How to set up automatic clock in and out with geofences?

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Collections: Location Settings.

Written by Melissa Spillett

Last modified on

July 21st 2024

With Jibble’s geofencing attendance system, your team members’ locations are seamlessly utilized to automatically log their clock-ins and clock-outs as they enter or exit designated geofenced areas. This process eliminates the need for manual time entries, streamlining the attendance tracking process.

This article covers:

• Prerequisites
• Enabling Automated Clock Ins/Outs
• Important Notes

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Prerequisites

Before setting up automated geofence-based clock ins and outs, ensure the following prerequisites are met:

1. Geofences

   • A minimum of one geofence must be created in Jibble.
   • Geofence must have a radius of at least 300 metres or 1000 feet.
   • To manage geofence radius in bulk, check out our article on editing locations.
     

2. Time Tracking Settings

   • Ensure geofencing is enforced for your team. This can be done by selecting Strict Time Clock Restrictions or selecting the checkbox for “Enable Geofencing” under Custom Time Clock Restrictions.
   • Your team must be granted the ability to perform time entries via the Mobile apps. This setting can be found under Device Restrictions.

3. Device Operation Settings

   • Location settings on each member’s device must be set to “Always allowed” for the Jibble app.
   • Ensure push notifications are enabled for the Jibble app.
   • For Android devices, disable the battery conservation setting for the Jibble app.

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Enabling Automated Clock Ins/Outs

Owners and admins will be able to enable this setting either for the entire organization (all members) or specific groups by customizing settings for groups. 

Important ❗:  The specific geofence each team member uses will be determined by the locations assigned to their work schedules. Check out our article on restricting locations with geofences for more information.

Enabling geofence automation for the whole organization:

1. Log in to your Jibble account on the web.
2. Go to Time Tracking Settings > Automation.
3. Click on the pencil icon to configure settings.
4. Select the checkbox for “Enforce automatic clock in and out”.
5. If required, specify the type of days to exclude from automation: Rest days, Public Holidays, and Approved time off.Note: Members will not be automatically clocked in or out when entering or exiting a geofence on these excluded days.
6. Click on Save.
7. If you have locations below the minimum required radius, you will see a modal about unsupported locations.
8. You can choose to update these locations to a 300-metre radius by checking the box “Set non-compliant geofences to a 300m radius“.
9. Click on Continue to update geofence radius.
10. If not required, leave the box unchecked and click on Continue.
    Note: Geofences that are below the minimum required radius will not be supported for this feature.

Enabling geofence automation for specific groups:

If you require this feature only for specific members within your organization, you can assign them to a group and activate advanced group settings, instead of applying the default settings for the entire organization.

Group time tracking settings override the organization’s default settings and are mandatory for all group members when clocking in and out.

1. Go to People > Groups.
2. Click on a Group you wish to enable the automation for.
3. Tap on the cog icon to access group settings.
4. Click on the Automation tab.
5. Select the checkbox for “Enforce automatic clock in and out”.
6. If required, specify the type of days to exclude from automation: Rest days, Public Holidays, and Approved time off.
7. Click on Save.

Notes:

• To ensure the changes take effect after enabling this feature, please force close and reopen the Jibble app, and perform one clock-in on your mobile device.
• Team members will be automatically clocked in upon entering a geofenced area and clocked out upon leaving. Notifications will be sent to team members’ devices, and time entries will be indicated to show that they were automated using geofences.

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Important Notes

1. This feature only creates In and Out entries; break entries are not applicable.
2. Multiple clock-ins are not supported. If you are already clocked in, you will not be clocked in again even if you enter another geofence.
3. Automatic clocking only occurs when team members cross the geofence border (entering or exiting).
4. Automation will take precedence, and verifications such as facial recognition, selfies, enforced projects, and activities will be ignored.
5. Work schedule restrictions, such as limiting clock-ins before scheduled start times, will be ignored.
   1. If a team member enters a geofence before the allowed time, they will still be clocked in.
6. If devices are turned off, in Airplane mode or don’t have a good GPS signal, automatic entries will not be generated.
7. If team members are allowed to track time when offline, the system will continue to create automatic In and Out entries when there’s no internet connection. These entries will be synced and added to Timesheets once devices are back online.