Choose your check-in methods
Turn manual, kiosk, and QR-code check-in on or off for your whole organization, and require a signature at check-in if your subsidy program asks for one.
NestliCare supports three ways to check children in and out. You choose which ones you use under Settings → Operations → Check-in Methods. These switches apply to every center in your organization. A method that is off is really off: the app and the dashboard hide its buttons, and the door tablet stops accepting codes for it.
Only owners can change these. Center admins don't see the Operations tab. In the app, owners find the same switches under Admin → Settings → Check-in Methods (labelled Manual check-in, Kiosk, QR code and Signature at check-in).
The three methods
- Manual Check-in: a teacher or admin checks a child in or out from the dashboard, from Room Mode, or by backfilling a past day. Turning it off removes those controls for staff; parents check in at the door instead.
- Kiosk Check-in: a tablet at your door where parents enter their 4-digit pickup code. Turning it off stops the kiosk accepting codes. See Set up check-in at your door.
- QR Code Check-in: parents scan your center's code with the NestliCare app from their own phone (not the phone's camera app). Turning it off hides the scan buttons in the parent app. Staff can still scan the same code to clock in; that is a separate switch, Require center QR to clock in and out, in the Staff Time Tracking section on the same tab.
To show or print your code, click Check-in code in the sidebar. You can use a printable code or one that rotates.
All three methods are on for a new organization. Turn off the ones you don't use. Records already captured with a method stay intact if you later turn it off.
One method always stays on. The last switch that is still on can't be turned off, so you are never left with no way to record attendance.
Signature at Check-in (SISO)
The fourth toggle in this panel is a requirement, not a method: with it on, a parent checking a child in or out at the kiosk is asked to sign on screen, and the signature is stored with the attendance record. Some state subsidy programs require this. It's off by default — see Require a signature at check-in before turning it on.
Related articles
- Require a signature at check-in
- Set up check-in at your door
- Require a QR scan to clock in
- Can parents check in without the app?
Which to use
Most centers leave Manual on and add whichever door method fits: a printed QR poster (QR Code Check-in) or a tablet station (Kiosk Check-in). You can run more than one at once.
Troubleshooting
I turned a method off but the door device still shows it. The method is refused as soon as you turn it off. A kiosk that is off shows "Kiosk check-in is turned off" the next time someone enters a code.
I don't see the Operations tab. It's for owners only. Ask your owner to change the setting.
A parent says the app won't let them scan. Check that QR Code Check-in is on. If it was turned off, the app hides the scan buttons and any scan is refused.
A parent's QR scan won't read. Make sure they're scanning from inside the NestliCare app, that they're scanning the current code (rotating codes change), and that the app has camera permission.