How geo-fencing works

The Geo-Fence module keeps a list of named places, each a circle on the map. When the mobile app records a punch with a location, BlueOneHR compares the location with the circles that apply to that person and notes whether the punch was inside. This page explains how to add a fence and, just as important, what is and is not enforced.

Before you start

• You need permission on the Geo-Fence module. Viewing, adding, changing, deleting and assigning fences are separate permissions; in the test workspace used for this page, HR Head and HR Ops hold all of them.
• A named fence records; it does not block. Read the section "What a fence does to a punch" before you tell anyone that geo-fencing stops people clocking in from elsewhere.
• There is a second, separate geo-fencing setting under Settings → Attendance → Geo & Face Config. It works differently; see Attendance settings.

The screens

Under Geo-Fence in the sidebar there are two tabs: All Geo-Fences and Add Geo-Fence.

All Geo-Fences

The title counts fences and active fences (for example "1 · 1 active"). Each row shows the Name, Coordinates, Radius in metres, Assigned to (or Unassigned), the Status (Active or disabled) and the actions Edit, Disable (or enable) and Delete.

Add Geo-Fence

The page opens with Pick location on map. You can search a pincode or address, or click the map to drop a pin; the latitude and longitude below fill in by themselves and a circle shows the radius. You can drag the pin to fine-tune. Below the map, in Location, the fields are:

Field	Notes
Location name (required)	For example "Head Office", "Mumbai Branch", "Client Site A".
Latitude and Longitude (required)	Filled in by the map, or typed.
Radius (meters) (required)	The form's minimum is 10; 200 is the suggested value.
Active	Whether the fence is in use.
Effective from and Effective to	Optional dates. Outside them the fence is ignored.

Add a geo-fence

1. Open Geo-Fence → Add Geo-Fence.
2. Search for the place or click it on the map, so that the latitude and longitude fill in.
3. Enter the Location name and the Radius (meters). Set Effective from and Effective to if the fence is temporary.
4. Select Create Geo-Fence.

After it is saved you are taken to the fence's edit page, where you can assign it.

Who a fence applies to

On the edit page, Assign to takes Department, Team / Job Position, Employee Group or Individual Employee, and a Target ID that you type. The page lists the numeric IDs of employees and departments underneath so you can copy one. + Add Assignment saves it, and an assignment can be removed again.

How assignments are used:

• A fence with no assignments applies to everyone. The list shows it as Unassigned.
• A fence assigned to a department applies to people in that department, and one assigned to an individual employee applies to that person.
• Only Department and Individual Employee assignments are evaluated when a punch is checked. Team / Job Position and Employee Group assignments can be saved, but a fence assigned only to a team or a group is not matched to anyone.

What a fence does to a punch

1. The mobile app sends the position with a punch (from the offline sync, and from the location call the app makes at clock-in or clock-out).
2. BlueOneHR picks the fences that are active on the punch date and apply to that person, and measures the distance to the nearest one.
3. If the person is farther away than that fence's radius, the point is stored with a violation flag and the distance. If no fence applies, nothing is flagged.
4. The punch itself is still recorded. The app is told whether it was a violation and the distance; the punch is not refused.

The stored points, with the flag, are what the Field Ops screens read.

So a named fence is a way to notice and review punches made away from a place, not a lock. The refusal described under Geo & Face Config in Attendance settings is a different mechanism: a single circle per company that, once started, makes the mobile clock-in and clock-out answer "Outside the geofence" with an error.

What you should see

After Create Geo-Fence the edit page opens with a message "Geo-fence '[name]' created." Saving an edit returns you to the list with "Geo-fence '[name]' updated." Disable and enable flip the fence and say so.

If it does not work

• The map shows all of India and nothing is selected. That is the empty Add Geo-Fence page; search for a place or click the map.
• A fence assigned to a team or group has no effect. See "Who a fence applies to".
• You cannot see the module. You lack the Geo-Fence permission. Ask an administrator.

Not confirmed

• Creating, assigning, disabling or deleting a fence was not tried live. The forms were opened, not submitted.
• Live punches. The punch handling described above was not seen live: whether a mobile punch from outside a fence appears flagged, and that the flag shows on the Field Ops screens, were not tried.
• How the mobile app shows a violation to the person punching.
• Where the pincode and address search gets its results. The map credits OpenStreetMap; the search service was not checked.

Related

• Attendance settings
• Attendance on the mobile app
• How attendance works