Some parts of the world are beginning to congregate again. I’ve been thinking about things we are going to need as we go into this ‘cross over’ period. We all probably want to maintain some of the good practices we have learnt during this COVID19 period. Less touching, slightly more physical distancing, limiting numbers and all the other bits and pieces.
This led me into thinking about the check in process we have in many youth groups and children’s ministries. If you think about it, it usually involves lots of touching.
Touching name badges, parents writing names down, touching of pens, crowding around a table. These are just some of things that we now have to minimise. Having a system where parents can register their kids from their phone (something that has only been shared with their bubble of people) is probably a big win.
Responsible Citizens
And, let’s face it, even though we really don’t want to think about it, worse case scenario is we gather and someone unknowingly attends while the virus is incubating in their system and it spreads. Knowing who attended on that day would be a very good thing to know.
How To Create Contactless Sign In
So, let’s see what we can do! If you currently don’t have a system setup, maybe you could look to use a QR code, a Google sheet and a google form. And let me stress to you this is not hard. I’ve taught a group of older, tech-averse ladies to do this for their children’s ministries so if they can do it, you can too!
- Login to your Google account (You probably already are!)
- Create a Google form, here are some basic fields I can recommend:
- Name of Child
- Parents Full Name
- Parents Mobile (in case of emergencies)
- Allergies
- Once your happy with it click the Send Form button (usually found in the top right)
- Copy the URL that appears in a little pop up window
- Go to https://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/
- In the top left there is a tab named URL click on that
- Paste the URL that you copied in step 4 into the “Enter URL” field
- You’ve now created a QR code on the left hand side of the screen. If you left mouse click on the qr code and save it you can use this to point people to the form that you created.
You can now print the QR code, or have it on a screen as parents drop of their kids. A lot of phones, when you point the camera at a QR code, instantly recognise the QR code and suggest the website to the phone owner. And now in 15 minutes or less you have built yourself a no touch registration system!
If you prefer visual training then one of the best videos I have seen on setting this up can be viewed here:
This is one way you can create a contactless sign in system.
Do you have a contactless system in place? If so, what are you using?
Blessing Mpofu says
This. is. so. helpful. Simple where you don’t have other options. Thanks for sharing Jono.
Mike says
Our church management system has a similar feature out of the box, we’ve been using it for a few years, Before covid we encouraged people to sign in during our announcements/giving and have the QR codes as you walk in to the service.
To go another level with it, our’s remembers your phone so that next time you don’t even need to fill in the form, just scan the code.
Jono Hesp says
Love that! What CMS software is that Mike?
I’ve also used this so that people can get my slides and notes directly when I’ve been speaking at conferences (and I can get their email for any follow-up). It’s useful in all sorts of places and so easy to setup.