How GetSkipa Timekeeper Uses Kiosks

A kiosk can stay at one entrance, move among locations, or travel with a field crew. One kiosk can serve many workers, and the same worker can use more than one authorized kiosk. Timekeeper does not require proprietary kiosk hardware or a dedicated application.

A kiosk is a role, not a piece of hardware

A Timekeeper kiosk can be an inexpensive or repurposed tablet mounted at an entrance, a shared computer with a camera, a phone carried by a supervisor, a device traveling with a field crew, or a temporary station at a job site. Several kiosk devices can also be distributed around one workplace.

A compatible device needs a supported browser, a camera available to that browser, camera permission, and an active Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

Workers bring their identity to the kiosk

Each worker has an individual Timekeeper QR credential. A worker can display it from the mobile-friendly My Timekeeper page, save a simple image of it, or use a printable QR badge created by the business.

A professionally printed badge is not required. The QR is the worker credential whether it appears on screen, in a saved image, or on a printed badge.

Clock workers use kiosks to record payable time

For Clock workers, the kiosk is an authorized timekeeping entry point. It supports Clock In, Clock Out, Lunch, Break, Return, and the actions available for the worker's current status.

When Projects are used, the worker selects a Project at the beginning of a Clock session if more than one eligible choice is available. One Clock session keeps that Project through Lunch, Break, and Return. To begin work on another Project, the worker clocks out and starts a new Clock session under the next Project.

Kiosk Only can require the initial Clock In to happen through a kiosk. After a session is active, the worker's personal Work Link still provides the actions available for the worker's current session status.

Kiosks can have different operating rules

Each kiosk has its own Kiosk Name and can include an optional Location / Site, a camera preference, Lunch & Break Actions, and administrative Notes.

Lunch & Break Actions can be enabled or disabled for each kiosk. When enabled, the kiosk offers the supported Lunch, Break, Return, and other actions available for the worker's current status. When disabled, the kiosk remains focused on a simpler operational flow.

Camera preference can remain Auto or use an available front, rear, or external camera when the device and browser support it. Different kiosks in the same business can therefore serve different operational purposes.

For Manual Timesheet workers, kiosk activity is presence, not payable time

A Manual Timesheet worker may use a kiosk for Check In, Check Out, Lunch, Break, and Return. Those actions create Manual Presence. They do not create payable hours, create an official time log, turn presence duration into Manual payable hours, or automatically modify the Manual Timesheet.

The two records are intentionally independent. A business establishes its own policy for acceptable variance, and there may be legitimate reasons why presence and payable time differ. Timekeeper provides both records. The business decides what the difference means.

Presence is an independent validation record

Manual Presence events are intentionally not editable. A Manager cannot rewrite Check In, Check Out, Lunch, Break, or Return history merely to make it agree with a Manual Timesheet. Keeping the presence record separate preserves its usefulness as validation evidence.

The record is not hidden from the worker. Workers can review their own attendance activity, and Managers can review corresponding business history through Timekeeper's operational and Audit views. Presence events do not create or approve payable time.

Validation without continuous surveillance

Timekeeper provides a point-in-time way to establish presence without requiring background GPS tracking, continuous location monitoring, geofencing, or surveillance software on a worker's personal device. A kiosk records a deliberate worker action at a shared business-controlled endpoint.

This is a design distinction, not a claim that one method is universally more accurate than another. It reflects the same focus on clear, limited-purpose records described in Why GetSkipa Timekeeper?

Many workers and many kiosks

One kiosk may serve many workers, one worker may use multiple authorized kiosks, and a business may operate several kiosks at the same time. A restaurant entrance, warehouse door, cleaning crew, landscaping crew, construction site, event, mobile service crew, or temporary work location can each use the arrangement that fits the work.

Fixed and mobile kiosks can coexist. A primary workplace might use a mounted tablet while another kiosk URL travels with a field crew. Locations can have their own kiosks while workers retain their individual Timekeeper identities.

Kiosks require connectivity

Timekeeper kiosks require active Wi-Fi or cellular access to Timekeeper. They are not offline time-storage devices. If communication is unavailable, kiosk actions may not be available until connectivity is restored.

QR credential security and recovery

The Worker QR and Work Link use the same active worker credential. If that credential needs to be replaced, Refresh QR & Work Link creates a new one. Previously issued copies of the old QR and Work Link become invalid, so the replacement Work Link must be shared with the worker.

Any Manager in the business may refresh a worker's QR and Work Link and provide the replacement. This supports recovery when a QR is lost, damaged, compromised, shared improperly, or otherwise unusable. Refreshing is a security action, not routine maintenance. A worker's QR does not need periodic replacement simply because time has passed.

The hardware stays simple

Timekeeper defines a kiosk by the job it performs, not by expensive hardware bolted to a wall. For Clock workers, it can be the shared point for recording payable time. For Manual Timesheet workers, it provides independent, non-editable presence evidence that can help a business validate employee-submitted Manual Timesheets without converting presence into payable time.

It can be fixed or mobile. One kiosk can serve many workers. Workers can use more than one kiosk. Businesses can place kiosks wherever their operation happens, provided browser camera access and connectivity are available.

The hardware stays simple. The distinction between time, presence, and payroll stays clear.

Choosing the physical device, mount, power, and network? Read Building Your Own Timekeeper Kiosk. For rollout planning, use the Timekeeper Implementation Guide. For broader workflows and terminology, read the Book of GetSkipa Timekeeper.