Time Attendance: Recording and Monitoring Work Hours

Time Attendance feature enables Admins to centrally track employee working hours regardless of whether it involves one or multiple locations. This includes tracking the working hours of employees who work across multiple locations throughout the day or any given time period.

The setup does not require setting up a VPN, making it relatively simple without complex network interventions. The setup requires an internet connection at the location, however, our solution supports offline mode of working in case the internet connection goes off - all events recorded in offline periods are synced when internet connection is on again.

Working hours are recorded through employee login via the kiosk application, which is placed at an accessible location on-site. The location requires a dedicated or existing/reusable device that will run the kiosk application.

 

Core Elements 

Time Attendance functionality has 4 core elements:

• Backoffice kiosk configurations - Administrators create and configure Time Attendance kiosks in accordance with business needs.
• On-premise kiosk - Those are applications that on-premise users (e.g. employees) interact with in accordance with configurations done by the administrators in the backoffice. This is where attendance events come from (clock-in, clock-out, end shift).
• Identity authorization keys - Administrators delegate authorization keys for identities when it comes to Cards and PINs authorizations via on-premise kiosks.
• Backoffice reports - Administrators observe data collected through on-premise kiosks. Data is centralized, no matter how many locations or employees.

 

How to enable the Time attendance feature?

Only Space Owner can enable the Time clock feature for Vision space. To do so, Space Owner needs to follow these steps:

1. Open the Vision app on your device and navigate to the Control Panel (icon available in the bottom right corner of the screen).
2. In the Control Panel, locate and click on the "Space" section.
3. After selecting the desired space, a settings window will appear. Find and click on the "Settings" tab within this window.
4. In the "Settings" section, look for the option to enable the Time Attendance feature. Change its status to enabled by toggling the switch (see Image 1).
5. Once the Time Attendance feature is enabled, click on the "Save" button to apply your changes. This button is located at the bottom of the settings window.

Figure 1:  Enabling Time Attendance

Important: To confirm your changes, you will need to enter the Space ID of your space. The Space ID is a unique identifier for each space within the Vision app. You can locate and copy the Space ID by navigating to the "General" tab within the Space settings, where it will be listed.

 

How to create Time Attendance kiosk?

To set up a kiosk, do the following (see Figure 2):

1. Navigate to the Control Panel, located in the bottom left corner of the interface.
2. Open the Kiosks tab in the main navigation bar of the Control Panel
3. Click the sign located in the bottom right corner to create a new Kiosk.
   
   

Figure 2:  Creating Kiosk 

 

Time Attendance kiosks are created through steps. There are a total of 5 steps

Step 1/5

1 - Name & Type - In the first step of creating a kiosk, you need to:

• Give a desired name to a kiosk and
• Choose the “Time Attendance” as the type of kiosk.

Name is changeable at any time.

Figure 3 – Create Kiosk - Step 1/5

 

Step 2/5

 

Figure 4 – Create Kiosk - Step 2/5

 

2 - Location: Pick a location where the kiosk will be consumed by employees on-premise.

3 - Access Control: Specify who can clock-in via the kiosk. You may specify all Identities or cherry pick specific Identities only. For specific Identities, you may choose any number of individual Identities, as well as pick Identities that have a specific flag.

Figure 5 – Specific Identities

 

Logic of Access Control in more detail: 

KIOSKS	IDENTITIES	EXPLANATION
Kiosk #1	All Identities	All identities (including newly added ones) have potential to clock-in via Kiosk #1.
Kiosk #2	Operators [Flag]	Only identities flagged with “Operators” flag (including newly flagged ones) have potential to clock-in via Kiosk #2.
Kiosk #3	Operators [Flag] Service [Flag] Zoran	Only identities flagged with “Operators” and/or “Service” flag (including newly flagged ones) and Zoran (regardless of any flag) have potential to clock-in via Kiosk #3.

 

4 - Clock-In Flows: Choose how employees clock-in. Solution provides enough flexibility to support simple to very complex use cases.

Available methods include:

• NFC Cards
• PIN Codes
• Face Recognition

 

Any combination of those methods is supported, allowing the desired level of control no matter the use case. Few examples:

• NFC only
• Both NFC and PIN as mandatory
• PIN and Face Recognition as mandatory
• NFC, PIN and Face Recognition as mandatory
• Either NFC or PIN (but not both), among other possible combinations.

Additionally, there is the option called “Enable Fast Clock-in Mode”. This option, if ON, clocks-in the Identity upon authentication without requiring the Identity to explicitly click the “Clock-In” on the on-premises kiosk. The purpose of the option is to speed up the process of clocking-in. Of course, if the Identity is already clocked-in at the moment of authentication, nothing will happen practically.

5 - Lock configuration: This is only applicable in case the premise is protected with electronic lock, otherwise, this section can be ignored. Choose what [successful] events (clock-in, clock-out, end shift) open the electronic lock.

 

Step 3/5 

Figure 6 – Time Attendance Kiosk - Step 3/5

6 - Action Labels: Localize how “Clock-In”, “Clock-Out” and “End Shift” labels are displayed on the on-premise kiosk. For example, in Croatian language, you may want the “Clock-In” to be labeled as “Ulaz”, “Clock-Out” as “Izlaz” and “End Shift” as “Kraj smjene”.

7 - Custom Clock-Out Options: Specify which custom options for clocking-out are present on the on-premise kiosk, depending on business needs. Custom options are completely optional.

Few examples of custom clock-out options:

• Break
• Coffee Break
• Business Meeting
• Education Leave

Not all absences are necessarily “negative” for work time in practice. For that reason, we support specifying what kind of effect a certain custom clock-out option has on the working time. Solution provides:

• Negative impact options - those options don’t add time to work time
• Positive impact options - those options add time to work time

In above examples, the “Break” could be a negative impact option, while the “Business Meeting” could be a positive option.

Created custom options are centralized on the Space-level, however, we support flexibility to use or not to use certain options per kiosk.

Custom options can be created from the creation/edit view of the kiosk or through the centralized place under Control Panel - Time Attendance tab. No matter from where the option is created, option will always be shown in a centralized place (Control Panel - Time Attendance tab).

 

Figure 7 – Time Attendance Tab

Step 4/5

Figure 8 – Time Attendance Kiosk - Step 4/5

8 - Branding: Personalize the kiosk with your company's logo and a custom title and welcome message. Those are completely optional.

9 - Display Information: Choose optional elements to display on the on-premise kiosk.

Supported options:

• Display Date & Time - if ON, date & time are shown on the kiosk
• Display Location Name - if ON, Location name is displayed on the kiosk
• Display attendance summary after person clocks-in - if ON, a person that successfully clocks-in can see information about their personal working hours on the current shift
• Display current number of clocked-in people - if ON, a number of clocked-in and clocked-out Identities, in a given moment, is displayed on the kiosk.

Step 5/5

Figure 9 – Time Attendance Kiosk - Step 5/5

 

10 - Language Localization: Customize the kiosk on-premise interface to display in the preferred language(s) of your choice.

TIP: Try to use clear and concise language for easier usage by employees. Avoid too long phrases.

 

On-Premise Kiosks

Activation

Once the kiosk is created through backoffice, the next natural step is to activate it on the location of interest. This section explains how to do so.

 

Prerequisite for activation:

• Decide what device (display) should show an on-premise kiosk. On that device, run the following link https://app.nsoft.vision/kiosks. When the link is run, the following screen should appear:

Figure 10 – Activation screen

 

Activation consists of the following steps:

• Go to Control Panel → Kiosks and click on the desired Kiosk (1)
• On the opened Kiosk flyout, click on the context menu (2) and click the “Activate” option (3)
• In the activation prompt (modal), enter 12-digit OTP (one-time password) code (4) that matches the code displayed on the physical display that is about to run the kiosk.
• Click the “Activate” button to finalize the activation (5)

 

Figure 11 – Kiosks List

Figure 12 – Activate Kiosk Option

Figure 13 – Activate Kiosk Prompt


Examples of Activated Kiosks 

Activated kiosks reflect configuration from the backoffice.

 

Welcome screen (before authentication) examples:

 

Example 1:

Figure 14 – Welcome Screen - Example 1

In this example:

• Card and PIN are configured as mandatory flows (both must be satisfied) for authentication
• Logo not displayed
• Title and Welcome message not displayed
• “Display Date & Time” is ON (located at the top)
• “Display Location Name” is ON
• “Display current number of clocked-in people” is OFF

 

Example 2:

Figure 15 – Welcome Screen - Example 2

• Card and PIN are configured as mandatory flows (both must be satisfied) for authentication
• Logo is displayed
• Title and Welcome message not displayed
• “Display Date & Time” is ON (located at the top)
• “Display Location Name” is OFF
• “Display current number of clocked-in people” is ON

Example 3:

Figure 16 – Welcome Screen - Example 3

• Only PIN is configured as flow for authentication
• Logo is displayed
• Title and Welcome message are displayed
• “Display Date & Time” is ON (located at the top)
• “Display Location Name” is ON
• “Display current number of clocked-in people” is ON

In order to provide flexibility, each kiosk instance can be specifically configured. For example, at one location, it is possible to configure sign-in using only NFC cards, while at other locations, both NFC and camera can be specified as required methods.

 

Example 4:

Figure 17 – Welcome Screen - Example 4

• Example shows incorrect PIN attempt

 

Attendance screen (after authentication) examples:

 

Example 1:

 

Figure 18 – Attendance Screen - Example 1

• Example shows clocking-out flow
• Example shows Custom Clock-Out options
• “Display attendance summary after person clocks-in” is ON

Example 2:

Figure 19 – Attendance Screen - Example 2

• Example shows an example when Identity is already clocked in
• “Display attendance summary after person clocks-in” is OFF

Example 3:

 

Figure 19 – Attendance Screen - Example 3

• Example shows an example when Identity performs the End Shift action.

 

Example 4:

Figure 20 – Attendance Screen - Example 4

• Example shows an example when Identity performs the Clock-Out action.
  

Post-activation Edits of Kiosks

All kiosks, regardless of their status (activated, deactivated), can be edited at any time from the backoffice. Changes in configuration apply in real-time, without necessity to manually reload already set on-premise kiosk applications.

Identity Authentication Keys

As explained under “2. How to create a Time Attendance kiosk?”, there are 3 different methods supported for Time Attendance authorization:

• NFC Cards
• PIN
• Face Recognition

NFC Cards and PIN methods require administrators to delegate those to Identities so Identities can use them on the on-premise kiosks accordingly. Each Identity in the system (created by AI or manually) has the ability to have those specified for them. Which of the keys are supposed to be populated depends on business needs and desired authentication flows. Practically speaking, if on-premise kiosks don’t allow NFC Card flow, there is no need to specify Card ID to any Identity.

 

Figure 21 – Directory - Identity - PIN or Card ID

 

1 - PIN is a 5-digit key. It has to be unique, meaning no two Identities of the same Space can have the same PIN specified at the same time. PIN can be generated automatically by clicking the “Generate” button or entered manually - either option is acceptable. If PIN happens to be a duplicate, saving the Identity details will fail with a proper message.

2 - Card ID represents the serial number of the NFC card. It has to be unique, meaning no two Identities of the same Space can have the same Card ID specified at the same time. Additionally, next to the Card ID input, the application also provides the pool of all scanned “unknown” card ids in the last 24 hours - useful for easier assessment of card ids.

 

Reports