The Sign-in Console is a stand-alone kiosk that you can set up for volunteers to use to sign in and out of an opportunity. It can be opened on any device that is connected to the internet (laptop, desktop, tablet, etc). This is useful to record a sign-in and sign-out time in order to know exactly how long volunteers have served (like a time card), or you can have volunteers only sign in to simply track attendance.
The Sign-in Console is designed to walk your volunteers through the sign-in process. A volunteer will start by entering their name (first or last) into the search bar and then selecting their name from the drop-down menu when it appears.
By default, the Sign-in Console will only show volunteers who are registered for an Event or Project that is occurring on the current day. The exception to this is if you have Walk-in opportunities enabled in your system. In that case, even if a volunteer is not registered for an opportunity on the current day, their name will appear, and they can register for any Walk-in opportunities that are available. This will also allow new volunteers to create an account through the Sign-in Console as a Walk-in. To learn more about enabling Walk-in Registration in your system, click HERE.
Customizing The Sign-in Console
If you have the Sign-in Console Verification Method setting in the “System Configuration” set to ‘Phone Number’, volunteers will need to enter the last four digits of their phone number (either the primary or alternate number) to verify it is truly them signing in. This serves the dual purpose of ensuring volunteers are present themselves and that they did not click on the wrong name.
You also have the option of presenting the volunteer with up to three custom questions at the time of sign-in. These Sign-in Console Custom Questions can be questions where volunteers can enter anything as a response, select from preset responses, or enter a response in a particular format (i.e. number, date, email, etc). These custom questions can also be set up to specify a required answer from the list of options you have provided. This works well to enforce a day-of restriction if needed.
In addition to these questions, you have the option for the system to prompt volunteers to accept your Terms & Conditions (an electronic waiver) if they haven't already. For more information about these functions, refer to the Knowledge Base Article, Customizing the Sign-in Questionnaire
To make volunteer check-in as seamless as possible, we are happy to provide a direct link to your Sign-in Console/Kiosk. Learn more about this option HERE.
Signing In and Out
After responding to any questions, if the volunteer is registered for an opportunity occurring that day, they will see that opportunity listed and can simply click the associated Sign In button. If they do not see the opportunity they are looking for, they can click the View button associated with Walk-in Registration Opportunities to see the other open events/projects occurring on the current day (Note: this is only available if Walk-in registration is enabled).
The volunteer can follow the same process to sign out when they are finished and the system will record exactly how long they were there and apply those hours. If a volunteer participated in an Event without signing out, the volunteer will automatically be given the set number of Service Credit Hours indicated for the Event. If the volunteer participated in a Service Project and did not sign out, the volunteer is not given a default number of hours and stays signed in until/unless they are signed out. The exception to this is if you choose to Enable Sign-in Console "Automatic Sign-out” in your “System Configuration” for a predetermined amount of hours. This setting allows you to assign a default number of credit hours for your entire console. When enabled, the system will sign out any volunteers who are still signed in for any opportunities at the end of the day and assign them the number of hours you define. This amount can be configured in half-hour increments up to 10 hours. 'Yes - 0 hrs' is the system-wide default for this setting.
For Service Projects, the "Automatic Sign-out" value can be configured for each individual Service Project. A value can be entered to specify a default number of service credit hours to assign when a Volunteer signs in to the Service Project via the kiosk but fails to sign out. Enter '0' to use the system default specified in the "System Configuration".
For instructions on how to open and close the Sign-in Console, see the Knowledge Base Article linked HERE.