Getting started with the Check-In system

Introduction to the Check-In System

The ChurchSuite Check-In System is designed to help churches register and check children into their groups quickly and securely and then, just as easily, check them out again at the end of the session. Group attendance for each session is automatically added to the Children module.

The System can be used at any of your in-person events and gatherings, not just your weekend services, and handles check-in for your known, regular children, serving team members and visiting families.

It’s incredibly versatile. You can run a Check-In session in a browser environment or on an iOS or Android mobile device running the Check-In app, which has in-built printer drivers.

We’ve designed the Check-In system to be used in different configurations—perhaps as a Register at a central registration point or “in-room” by your friendly welcome team or group leaders, or unstaffed in a Kiosk mode where parents and carers can self-check their children into groups.

When used with a compatible Brother label printer, the System can produce printed badges for the session, or in quantities set on a group-by-group basis. The system can produce child name badges, parent pick-up badges, room badges and team badges, or you can disable badge printing if not required for a session. For example, for a creche group, you might set the child badge quantity to two - one for the child and one for their snack box or changing bag.

A secure leader Admin area provides a helpful summary of check-in progress for the active session and gives group leaders access to all the information they need to manage their groups and the children in their care effectively.

If your team members also check into groups, the Admin summary can help you manage each group’s adult-to-child ratio. The Check-In summary shows adult-to-child progress, with the progress indicator colour alerting you to groups that are nearing capacity or approaching the maximum group ratio.

Your group leaders also have at-a-glance access to pertinent medical and allergy details, photo/video consent, additional child information and emergency parent/carer contact details. This will be essential before serving snacks or before the website photographer begins taking pictures.

The leader Admin area is also where in-room check-in is managed and where children are checked out at the end of the session. Leaders can match the secure check-in code on the parent pick-up badge to the check-in list and child badge to ensure each child is returned to the correct responsible adult.

Importantly, the Check-In System is easy to set up and use. It’s one of our most popular features, used by hundreds of churches every week. Leaders, parents, carers, and visiting families often comment on what a great system it is. We think you will, too!

Check-In features at a glance

• Securely and quickly register and check children, visitors and your team into their groups, and check them out just as easily.
• Produce printed child badges, parent/carer pick-up badges, room badges and team badges using inexpensive hardware and stationery.
• Simple configuration for iOS and Android mobile devices or access on a desktop device using any browser.
• Check-In supports a "Register first, Check in later" configuration, where children remain with parents/carers for the start of a meeting, and a "Register and Check in" configuration, where children go into their groups immediately.
• Choice of Register mode and Kiosk mode for use in staffed and unstaffed configurations at a central Check-In registration point or in-the-room for each group.
• A Comprehensive Admin area for group leaders contains everything they need to manage the children in their care. This area provides easy, secure access to emergency contact details, pertinent medical details, additional needs, photo/video consent, and other useful information.
• Give guests and visitors a great first-time check-in experience by collecting just the important information needed to register their children and assign them to groups quickly.
• Check-iI session attendance data is automatically added to your Children module, which includes a range of powerful attendance reports that give engagement insights into your Children's ministry.
• Printed badges show a code that group leaders can cross-match between the parent/carer pick-up badge and the child badge, meaning you know that younger children are always being returned to the correct responsible adult.
• QR-code support for quick check-in by your regular parents/carers with member-facing My ChurchSuite access.

Next steps

If you're new to the Check-In system, you will find it helpful to first work methodically through the following steps using the related article links at the end of this article:

1

Set user permissions for the Check-In system.

2

Add Check-In session templates.

3

Review your Childen module settings.

4

Set up the Check-In printer for badge printing.

5

Download the iOS or Android Check-In app, start your first session and explore kiosk mode and register mode.

6

Explore the Check-In Admin area.

Got a question?

You’ll find the answers to most questions in our support articles - they're all available through the Support menu located in the top-right corner of each page in ChurchSuite. Select Get help and search by topic, phrase or keyword. You can also access the Support Article library on our website. And if you still can't find something you're looking for, click to contact one of the ChurchSuite team - we’re happy to help!