The "Staff Offsite" feature enables you to track the activities of staff members working remotely or away from the workplace.
For instance, in our Education edition, if a Teacher is on a school trip but still working, this feature allows you to log their status as "Offsite." This ensures that their working hours are accurately recorded, even when they are not physically at the school.
This feature is only available on our Education and Care licences.
Read this article to learn more about how to use the "Staff Offsite" feature.
How to enable Staff Offsite
Follow the steps provided below to enable the "Staff Offsite" feature for your site account:
The Staff Offsite functionality is based on roles rather than individual staff members. Once the toggle has been activated for the selected roles, the feature will be enabled across your site account.
How to add/edit/delete Offsite Reasons
Once the "Staff Offsite" feature has been enabled for the selected roles, you will need to create specific reasons for staff members to choose when they are working remotely or away from their usual workplace.
After these reasons are added to the e-Reception Book, they will appear on the iPad following a device refresh, ensuring that staff members can accurately log their offsite activities.
Please follow the steps below to create, edit or delete custom reasons for when your staff are offsite:
Important Information: If you are a school using our Education Edition with MIS integration, your offsite reasons will automatically be populated from your school's MIS.
However, you can still create and customise your own offsite reasons to better suit the unique needs of your school. This allows you to track staff members working remotely or away from their usual workplace, ensuring that all working hours are accurately recorded and monitored.
How to Check Out Offsite as a Staff Member
To check out offsite as a staff member, please follow these steps:
1) Access the Staff Section:
Tap on "Staff" on the iPad and enter your name. Alternatively, you can scan your Staff QR code or tap your RFID fob to access the same page and proceed with the next steps.
2) Select Offsite Option:
Once your name appears, tap the "Working Offsite" button.
3) Choose a Reason and Return Status:
Select the reason for working offsite from the list, which populates from your dashboard. Then, indicate whether you will be returning later in the day or not.
Yes: Selecting this option indicates that the staff member is expected to return from offsite later in the day and will not automatically check you out on the site account end time.
No: Selecting this option indicates that the staff member is not expected to return. They will be automatically checked out at the 'end time' specified in the site settings on your e-Reception Book dashboard.
4) Include any additional individuals, such as students or residents.
You can also check out additional individuals, such as pupils for a school trip in the Education Edition or residents for an outdoor visit in the Care Edition.
Enter their names, tags, or groups (e.g., class name) to populate a group instead of typing names individually.
If no additional people need to be checked out, simply tap the white "Continue" button.
Important: If your site account does not have any pupils uploaded or residents listed in the corresponding database, this screen will be automatically bypassed, and you will be taken directly to the next screen in the process.
To see a video on how you can do this on the iPad, please watch below:
5) Dashboard Offsite Tag:
The staff record on the dashboard will be updated with an "Offsite" label, indicating that the staff member is working remotely. This differs from the "Checked Out" tab, which reflects a full check-out status.
How to Check in an Offsite Member
To check-in a staff member marked as offsite, please follow these steps:
1) Access the Staff Section:
Tap on "Staff" on the iPad and enter your name. Alternatively, you can scan your Staff QR code or tap your RFID fob to access the same page and proceed with the next steps.
2) Select Offsite Option:
Once your name appears, tap the "Im Returning from Offsite" green button
3) Check-in assigned individuals:
If you chose to check out any pupils or residents during the offsite check-out process, you will be directed to a page on the iPad where you can tick off all selected individuals from the list.
If you did not check out any pupils or residents, you will be taken directly to the check-in confirmation page and then returned to the home page.
If you leave any individuals unticked, when you go to check out again as offsite in a future date, those individuals will automatically appear on your list as the system will expect that those individuals are still with the staff member.
To see how you can do this on the iPad, please watch the video we have provided below:
4) Dashboard tag:
The staff record on the dashboard will update with a "Checked In" label, indicating the staff member has returned from being offsite.
How offsite staff members show on the Fire Evacuation list
When a staff member is offsite, they will be shown on the fire evacuation list in the following different options:
iPad view
To view your offsite staff members during a fire escape on the iPad, please follow the steps below:
1) Press and Hold the 'Welcome' greeting on the iPad. Then click "Yes, I'm sure".
2) Click the "staff" tab on the fire escape screen on the iPad.
3) Any staff member who is currently offsite will have the word "offsite" in yellow under their name, as shown below.
Companion App
To view your offsite staff members during fire escape on the Companion app, please follow the steps below:
1) Open the Companion app on your device.
2) Click the 'Fire' tab in the bottom right corner.
3) Ensure you are view from the correct site and click on the 'Staff' tab at the top of the screen.
4) Any staff member who is currently offsite will have the word "offsite" in yellow under their name, as shown above.
Dashboard
To view your offsite staff members during the fire escape on the dashboard, please follow the steps below:
Additional Support
If you have any immediate questions, please use our Live Chat on the bottom right-hand side of the page.