Clocking in and out

Clocking in starts your shift record and lets management know you are on duty. Clocking out closes the record and calculates your hours. Both happen via a single button on the Dashboard tab.

How to clock in

1. Open the Dashboard tab (the first tab in the bottom navigation, ⚡).
2. Tap the large Clock In button near the top of the page. A site picker slides down.
3. TacDesk reads your GPS location and automatically selects the nearest site you are within range of. Check it is correct — if you are working somewhere else, tap the picker and choose the right site. Allow location access if your device prompts you.
4. Tap Confirm Clock In. The button label changes to Clock Out and begins showing your elapsed shift time.

What changes when you are clocked in

• An active shift card appears below the clock button, showing your site name, scheduled hours, and assigned supervisor.
• The Occurrence Book tab appears in the bottom navigation (if your company has it enabled).
• The BOLOs tab switches from showing company-wide alerts to site-specific alerts only.
• If your manager has Dispatcher Mode enabled for your site and you have access, a Dispatcher button appears in the top bar.
• The hub refreshes these changes automatically — there is no need to reload the page.

GPS and location permissions

TacDesk records your GPS position at clock-in so management can confirm you were on site.

• The site picker auto-fills with your nearest site using GPS. If no site is within range — or GPS is unavailable — the picker stays empty and you choose manually. You can always change the auto-selected site before tapping Confirm.
• If the GPS signal is weak, the button shows a yellow warning. You can still tap it — your clock-in is recorded but management will see that a strong GPS fix was not available.
• If the button is entirely greyed out, your device may have location access blocked. Fix this in Settings → TacDesk → Location → Always Allow on iPhone, or Settings → Apps → TacDesk → Permissions → Location on Android.
• Clocking in from a location that does not match your assigned site shows a notice to your manager, but does not prevent you from clocking in. Tell your manager if there is a legitimate reason.

Background location — required to clock in

You must enable background location to clock in or start a patrol — on both iPhone and Android. So your position keeps updating throughout your shift — including when your phone is locked or you are using other apps — TacDesk needs background location access, not just access while the app is open. If it is not enabled, TacDesk asks you to turn it on the moment you clock in or start a patrol and gives you an Open Settings shortcut — you will need to switch it on before your shift can start.

• On iPhone, set location to Always (not “While Using the App”) and turn on Precise Location. Allow location when the app prompts you, then choose Always — you can also set it under Settings → TacDesk → Location → Always.
• On Android, set location access to Allow all the time (not “Whilst using the app”), under Settings → Apps → TacDesk → Permissions → Location.
• “While Using the App” / “Whilst using the app” stops sending your location the instant your screen locks, which leaves gaps in your shift track — your manager sees you as stationary or offline even though you are on patrol. That is why it is required before you can start a shift or patrol.

Notifications and battery — Android clock-in checks

On Android, tapping Clock In also checks two settings that keep you reachable and tracked for the whole shift. If either is off, you are prompted to fix it before your shift can start.

• Notifications must be switched on, so you receive shift alerts, check-call reminders, duress responses and incident updates even when the app is closed. If they are off, allow them when prompted or use the Open Settings shortcut.
• Battery optimisation must be turned off for TacDesk. Android pauses background apps to save power, which stops your GPS reporting once your screen locks. Tap Allow when prompted so tracking keeps running throughout the shift.

These checks run on Android only. On iPhone, notifications stay optional and these prompts do not appear.

How to clock out

1. Return to the Dashboard tab.
2. Tap Clock Out.
3. Confirm when prompted. Your shift record is saved and you are shown as off-duty.

After clocking out, the Occurrence Book tab disappears and the hub refreshes to its off-shift layout.

Breaks

If your company has the break feature enabled, a Break button appears alongside Clock Out while you are clocked in. Tap it to pause the shift timer, then tap End Break when you return.

If you forgot to clock out

Tell your manager as soon as possible — they can clock you off remotely from the on-duty board, or correct the time record from the management dashboard. Do not clock in again to try to fix it yourself, as this creates a duplicate record.