Hour Clocks
The Hour Clocks section allows you to configure time tracking for Students signing in and out—commonly used for programs that require hourly attendance or for capturing class attendance directly. There are two tabs within this section: Config and Hour Clocks.
The Hour Clock Config tab allows you to manage how the Hour Clock behaves across your institution. This includes how Students or Staff sign in, how attendance is logged, and whether images are captured at sign-in/sign-out.
At the top of this tab, you’ll find the Hour Clock URL - a unique, hosted webpage generated by the system. When opened in a modern browser, the page will display its connection status (ONLINE or OFFLINE) and prompt the user to sign in or out. You can copy and paste this URL where needed.
Key Configuration Options
- Generate New Key: Click to generate a new Hour Clock link. This will disable the previous one.
- Input Method: Choose how users will check in:
- Manual Entry – Students or Staff manually type in their assigned username.
- Time Zone: Select the appropriate time zone from the dropdown list.
- Restrict to IPs: You can restrict the Hour Clock to specific computers or locations by entering IP addresses.
- Capture Image: When enabled, the Hour Clock will request access to a webcam and attempt to take a photo during sign-in/out. If access is denied or no camera is available, the image area will appear black.
- Link to Attendance: When linked, the system checks for scheduled Course Events that the Student is enrolled in at the time of sign-in and automatically marks them as Present, Late, or assigns exact Hours/Minutes depending on your configuration.
- Override Existing: Appears only if 'Link to Attendance' is enabled. When checked, the system will overwrite any existing manually entered attendance for the affected Student.
- Offline Logging: If the Hour Clock is accessed while offline, it will store sign-in/out data locally in the browser. Once reconnected, it will automatically submit the stored records to ampEducator.
After configuring your settings, click Update to save.
The Hour Clocks tab is where you can create and manage individual clocks for different locations, purposes, or schedules. Each clock you create can be tied to either Students or Staff and include custom time restrictions. This tab also contains the schedule settings and grace periods that control when each Hour Clock is active and how it logs time.
To add a new hour clock, click Add New Hour Clock. A pop-up will appear where you can enter the following details:
- Location: Choose the appropriate campus or site.
- Type: Select Student or Staff.
- Name: Give the clock a descriptive name (e.g., Main Campus Student Clock.)
Click Add to save the new hour clock. Once saved, it will appear in the list below for easy access and management.
After you’ve added a new Hour Clock, you can further customize its behavior by clicking the edit icon next to the clock name in the list.
This allows you to define how the clock operates, including rounding, thresholds, grace periods, penalties, and the specific days and times it’s active.
Here’s a breakdown of the available fields:
- Resolution (min): The resolution is the nearest minute the Hour Clock will round to (e.g., 1 minute, 5 minutes, or 15 minutes). This affects how sign-in and sign-out times are recorded.
- In/Out Threshold (min): This is the amount of time before or after the clock is scheduled to start or end that the Hour Clock will begin accepting entries. Times will be rounded to the start or end time.
- Sign In Grace Period (min): If a user signs in after the start time but within the grace period, their sign-in will be rounded back to the start time.
- Sign Out Grace Period (min): If a user signs out before the end time but within the grace period, their sign-out will be rounded to the end time.
- Break Penalty (min): This is the amount of time that will be deducted from the total logged hours if the user takes a break longer than the allowed break time.
When you check a day of the week (e.g., Monday), you’ll be prompted to enter:
- Start Time: When the Hour Clock begins accepting entries.
- End Time: When the Hour Clock stops accepting entries.
- Allowed Breaks (min): Maximum break duration allowed for that day. Any extra break time will result in a deduction based on the Break Penalty.
Click Save when you’re finished to apply your settings.
Once you have created a Student or Staff Hour Clock, you must assign it to each user in their profile in order for them to use it. If a Student or Staff member is not assigned to the Hour Clock, they will receive an error message when attempting to sign in.
For Students, go to their Admin tab and select the appropriate Hour Clock.
For Staff, go to the Details tab in their profile and assign the Hour Clock there.
If you need to assign an Hour Clock to multiple Students at once, you can use the Home / Import / Update Students tool. Create a CSV file that includes the required fields along with the hourClockID column. Then upload your file to update the Hour Clock assignments in bulk.
Once an Hour Clock is set up and Student or Staff ID cards are created with barcodes, you can enable barcode scanning as a fast and reliable method for sign in and sign out. Barcodes can be scanned from printed ID cards or from digital ID cards displayed on a Student or Staff member’s smartphone.
To use barcode scanning, you'll need a USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner connected to an internet-enabled device such as a desktop computer, all-in-one PC, tablet, or mini-PC setup. Many combinations are possible depending on your institution’s setup, budget, and reliability needs.