Most of our Microsoft Teams presence integrations will disconnect during this maintenance. Microsoft requires us to renew all Microsoft Teams presence integrations every 45 minutes (which is insane). If your Microsoft Teams presence integration disconnects, you’ll receive an email from Simple In/Out to reconnect after maintenance concludes. We have been begging Microsoft to loosen this absurd requirement to no avail. We have no options until Microsoft sets their presence subscription times to match their other Graph services.
These database maintenance tasks are necessary for important security updates.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to let us know.
]]>For years, our Networks feature has helped users update their status automatically when connecting to specific WiFi networks. But for customers with several locations sharing the same WiFi SSID, this could sometimes lead to less accurate status comments and confusion on the in/out board. For example, a hospital system with several clinics around the city may use the same WiFi SSID for ease of use, yet still needs to know which clinic their resources are located in.
With our latest update, administrators can now create Networks that apply only to specific WiFi access points. This means you can target the exact hardware at each location, even if all sites use the same SSID. By making Networks more specific, Simple In/Out can create better status comments, resulting in a more accurate in/out board for everyone.
This feature is perfect for organizations with multiple offices, warehouses, or campuses that share WiFi names but need location-specific status updates. Setting up your Networks with access point details is optional but easy, and you’ll immediately see the benefits in your board’s accuracy and reporting.
As always, we’re listening to your feedback and working to make Simple In/Out the best tool for your organization. If you have questions or suggestions, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Thanks for using Simple In/Out.
]]>Starting today, you can apply rounding to your Time Card, Daily/Weekly Timeline, Print/PDF, and Export reports. When generating any of these reports, you’ll find a new rounding setting under Advanced Options that lets you round time to the nearest quarter hour or nearest hour. Once selected, Simple In/Out will automatically adjust reported times accordingly, giving you clean, round numbers that align with how many of you already process payroll. Combined with our recently-added hours format (which generates numbers like 7.4 hours), it has never been easier to get the numbers your payroll software needs.
The underlying status data is never altered—rounding only applies to how time is displayed in the report.
We hope this long-overdue addition makes Simple In/Out an even better fit for organizations relying on our reports for payroll. And thanks, as always, for using Simple In/Out.
]]>Historically, we’ve kept past statuses for as long as you’ve been a customer and the user existed on your in/out board. Most consider the ability to run reports for as long as you’ve been a customer to be a powerful feature. Still, others worry about the privacy implications of that much data being accessible to their users. These folks have requested that we keep past status records for shorter periods. Striking that balance required us to be flexible, which is where this new setting comes in.
Organizations can now have Simple In/Out purge these past status records on a rolling basis, keeping records for only a year, a month, or even as little as a week. Importantly, we default to our historical behavior of keeping your records for as long as you are a customer.
You can access this new setting on Simple In/Out’s website today by logging in, clicking Settings in the upper-right, followed by Data Processing on the left.
]]>Automatic Status Updating is a central feature of Simple In/Out, and one we pioneered all the way back in 2011 with Geofences. We’ve been listening to our customers and found that Desktop Presence didn’t always accurately update statuses for laptop users who frequently change locations. For these users, they’d either need to forgo Desktop Presence or change settings frequently. This is far from automatic, so we set out to do even better.
Simple In/Out Desktop 3.0 can intelligently understand your network conditions to automatically update your status based on where you’re actually working—all without requiring you to change any settings. When you’re connected to your office network, Desktop Presence can automatically mark you as “In the Office.” When you’re working from home or another location, it knows you’re not in the office and can update your status more appropriately, such as “Working from home.”
No more manual toggles, accidental “In” statuses when working remotely, or confusion about your location. Desktop Presence runs in the background, adapting intelligently to your environment.
Behind the scenes, this feature works by administrators adding restrictions to a Desktop Presence setting based on the physical location’s network settings. Users can enable as many restricted Desktop Presences as they like while still having only one unrestricted Desktop Presence activated. Simple In/Out Desktop will use the appropriate settings at the appropriate time, based on the user’s computer’s network conditions.
We know that every workplace is different. Some teams want frequent status updates to ensure accuracy, while others prefer fewer updates to avoid every interruption resulting in a status update. We now give administrators the power to customize idle time thresholds based on their company’s unique needs.
Administrators can adjust how long a computer must be idle before Desktop Presence updates a user’s status as away. Want more granular tracking? Set the idle time to 5 minutes. Prefer to reduce status changes throughout the day? Increase the idle time threshold to as much as 1 hour.
Simple In/Out Desktop 3.0, featuring the new Desktop Presence upgrade, is now available for download right on our website. If you’re using Simple In/Out Desktop, your update rolls out automatically. Not using it yet? Get started now and enjoy hands-free status management.
As always, we appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Features like these come directly from listening to our users, so reach out to us any time.
]]>Based on feedback from a few of our customers, we’ve added a new switch in Company Settings that allows administrators to globally disable the Microsoft Teams Presence feature across their entire organization.
When disabled, this new control:
Many of our customers love the convenience of automatic status updates through Microsoft Teams Presence, but some organizations have found that they prefer more intentional, detailed status communication from their team members.
Here’s the scenario: When Teams Presence is active, a user’s Simple In/Out status automatically syncs with their Microsoft Teams availability (showing as “Available”, “Away”, “Busy”, etc.). While convenient, these generic status messages don’t always provide the specific context that managers and team members need.
With the Global Teams Presence Switch disabled, administrators can encourage their teams to leave more descriptive status comments like “Client meeting until 3 PM” or “Working from home”.
It’s important to note that disabling Microsoft Teams Presence does not affect your Microsoft Teams integration for the user interface. Your users can still see Simple In/out within Microsoft Teams, see the board, perform status updates, view announcements, etc. The only thing that changes is that status updates won’t happen automatically based on Microsoft Teams availability - users will need to manually update their status when they want to change it.
As always, we’re committed to giving administrators the tools they need to customize Simple In/Out for their organization’s unique workflow. This new feature is available immediately for all Simple In/Out customers.
Have feedback or suggestions for other administrative controls you’d like to see? We’d love to hear from you - just reach out to us.
]]>MFA adds a second step when signing in, increasing security by requiring your password and a time-based code. This helps protect your organization’s data from compromised passwords.
In rolling out MFA, we chose to support authenticator apps (like Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, 1Password, and others) that generate time‑based one‑time passcodes (TOTP). We opted not to use SMS because text messages can be intercepted or redirected and are widely considered less secure. Using an authenticator app provides stronger protection without relying on your phone number or the cellular network.
Getting started is quick:
Enable Multi‑Factor Authentication in your Simple In/Out account settings (Settings → Password & Security).
Scan the QR code with your preferred authenticator app (or copy/paste the text code).
Enter a generated time‑based one‑time passcode to confirm your MFA is configured correctly.
Save your recovery codes in a safe place, just in case you lose the device with the authentication app.
The next time you sign in to any of our applications, integrations, or our website, you’ll enter your password and the code from your authenticator app.
For administrators, we’ve added information about your users’ MFA configurations to the user editing page and to our Contacts report.
Security is always a priority for us, and MFA is a big step forward. If you have questions or need help getting set up, just let us know. We’re always here to help.
]]>If you have multiple locations and users that can be IN any of them, things can be trickier. While it’s easy to see all your IN users at the top of the board, knowing which to account for was always a matter of scanning the board for relevant matches. In an evacuation, every second counts.
Today, we’re shipping a significant improvement to Simple In/Out phone searching capability, allowing users to search across both user names and current status comments simultaneously. The new search lets you search for “office”, “warehouse”, or “annex” and see only users whose current status comment includes that phrase. During an evacuation, this can save you tons of time when accounting for your users.
While this seems like a simple change, it’s powerful. And, it’s one of several changes we’re planning for the future to make evacuation/mustering even better in Simple In/Out.
]]>Today, we’re announcing a significant change to Simple In/Out’s permissions, which allows administrators to restrict users to automatic status updates only. Administrators can now limit a user to update their status automatically via Geofences, Networks, Beacons, and Desktop Presence, but not allow them to update their status manually in any way using our apps or website. Doing so significantly simplifies the user’s Simple In/Out interface while maintaining the ease of use of automatic status updates.
We’ve resisted this change over the years, just in case a user’s automatic update fails (due to poor network conditions, a dead battery, or a faulty setup on their phone). The user’s only recourse when a failed status update occurs is to contact a manager/administrator and have them correct the record. However, after careful consideration, we realized that for many of our customers, this workflow is a significant benefit. Some administrators would rather be contacted directly by their users if an automatic status update does not occur. Alternatively, some administrators prefer that users correct the record only via a device running FrontDesk or TimeClock in a physical location they control.
Administrators can now realize the above use cases within Simple In/Out. Importantly, these permissions are only options. Everyone’s Simple In/Out behavior today remains the same as it was yesterday, unless an administrator changes the permissions.
We hope that these additional options for our administrators around the world unlock new use cases and make Simple In/Out more beneficial than ever.
]]>Today, we’re excited to launch the Simple In/Out Referral Program — a fantastic way for our loyal users to earn rewards while helping other organizations discover the benefits of Simple In/Out.
As a user of any Simple In/Out subscribing organization, you can now earn a $25 USD gift card for every successful referral to your favorite app store (Apple, Google, or Amazon). Here’s how easy it is:
Users can generate URLs right on simpleinout.com by clicking Settings in the upper-right, followed by Referrals on the left. Share your link and your positive experience with Simple In/Out with other organizations. You can track any referrals you have in progress right on our website. There’s no limit to how many organizations you can refer.
You already know the value that Simple In/Out brings to your organization. With our comprehensive suite of applications for phones, desktop computers, tablets (FrontDesk, TimeClock), televisions, Microsoft Teams/Outlook/365, and Slack, Simple In/Out makes attendance tracking effortless across any workplace. Whether it’s a small business looking to modernize its attendance system or a large enterprise needing robust reporting and notification features, Simple In/Out scales to meet any organization’s needs.
Have questions about the referral program? Contact us and we’ll be happy to help you get started. Thanks to all our customers for being part of the Simple In/Out community. We’re excited to reward our users for helping us grow!
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