Custom attendance registration software
In an evacuation, one question is asked: is everyone outside? To answer it, you need to know who was inside, and that is something different from who has a pass. Someone who followed through an open door appears in no system at all, and neither does the contractor who came in through the loading door at seven o'clock.
Why your access system doesn't answer this question
An access system records that someone passed a reader somewhere. That is not the same as being present. Someone who scans in and leaves through an emergency exit is still recorded as inside. Someone who tailgates behind a colleague holding the door never appears at all. In a building where a hundred people work, those two numbers can quickly differ by dozens.
This covers the groups who have no access badge: visitors, engineers, temp workers, suppliers and contractors. They are the least familiar with the building and the most vulnerable in an evacuation. In practice they are recorded in a paper book at reception, which often goes unsigned at the end of the day.
The challenge is therefore not technology but completeness. An attendance list that is 80 per cent accurate is more dangerous in an evacuation than no list at all, because the response team goes in looking for someone who isn't there. Everything in this system revolves around how to capture that last 20 per cent without getting in the way of the work. For more on what is involved in workplace emergency response, see the Arboportaal.
How we build this
We start with the groups that are currently missing, not with the people who already sign in neatly. That is where the gap is, and therefore where the value lies.
Who comes onto your site, and by what route: your own staff, temp workers, visitors, engineers, drivers. For each group, ask who currently records their presence. It usually turns out that half of these groups aren't recorded anywhere.
What works for an office worker won't work for a driver who stays twenty minutes. A single method for everyone always leaves out one group.
Each sprint ends with something you can check for yourself, and we begin with the screen used during an evacuation. Anything that doesn't appear on that screen doesn't need to be recorded.
We take part in your evacuation drill. It is the only test that really counts, and it reveals whether the list is accurate and whether someone can read it on a phone in the rain.
What the software actually does
It all comes down to one screen that is accurate at the moment it is needed. Every other component exists to keep that screen populated.
Live attendance list
Who is in which location or part of the building, distinguishing between your own employees, visitors and external contractors. Available on a phone, even if the building's network goes down.
Signing in within seconds
A code at the entrance, a scan of a badge or a confirmation on the phone. If signing in takes longer than walking through, people will skip it, and then the list is worthless.
Visitors and contractors signed in in advance
A host registers the visit, the visitor receives a code and checks themselves in. For contractors, you can attach conditions, such as having read a safety briefing.
Automatic sign-out and clean-up
People forget to sign out, and that is the main source of inaccurate data. Rules per group, such as signing out at the end of a shift or after a period of inactivity, keep the list usable without anyone having to tidy it up by hand.
Evacuation mode
A single screen showing who was inside at the moment of the alarm, with a tick box for each person and an indication of who is still unaccounted for. This is a different screen from the daily list and must work without thinking.
Connecting to what you already have
Your access control system, HR system and time registration already hold some of this information. We use it as a signal and fill in the gaps, rather than building a second administration.
Who we build for
Who comes onto your site determines how much this matters. Four situations.
Manufacturing and industry
Shift work, temp workers and supplier engineers all mixed together. Here the evacuation list is not an administrative tool but a safety measure, and the number of external people is often higher than expected. If a risk inventory and evaluation is also in place, see RI&E and action plan.
Construction sites and project locations
Changing crews from changing subcontractors, with no permanent reception. If an equipment inspection log for work equipment is also in use, see work equipment inspection log; that concerns machinery, whereas this page is about people.
Offices with flexible working
Nobody knows anymore who is in the building on a Tuesday. Alongside the safety side, there is also occupancy: how many desks are in use and how many lunches to prepare, and it is the same register serving a different purpose. If your main concern is receiving and signing in guests, then visitor registration software is the better answer; this page is about the complete list of who is inside.
Healthcare and education
Visitors, volunteers and pupils alongside staff, across sites that are open all day. Here, what matters most is that signing in never holds anyone up and that the list can be read per building section.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
One design requirement takes precedence over everything: this system must work at the moment something goes wrong. That means the list stays available on a phone if the building's network fails and if the power goes out.
If you record attendance at a school and unauthorised absence must be reported on time, have a look at our app for absence registration and compulsory education reporting.
Why Appfront
A list that is eighty per cent accurate is dangerous
The fire warden goes in for someone who is not there. That is why we design for completeness rather than features.
Faster than walking through, otherwise it simply won't happen
Our benchmark is that signing in takes less time than holding the door open. If the design doesn't achieve that, it isn't finished.
People forget to sign out
That is not a behavioural problem but a design problem. We solve it with rules per group rather than with reminders.
Handling with care who was where
This data shows who was where and when. We keep retention periods tight and separate the safety function from every other use.
Security and privacy
Attendance data is personal data with a difficult property: it is useful for safety and tempting for all sorts of other purposes. Who was there last Tuesday at half past three is a question that is quickly asked after a theft, a conflict or a conversation about attendance patterns. We therefore separate the uses: the evacuation function sees the current list, while looking back through history is a separate permission that is logged.
Retention periods are the most important design decision here. For the safety function you need today's data, not last year's; for an incident investigation, a limited period. You set that period together with your data protection officer, and the system enforces it rather than someone ever having to clear it out. If you work with a works council, introducing this is also something to discuss in advance: attendance registration touches on monitoring employees, even when that is not the intention. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy; reports from outside go through our vulnerability disclosure policy.
Frequently asked questions about on-site attendance
No, and that difference is why this page exists. An access control system records passes through readers; attendance answers the question of who is inside right now. Someone who leaves through an emergency door or tailgates a colleague is wrong in one system but not the other. We do use your access control system as a signal, but it is not the source.
No, and we'd advise keeping the two separate. Time registration is about hours worked and pay; attendance is about safety. Mixing them creates two problems: staff start to distrust the attendance register, and then the evacuation list becomes unreliable again. Integration is possible, but as two systems with their own purpose.
By making sign-in so light that it doesn't get in the way: a code at the entrance, an advance invitation with a link, or a tablet at reception. For contractors, you can attach a condition, such as confirming they have received a safety briefing. That also gives you proof that they have had it.
That will certainly happen, so we design for it. For each group you set a rule: automatic sign-out at the end of a shift, after a period of inactivity, or when passing an exit. Without such rules, the list fills up within a week with people who left long ago.
That is the most important requirement here, because that is precisely when you need the list. The app keeps a local copy on the first-aid team's phones, so the last known position remains available. Also agree who holds those phones and whether they are charged; that isn't a software question, but it determines whether the system works.
For the safety function there is usually a sound legal basis, but the details matter: which data, how long it is kept, and who may look back at it. Assess that with your data protection officer. Discuss it with your works council too, as attendance registration touches on monitoring employees, even when that is not the purpose.
Often, and that saves admin: staff are then added and removed automatically as they join and leave. Your HR system remains the source for who is employed; we only track who is present. Which integration is possible depends on your package, so we map out your integrations before committing to anything. This is done through integrations.
It depends on the number of sites, the number of groups you want to register, and whether you're integrating with access control or HR. The attendance list with evacuation mode is usually quick to put into use and delivers the most value; the visitor portal and integrations cost more. We give a reasoned estimate after the discovery phase.
Building attendance registration?
Ask yourself how many people are on your site right now and where that number would come from. If the answer is hesitation, you already know why this system exists. We build this as a standalone app and as part of a broader custom software project.