Sign-in System Goes Touch-free

Employees are assigned a QR code that you can pull up on your phone or print and add to the back of your badge as seen here.

Normally when the Emergency Operations Center activates, there is a sheet for staff to sign in and out. Everyone touches the same clipboard, paper and pen. That’s something to avoid during the current COVID-19 emergency, since it is a way to spread the virus, even with the use of hand sanitizer. 

The infection risk became apparent to Office of Emergency Services (OES) Assistant Director Stephen Rea and Public Safety Group IT Manager Darius Fattahipour. They brainstormed with OES staff and came up with an innovative idea to deploy GOVbox, a touchless kiosk normally used to provide services to the public. In this case, they adapted it for employees reporting for essential duties. Staff scan a QR code to log in and out at the EOC and two other facilities. Employees working remotely can use the system by logging into a website as well.

“This is a perfect solution for a virtual Emergency Operations Center. It’s great example of the adaptability of County staff and County-developed technology being leveraged for purposes never considered,” said Rea. 

The system doesn’t replace Kronos, but it allows people to know who is on duty and where they’re working. The system connects with Microsoft Teams, so people working in the EOC can look up people by name or section, see if they are working and where and then message them as needed.

Another feature is that GovBox sends text or email health checks to employees. They need to reply to a short questionnaire, asking if they have been in close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient within the past 14 days; whether they have had a fever of 100 degrees or more, and if they have a cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing or a sore throat.

Fattahipour said they were able to quickly reconfigure kiosks on hand, and the County will look at bringing the system to more worksites. The project has been co-sponsored by the Public Safety Group, Child Support Services, and the joint County Technology Office-Perspecta Innovation Program.