The NFC tag won't scan
What to try when the tag does not read, what each message means, and how to clock in, end a break or clock out without the tag.
You hold your phone against the tag and nothing happens, or the app shows a message. If the tag fails, the app lets you send the clock-in to a manager.
Start with the phone#
- Screen on and unlocked.
- Find the antenna. On an iPhone it is at the top edge of the back, on most Android phones in the middle. Slide the phone slowly over the tag, then hold still for a second or two.
- Thick or metal case? Take it off.
Then the app#
Open the Time clock: the round button in the middle of the bottom bar.
- Start the scan yourself. Tap Scan NFC Tag and hold the phone to the tag. An iPhone then shows Hold your iPhone near the NFC tag at your location
- Android, NFC switched off. The Time clock shows NFC Is Turned Off. Tap Open NFC Settings and switch NFC on.
- The tag opens a web page. Atteny is not installed on this phone, and that page does not clock you in. Install the app and sign in.
- No signal. Tap the tag anyway. See Clock in without a signal.
What the message means#
| The app says | What it means |
|---|---|
| This NFC tag doesn't contain a valid record. Please contact your manager. | The tag holds nothing Atteny can read. |
| This NFC tag is not registered with Atteny. Please contact your manager. | This is not an Atteny tag. |
| This NFC tag is linked to an unknown location. Please contact your manager. | Your phone does not know this tag as one of your locations. Use the tag of your own location. |
| Request Manager Approval opens right after you tap, with a line saying the tag could not be read | The tag was read, but it is not registered at this location, or the location has no active tag. Try the tag by the entrance first. If that is the one you tapped, send the request and tell your admin. |
| This location needs an NFC tap to clock in. Tap the tag, or ask a manager to approve your clock-in. | The location requires the tap and you used the list. Approval is offered after two failed tries. |
| This location only accepts a secure NFC tap. Please tap the tag: it can't be approved manually. | The location takes only a secure tap, and you used the list or the tap could not be verified. Despite its last words, approval is offered after three failed tries. |
| This NFC tag is linked to a different location than your current shift. | During a shift you tapped the tag of another location. |
For a tag your phone cannot read or does not recognise, approval is offered after two failed tries with Scan NFC Tag. Failed tries at the same location are counted together. If you work at several locations with a tag, these tries are not counted: cancel the scan and pick your location from the list instead.
Where a location reviews every clock-in that nothing confirmed, a failed tag check is not refused: the clock-in is held for a manager, and you go straight to step 3 below.
Clock in without the tag#
- 1
Cancel the scan, or keep trying
When you pick a location that requires the tap from the list, the confirm sheet reminds you: If NFC isn't working, you can send a message to your manager to confirm your clock-in.
If you cancel a scan you started with Scan NFC Tag, the app asks Couldn't scan the tag? at once. Tap Request approval. If you work at several locations with a tag, the app shows your location list instead: tap yours.
After the failed tries named above, the app opens the next step itself.
- 2
Send the request
The sheet Request Manager Approval opens. Add a note if you like and tap Submit for Verification. Nothing is sent before that.
- 3
Start working
Your shift starts. The Time clock shows Waiting for your manager to approve this clock-in. Your time is being recorded. See Clock-ins that wait for a manager's approval.
End a break or clock out without the tag#
Where the tap is required, End Break and End Shift open the tag scan too. If the tag will not read, cancel the scan. The app asks End break without the tag? or Clock out without the tag? and lets you go on. A manager then reviews that shift.
Your phone has no NFC#
The Time clock shows NFC Not Available.
- Where the tap is not required, pick your location from the list under Locations.
- Where it is required, a clock-in from the list is held for a manager, at once or after the app has offered manager approval.
- Ending a break or the shift where the tap is required does not work on this phone, nor on one with NFC switched off. Do not start a break, and ask a manager to clock you out.
Ask a manager to do it for you#
An admin, or a manager who is assigned to your location, can clock you in or out from Who's in on the web, or on the phone under More, then Who's In. To start a shift, a manager also needs the location to let managers add time entries; to clock you out, to let managers edit them. An admin needs neither.
Other messages: I can't clock in.
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