Check-in
UCare provides churches with the capability to perform check-ins for Meetings. This feature is handy for children’s ministries and gives parents and guardians peace of mind for their children’s safety. Check-in provides church staff with a quick and easy method of tracking attendance and other important information for their children’s ministries. Churches can use label printers to ensure all vital information is visible to staff and volunteers.
While Check-in is an excellent tool for children’s ministries, it can be used for any Meeting, whether regularly scheduled like services and small groups or part of an Event. UCare provides multiple Check-in options, giving churches the flexibility to cater to various Meetings.
In this Part, we will cover the various types of Check-ins available.
Leader Access
To give someone access to Check-in, they must have Security access to this feature and be appointed as a Group leader.
To give someone security access, first, find their profile in UCare and click Edit access next to their name:
From there, make sure Access Check-in is ticked, Groups & Meetings will automatically be selected when you do this, and set your Security areas:
Click Save once you’ve completed this.
Next, you’ll need to ensure they are set up as a Leader of the Group. To do this, find the Group, select Leaders and click Add people:
Find the person and assign them as a leader:
Click Update Leader to finalize.
Your leader is now ready to perform Check-ins.
Check-in
Groups and Meetings must be set up before Check-in can be used. Since Check-in uses Meeting information to perform Check-ins, you will only see the Check-in options if you create one.
Click Check-in on the navbar to begin on the navbar to begin:
You will be prompted to select which security areas you would like to perform check-ins:
Once you’ve selected your Security areas, several options for Check-ins will come up:
Note: Meetings must be scheduled for the current day to ensure Check-in options are available.
We will cover these in the order they appear.
Assisted Check-in
Assisted Check-in helps families check in quickly and securely, allowing them to print name tags, add new families or update details. Typically, staff and volunteers should assist families in ensuring families are not accessing others’ information.
When you open assisted check-in, it will list the day’s scheduled meetings. You will first need to select the meetings to make available for check-in.
Label options will be displayed under each category if a label printer is connected or a remote print station is available. This allows different label designs for each type or turns off labels on specific categories. The device can be published as a remote print station if a label printer is connected. To enable this, check the Register as print station option and enter a unique print station name.
Once the required options are selected, click Start.
This will take you to the Assisted Check-in search screen. Click the Full-Screen icon to keep the rest of UCare hidden.
Check-ins can now begin. You can enter a Household or Person’s name or number or scan their check-in key tag to find an existing family if you have the option available. If a new family needs to use check-in, click + New household to open a quick entry Form to capture the family details.
Once a Household has been selected, you can mark off the family member you are checking in:
A dropdown box will appear under each selected person; it will have regularly attended classes set. If you need to, you can choose additional meetings and times.
Printed name tags include the selected meeting times, allergies, other medical info, and the child’s name. Set the number of labels required.
Tap New person when a new family member or a friend needs to check in.
Click the plus symbol at the bottom to Assign a tag or barcode.
Before completing Check-in, select which parent (or guardian) is checking in the child to include the parent’s details on each child’s nametag. Staff and volunteers can quickly make contact in an emergency by having the parent’s contact info.
Click Check-in to complete the process.
Checking Out
The Checkout process is similar to Check-in. To Check out, enter the Household or Person’s name or number or scan their check-in key tag. Alternatively, type or scan the code on the security tag. Select the people to check out and click Check-out.
Self Check-in
If you prefer to use Check-in stations, Self Check-in allows churches to let families check themselves in. This option does not allow families to check out but allows for faster, unassisted, multi-station check-ins. This check-in method allows fewer staff or volunteers to assist or oversee the process.
Opening Self Check-in, like Assisted Check-in, will display the scheduled meetings. You can select the sessions you want to make available for Check-in and click Start; this will bring up the PIN screen.
Since Self Check-in can be largely unassisted, UCare adds this security feature to protect people’s information. Once a PIN has been set, the Self Check-in screen will open. The PIN must be entered to exit Self Check-in, keeping the rest of UCare inaccessible.
Unlike Assisted Check-in, Household or People’s names cannot be searched in Self Check-in, which prevents people from viewing Household information other than theirs. Families can search for their profiles by phone number or by searching or scanning their barcode number.
Every profile in UCare will have a Barcode number. To check this, open a Person’s profile and click Edit basic details:
From there, you will be able to view the Barcode number attached to a profile:
Once the Household has been located using a phone number or Barcode, families can select the people being Checked in. A dropdown will appear once a person has been checked, allowing them to choose the Meeting they are checking in to. When this has been selected, they can choose who is checking them in and click Check-in to finalize the process.
A green tick will appear to confirm a successful check-in.
To exit Self Check-in, click the X in the top right:
This will prompt you to input the PIN. Once entered, you will be returned to UCare.
Attendance Roll
The attendance roll can provide a group/class leader with a list of attendees who can then be checked in or out. Should it be required, the registration list can also be printed out. Like the other check-in methods, the Attendance Roll allows the facilitator to search the attendee list by Household or Person name, phone number or Barcode.
Opening the Attendance Roll will prompt you to choose a Group or Event type:
For this example, we will use the Kids group. Click on the type, and it will open the Groups for you to choose from:
Choose the Group and select the Meeting you want an Attendance Roll for. If you require a roll printout and have a printer connected, UCare will prompt you to choose the printer.
Click Start to proceed, and the Attendance Roll will open. You can use the filters to display the group as needed.
Use the checkboxes to the left of each Person’s name to check them in. If you need to search for someone, you can do so using the search bar, allowing you to add new people. As people are checked-in, the option to check out will appear at the top:
Now that you’re set up with Meetings and Check-in, you are now ready for your first service. In the next part, we'll look at Pastoral Care and follow-ups.