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Types of clocking machines

3 min read · #hr · #clocking

Why machines at all?

aiku does not just want to know that someone clocked in — it wants to know where and how. Tying every clocking to a named machine in a named workplace means the timesheets can tell the warehouse door from the office door, and you can retire a device without losing the history it recorded. That is why the first step is always "create the machine in aiku", even when the "machine" is nothing more than a laminated QR code.

The everyday types

These four are the ones you can create yourself from the clocking machines list, and none of them needs special hardware.

PIN

A shared tablet by the entrance shows a keypad. Each employee has their own short personal PIN; they type it and they are clocked in — type it again later and they are clocked out. Employees can see their own PIN on the Employee Clocking page in aiku.

Best when: you want the simplest possible shared device and staff can be trusted not to share PINs.

Barcode Scanner

The same shared tablet, but instead of typing, each employee scans their personal barcode — shown on their own Employee Clocking page, so it can live on their phone screen or be printed on a badge. A cheap USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner plugged into the tablet does the reading.

Best when: staff already carry badges, or you want clocking to take one beep instead of four taps.

Camera QR Scanner

Again a shared tablet, but this time the tablet's own camera does the work: the employee holds up the QR code from their phone's Employee Clocking page, the camera reads it, done. No extra scanner hardware needed.

Best when: you want scan-speed clocking with nothing but a tablet.

QR Code

This one turns the logic around: instead of a shared device reading the employee's code, the employee's own phone reads a code on the wall. You print one or more QR codes for the machine and stick them by the door; the employee scans one with their phone camera, which opens aiku's Employee Clocking page, and — signed in as themselves — they clock in or out.

A QR Code machine has two tricks the others don't:

  • Location matching. You can require the phone to share its location and only accept clockings within a radius (in metres) of a point you pick on a map — so nobody clocks in "at the office" from their sofa.
  • Clocking policies. Each machine can carry rules that mark an employee's clocking as onsite, remote or hybrid, so working from home can be allowed for some people without switching off the location check for everyone.

Best when: there is no spare tablet, staff all have phones, or people work across several doors and sites.

How to choose

  • One door, one spare tablet → PIN to start; upgrade to Camera QR when typing gets old.
  • Staff carry badges or you own a scanner → Barcode Scanner.
  • No spare device at all → QR Code on the wall, and let phones do the work.
  • You need to be sure people are physically on site → QR Code with location matching turned on.

Whatever you pick, nothing is final: a machine's type shapes how people clock, but the clockings all end up in the same place — the employee's timesheet — and you can add a second machine of a different type to the same workplace any time.

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