Guests can check in at a station by scanning a printed tag or, on stations with a camera, holding their tag up to the camera. Both ways land on the same family board as a name or phone search. Scanning is a faster path in.
Tip: Scanning is the fastest way through a check-in line. A family arriving with a printed tag is a scan plus one tap. The scan opens their board, and Finish completes it. A family typing their name is a few keystrokes plus two taps.
Scanning with a badge scanner
A USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner works on every screen, at all times. There is nothing to turn on in the app for it to work. Scan the tag and the station takes it from there. This is true in the desktop app and the mobile app alike.
The Badge scanner attached device setting does not turn scanning on or off. A scanner cannot be detected by the app, so this setting only changes the wording of the on-screen hints to mention scanning. Badge scanning is always active, whether this setting is on or off.
Tip: An external scanner needs to send a CR suffix so the station knows the code has finished. Check the scanner's manual for how to set that, then test it by opening a text editor, putting the cursor on a line, and scanning. If the code appears and the cursor drops to the next line, it is set up correctly. See How do I set up a check-in station? for scanner recommendations.
Scanning with the camera
On a station with a camera, a Scan using camera option appears on the home screen. Tapping it opens a full-screen viewfinder with corner brackets and the prompt Hold your barcode up to the camera. Detection is automatic. There is no button to press to capture the code.
A successful scan goes straight to the family board, with no extra tap needed.
If the camera struggles for about eight seconds, the hint changes to Having trouble? Ask a team member for help.
A code the camera cannot recognize shows a message and keeps scanning, so a guest can try again without leaving the screen.
Cancel returns to the home screen.
The Scan using camera option only appears when the device has a camera and the Allow scanning with the camera device setting is on. That is normally the case on a phone or tablet, and normally not the case on a station sitting on a desk without a camera. Badge scanning stays active even while the camera viewfinder is open.
Where these settings live
Both settings are configured on the station itself, not from the web browser:
Allow scanning with the camera - on by default. Turning it off hides every camera control and removes the scan screen entirely.
Badge scanner attached - off by default. This only changes hint wording, as described above.
Both are per-device settings, found on the station's own Settings > This Device screen. They apply instantly and are remembered even while the station is offline.
What the station can scan
A station accepts two kinds of code, and both land on the family board:
The barcode on a person's profile - found under Info > Check-In on their record.
The short identifier printed on a check-in label - the code that appears on the tag a guest was given when they last checked in.
The code on a printed label stops working once that person has been checked out. If a returning guest's old tag will not scan, that is usually why. Search for them by name instead, and they will get a fresh tag when they check in again.
Where printed tags come from
A guest's scannable tag comes from a check-in roster, which is a printable list of people with a barcode beside each name. If your church prints rosters ahead of a service or event, see How do I generate a check-in roster? for how to build and print one.
Guests also leave with a scannable code on their name label after any check-in, so a family that came last week can often scan the tag they still have.