Attendance data is the backbone of any organization's information strategy. Not only can it provide safety and security to the children who attend your events, it also provides a window into each person's ongoing relationship with your organization.

As you read through this guide and start to think about configuring check-in for your organization, you'll realize the system has a ton of flexibility. Keep in mind that the downside of flexibility is complexity. To keep it simple, consider using the out-of-the-box configuration as much as possible, renaming locations, groups and service times as needed. As you get more comfortable with Rock, you can dive deeper into some of the more complex configurations.

Check-In Systems

Before we get into the details of Rock’s check-in system, let’s start with a broad overview of what check-in is and how it works.

In general terms, check-in involves a person attending a group at a location at a specific time. Each of these elements ties to a component in Rock. A person. A group or area. A location. A time (schedule). The check-in system consists of a series of screens that allow a guest to identify each of these elements and capture them in an electronic record. In many check-in systems, the process ends with some kind of identification label being printed.

Types of Digital Check-In Systems

Digital check-in systems have been in use for over a decade. Over the years these systems have developed into three basic categories:

• Centralized self-service check-in
• Decentralized check-in
• Centralized attended check-in

There are pros and cons to each system. Let’s take a look at each.

Centralized Self-Service Check-In

With the centralized self-service model, attendees check themselves in at a main kiosk that serves multiple areas and rooms.

Pros:

• Once people are familiar with the system, they become comfortable and efficient with the check-in process
• Does not require as many volunteers
• Families with multiple kids can check-in all of their kids at the same time

Cons:

• Can be somewhat intimidating for first-time guests

Decentralized Check-In

Decentralized check-in places a kiosk in every room where check-in is required.

Pros:

• Attendees get to observe the room (considering the teacher and students in the room) before checking in
• Can be fast since you don’t need to select the location and there are smaller lines due to the greater number of kiosks

Cons:

• Higher equipment costs due to the number of kiosks and printers needed
• Families with multiple kids of different ages need to go through the check-in process more than once
• Increased support costs due to the number of kiosks required

Centralized Attended Check-In

In this model, attendees walk up to a kiosk that is staffed by a volunteer who performs the check-in process for the guest.

Pros:

• Good experience for first-time guests

Cons:

• After the first check-in many people may prefer to do the process themselves
• Must have a volunteer for each kiosk
• Can be slower since there is an added communication layer

Check-In Processes Available in Rock

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.