Which is more important: safety or convenience?
It’s a trick question. The answer is both.
The church should be a place of comfort for families. But your efforts to create a secure environment can backfire, leading to a checkout nightmare with long lines and frustrated parents and volunteers. The worst case scenario? Your visitors don’t come back and your volunteers don’t stick around. That’s why you must have the most efficient and organized check-in and checkout system possible.
3 Steps to Child Check-in Success
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Know your goals. Do you want improved security, shorter lines, quicker pickup times, name tags, face time with parents, comprehensive demographic information, volunteer check-in, a slick new technology, or all of the above? Discuss and prioritize your goals.
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Install the check-in stations appropriately. Observe the children’s area, lobbies, and hallways for a few weekends. See how people flow through the space. Identify the problem areas and potential bottlenecks and avoid putting check-in computers in already congested areas.
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Know how many computers you need. Does it take a parent with several wiggly children 30 seconds or 3 minutes to check in? How long does it take a first-time visitor? Do some math. If you have 100 families and it takes 1 minute to check in, that’s 100 minutes of total check-in time. If you need to move all 100 families through in a 20-minute period, then you need 5 check-in stations.
Which product is right for you?
ACS is our most comprehensive solution for churches with a typical weekly attendance over 300 people. ACS Checkpoint can help your church with secure check-in and checkout for kids and events.
Realm is the next generation software for churches with less than 300 average weekly attendance. With Realm, any online computer or laptop can easily serve as a check-in and checkout station.
The City is a private social network created specifically for the church. With The City’s optional children’s ministry module, you’ve got a unified system for check-in, children’s ministry communication, and event planning.