Check-in stations

A station is one iPad that checks children in. Each station has a name, its own code prefix, and a setting for whether families use it themselves or a volunteer runs it. Before an iPad can load the church's families or send its check-ins, an admin pairs it with a one-time code shown on this page.

The iPad keeps working when the internet drops: it checks children in and prints from its own copy of the families, and sends everything once it's back online.

When to use this

• You're setting up a new iPad for kids check-in.
• An iPad was lost, stolen or replaced, and its access must stop straight away.
• You want to see whether every iPad has checked in recently before a service.

Add a station

1. Open Settings, then Check-in stations.
2. Under Add a station, type a Station name that staff will recognise, such as Lobby iPad or Welcome desk.
3. Keep the suggested Code prefix, or choose another one that no other station uses.
4. Choose How it's used: families check in themselves, or a staffed desk.
5. Leave Practice station ticked until the church's first live Sunday on our iPads.
6. Select Add station. It appears in the list, waiting to be paired.

Pair an iPad

1. Find the station in the list and select Pair an iPad. A code appears, with a countdown.
2. On the iPad, open Legacy Check-in, tap Staff and enter the staff PIN, then open Station setup.
3. In the Back office box, tap Scan the pairing code and point the camera at the code on this screen. If the camera can't read it, tap Paste the pairing text instead and paste the text shown under the code.
4. The iPad says Paired as with the station's name, and starts loading the church's families. Select Close here. The code is never shown again, and it works only once, for 15 minutes.

If the code runs out before you scan it, select Make a new code. Pairing a station again later replaces its old iPad: the old one loses access at once.

The iPad won't pair, and says why, when:

• children are still checked in on it (check them out first, then pair);
• the station's Practice station setting doesn't match the app (the practice app pairs only with practice stations, and the live app only with live ones);
• the station's code letter is one the iPad can't print (choose another letter, then pair again).

Anything that iPad recorded before it was paired stays on the iPad but is never sent, because it came from the made-up test families.

Code prefix

Every security code a station prints starts with its prefix, a single letter. Two active stations can never share a prefix, so two iPads can't print the same code on the same Sunday. A removed station's prefix can be used again.

Letters that are easy to mistake for numbers (B, I, L, O, S and Z) aren't offered, because the iPad can't print them in a code. If an iPad says its code letter can't be used when it pairs, choose another letter for the station here and pair again.

Self-service or staffed

• Families check in themselves: parents use the iPad on its stand. A family with a restriction on file is asked to see the welcome desk, and the iPad never says why.
• Staffed desk: a trained volunteer runs it, can register a new family, and can check in every family.

Practice or live

A practice station prints PRACTICE labels and keeps its check-ins on the iPad: nothing reaches the church's records or attendance. It still loads the church's families, so a practice Sunday feels real. Untick it only when leadership says the church is checking children in on our iPads for real.

Remove a station

1. Select Remove beside the station.
2. Confirm with Remove.

The station's iPad stops at once: it can't load families or send check-ins any more. Check-ins it already sent stay in the records. To use the same iPad again, add a new station and pair it.

Good to know

• Last seen is the last time the iPad talked to the server. Before a service, every station in use should show a time from that morning.
• On the iPad, staff see how it's doing in one line on the staff home and in Station setup: Synced 2 min ago, Offline, saving here or 3 waiting to send. Families never see it.
• A paired iPad keeps working when the internet drops: it checks children in and prints as usual, and sends everything when the connection is back.
• In the practice sandbox, stations live in your browser only and the pairing code is a sample that can't pair a real iPad.
• The pairing code holds the server's address, so if the church moves to a new web address, re-pair each iPad: no new app is needed.
• Only admins can add, pair or remove stations. Once the church's test database is connected, sign in first with the code emailed to you (see Signing in in the Help center).

Top tips

• Name stations after where they stand, not who uses them: "Lobby iPad" still makes sense next year.
• Pair iPads on a weekday, never on a Sunday morning, and check Last seen on Saturday.
• If an iPad goes missing, remove its station first, then tell the tech lead.