked-in, Present or Checked-out. Later in this chapter you’ll see how this all gets configured and managed within the Check-in Manager. For now, it’s only important to be aware of the different states a person can be in. Checked-in When a person finishes the check-in process, they will appear as Checked-in on the roster. What can happen next depends on your configuration. If you don’t have check-out or presence enabled in your Check-in configuration settings then the other states described below don’t apply. The person will be marked as Present (see below) unless the Check-in Manager is used to Delete their check-in attendance entirely. Cancel Check-in Delete Attendance If you look at the security settings for the Roster block, there is a special Delete Attendance security verb. This controls who is able (or not able) to delete attendance as pictured in the screenshot above. Present Being checked-in isn’t always the same as being in the room or location. A lot can happen between checking in on your phone from the parking...
Printers - Checking-out Check-in
Rock's check-in requires the use of specific Zebra printers. Since most models have many SKUs/options, you'll want to be careful when ordering to specify the exact model number that includes the features you need. Working with a vendor that specializes in Zebra printers is often better than "going it alone" and Googling for the cheapest price. Rock has been tested on the following models: ZD421d/621d - These are the replacement for the now-discontinued GK/GX series and look to be capable successors. The cutter module (which we highly recommend) is purchased separately and is user-installable (as is the ethernet port), unlike earlier models. Make sure you purchase the d, not t—very few (if any) churches need thermal-transfer capability. These models are available with very good dual-band Wi-Fi. ZD500 - This model is more expensive than the others as it can do direct thermal and thermal transfer, and also comes with Ethernet and dual band 802.11n Wi-Fi. It can be ordered with or without a cutter, but the cutter is not user-installable after the fact. This is a large model as it needs to accommodate the thermal transfer roll mechanism but is proving to be a workhorse in many organizations. GX420d / GK420d - Now discontinued, these are de facto standard desktop printers used in countless check-in systems. While they were available with (now) horrible 802.11g Wi-Fi, we do not recommend using that mode with Rock due to the lack of stability with 802.11b/g. That said, if you have them, they still...
Check-In Relationships - Checking-out Check-in
There will be times when you'll want to allow individuals outside of a family to check in children. To make this easy, Rock allows you to add relationships between individuals. Known Relationships From a Person Profile page, you can define Known Relationships. The Allow Check In relationship allows you to grant check-in rights to a person outside of a child's immediate family. To add a known relationship to an individual, complete the following steps: Go to the Person Profile page for the child. Click the [+] button on the Known Relationship block. Select the Relationship Type of Allow Check-in by. Select the person who should be allowed to check the child in. Click the Save button. After following these steps, anyone in the family of the person you selected will be allowed to check in the child. You may notice that the inverse relationship (can check in) is automatically added to the adult. Adding Check-In Abilities to Other Known Relationships Rock ships with several other Known Relationships such as grandparent, step-parent, etc. Out-of-the-box these relationships do not have check-in rights applied to them. You can easily change that behavior by following the steps below: Navigate to Admin Tools General Settings Group Types Known Relationship. Select the role you would like (under Roles) to add check-in capabilities to. Select Yes under Can Check-in. Click the Save button on the role dialog and then Save again on the Group Type screen.
Check-In Kiosk Options - Checking-out Check-in
The easiest way to run Rock's check-in system is to simply open a web browser on a desktop or tablet and navigate to http://[yourserver]/checkin. Rock also provides a native iPad application and a Windows application. Let's explore the different strengths of these three platforms. Platform Print From Server Local Network Printing Local USB Printing Bluetooth printing Notes Browser-Based X The easiest method for running check-in, but all printing must be done from the server. (This will only work if your server is on the same network as the printers.) iPad Application X X X This application is available for free from the Apple App Store. The application provides a simple tablet interface to the Rock check-in system. It also allows you to print directly from the iPad to a networked printer, allowing the server to be hosted remotely. Windows Application X X X The Windows check-in application can be downloaded from Admin Tools Power Tools External Applications. This application allows you to print to a USB-connected printer as well as network-based printers. Externally Hosted Servers If your Rock server is hosted outside your organization, you will need to use either the iPad application or Windows application to enable local printing. iPad Application While the normal check-in screens run really well in mobile Safari, we have created a native iPad application to host the check-in experience. This application can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store. The application displays the same Rock check-in screens as the browser but also...
Going Deeper With Areas - Checking-out Check-in
" We've already spent some time on areas in the earlier configuration but let's dig a little deeper. By now you know that areas are a way of categorizing your check-in groups. They also help to: Define which tags will be printed when checking into any of the groups assigned to the area. Provide configuration templates by setting the group type for the check-in groups. (More on this in a minute.) Structure attendance reporting. Keep it Simple We’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating. Your future self will thank you for keeping your areas streamlined and simple. Before adding a new Area, make sure you wouldn’t be better off adding a new Group to an existing Area. For instance, it’s possible for a person to check in to more than one area at the same time. But, if a person checks in to “2nd Grade” in the “Elementary” area for the first service and “2nd Grade” in the “Volunteer Kids” area for the second service, only the locations and schedules for one area will be printed on their label. Adding an additional “2nd Grade Kids of Volunteers” group in the “Elementary” area would be better than creating a new area. How Areas Assist With Configuration The check-in system is a rich pairing of Rock's workflow engine and groups system. Under the hood, Areas are really just Group Types while check-in groups are, well, Groups. Before continuing on with this section we highly recommend you stop and read the Rock...
Check-In Test Area - Checking-out Check-in
You may have noticed an area called Check-in Test Area. This area is used to help you test your kiosk configuration and label printing. Since most areas and groups are only configured to allow check-in during certain schedules, they aren't that helpful for testing. The Check-in Test Area is configured to be available all the time.
Installing the Rock Icon Font On Zebra Printers - Checking-out Check-in
Rock has created an icon font just for check-in labels. This font applies specific FontAwesome icons to the same merge fields used by the plain-text labels. You can download this font from: https://storage.rockrms.com/resources/rockcheckin.ttf. If you plan on creating custom labels using ZebraDesigner, you will want to begin by installing the font on your Windows computer: open Fonts in the Windows Control Panel and drag your downloaded rockcheckin.ttf into it. v8.5-- You can install the icon font on all your printers by simply "printing" a label containing the font and the command to install it. Rock comes with such a label; all you need to do is temporarily add that label to a check-in area (you can also print the label to your printers in the Rock label editor by choosing a printer and clicking on the Print button under Test Print to Device, assuming that you can print from your server to each printer). Here's how: If you're curious, you can check out the label (and the magic code that installs the font) at Admin Tools Check-in Check-in Labels. Click on the Install Icon Font on Printer label and read the notes in the label description. To add this label to a check-in area, go to Admin Tools Check-in Check-in Configuration, and click on Weekly Service Check-in. Click on the Check-in Test Area. In the right-hand column, you'll see other Check-in Labels listed. Click the [+] to add a new one, then select Install Icon Font on Printer, then Add....
Creating Custom Labels - Checking-out Check-in
You can create your own labels for check-in with the free ZebraDesigner software. Once you've created the labels, you can upload them to Rock and apply them to various check-in areas. Let's walk through that process step-by-step. About System Labels Rather than modifying the built-in labels that come with Rock, you'll want to create your own new ones. If you want to start with an existing one and "tweak" it, we'd suggest copying the code into a newly-created label. Rock updates can overwrite system labels that you've modified. Installing ZebraDesigner ZebraDesigner is a WYSIWYG design tool for designing ZPL-formatted labels. While Zebra has several different versions of the software, the free ZebraDesigner has everything you'll need to make labels. Don't Go Pro The 'Pro' version doesn’t have any additional features necessary for creating check-in labels. It only adds capabilities such as embedding RFID codes. To install Zebra Designer, follow these steps: Download the ZebraDesigner Software. Run the setup, selecting all of the defaults. Launch the application. The first time it's run, it will ask you to install a ZDesigner print driver. Select the Add Printer button to add this driver. Walk through the wizard steps until you reach the Select Printer screen. Here, select the printer model you'll be working with. Next, you'll need to pick the port where the printer is attached. While it's easier to select a printer connected through USB, connecting to one via IP would allow it to also be used from Rock. To connect it...
Beyond Children's Check-In - Checking-out Check-in
While much of this document has focused on using check-in for childcare activities, Rock is capable of much more. Below we'll discuss a few ideas on how to extend check-in. Serving Groups Serving groups are one of the pre-configured group types in Rock. There are many benefits to having people check in when they serve. To help you gather that data, we've configured the serving groups to allow check-in. All you need to do is provide two settings for each group to help Rock know where and when to allow check-in. Let's take a look at how to do this. Configuring Serving Groups For Checkin 1Navigate Edit the group from People Group Viewer. 2Open The Details Expand the Meeting Details panel and click the button if no location has been set, or the button if one has. 3Location Select a Location for the meeting spot. This will be used to help determine which kiosk device should handle the check-in. It’s best to choose a broad location (like a campus instead of a specific room), because this allows your group to be visible to the check-in kiosk without a lot of extra configuration. See how we're saving you all this time? 4Schedule Select a Schedule to determine when the check-in should be active. Voila! Your serving group is now ready for checking in. Double Check: Make sure that the check-in kiosk you are using is configured for the location you chose for the group. Configuring New Group Types for Check-in Now...
Device Manager - Checking-out Check-in
While you can manage many aspects of a kiosk device from the Check-in Manager you can also manage the device from the actual kiosk. Below we'll discuss the various capabilities of these features. Logging In To access the Device Kiosk simply press the gear icon at the bottom right of the main check-in screen. This will bring up the screen below. Device Manager Authentication From this screen you can get a quick view of the counts for rooms configured to this kiosk. You can also enter your PIN to access the device manager. Setting a PIN To set a PIN for a person, go to the Security tab on the person's Profile and add a new User Account. Choose PIN Authentication for the Authentication Provider, and enter the desired PIN as the User Name. Device Manager Once you're in the device manager you will see the screen below. This screen allows you to open/close rooms that have been configured for this kiosk. It also allows you to Override a child. This simply means that you can check-in a child to a room without considering the room's age or grade ranges. When you select the Override button you will see the standard Search screen. Everything will operate the same, but the room's configured age and grade ranges will be ignored. Device Manager Schedule Locations From the main screen above you can also choose the Schedule Locations button. This screen allows you to alter the room schedules. This is normally done in...
Rapid Attendance Entry - Checking-out Check-in
The Rapid Attendance Entry block allows you to record attendance for lots of people very quickly. This could come in handy for certain situations, such as checking a lot of people in for a worship service and wanting to do so as fast as possible. Rapid Attendance Entry can also be very useful outside of attendance. It's great for entering communication cards, prayer cards or other information you might collect in large volumes. The Rapid Attendance Entry block makes these tasks quick and simple. Let's look at how it works. To start, navigate to People Rapid Attendance Entry. You’ll begin the process by selecting the group for which you want to record attendance. The group's settings and attributes determine which options will be available on the screen. Rapid Attendance Entry Screen 1 Group Select the group for which you want to enter attendance. The group’s configuration will determine what other fields appear on this page. In some cases, Group and Attendance Date will be the only fields you see. 2 Location If the group has multiple locations, select the one you need for attendance. 3 Schedule You’ll be prompted to select a schedule only if there are multiple schedules for the chosen Location. Otherwise, this field will not appear. 4 Attendance Date Provide the date for which you want to record attendance. You can either choose a date from the calendar or enter a date manually. 5 Campus You can optionally select a campus, which will filter the Locations for...
Check-In Processes Available in Rock - Checking-out Check-in
Rock provides two different types of basic check-in processes: Family and Individual. Family check-in allows a family to check in multiple family members at once. A family can walk up to a central kiosk and check in everyone at the same time with a minimum number of steps. Adults may be checked into volunteer (or other) groups while also checking in their children. As you might guess, Individual check-in checks in one person at a time. The process leads one person through the selection of groups, locations, and times, then repeats for each additional family member. The check-in process is similar for both systems. Rock defaults to the Family check-in configuration, but you can easily change this when configuring your check-in process. More on that in a bit. While Individual check-in is typically used for decentralized scenarios and Family is typically used for centralized, there is no requirement that you stick to this pattern. You could choose to use the family check-in configuration with a decentralized system, letting families check-in all of their children at the first location, then taking the kids to individual rooms without needing to check them in again. The system is designed to be flexible.
Individual and Family Check-In in Rock - Checking-out Check-in
Before we get into the more technical aspects of configuration, let’s step back and take a general look at how individual and family check-in works in Rock. Check-In Overview The specific screens the guest will be guided through are based on whether they’re checking in an individual or a family, as well as the check-in system settings set up by the administrator. But as you can see, the process is similar for both. Now let’s take a more specific look at the family check-in process. Here, Ted and Cindy Decker are checking in their children, Noah and Alex. Family Check-In Walkthrough 1Welcome The Welcome screen is the waiting screen your guests will see when they walk up to the kiosk to check in. If no check-in locations are currently active, the guest will see a countdown for the opening time. 2Search The Search By Phone screen allows guests to enter their phone number to begin the check-in process. By default, only four digits are needed to perform the search, but like most check-in features, this is configurable. Since entering the last four digits reduces check-in time, you may want to share this tip with your guests. 3Results from search The Families screen lists the families that match the phone number entered. If Prioritize families for this campus is enabled in the Family Select block's settings, then families matching the kiosk's campus will be listed first. Otherwise, the families will be listed in alphabetical order. 4List of Check-in people Rock displays...
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