What is location tracking feature in Zoho People?

How is it useful?

How is employee privacy ensured?

1. Employees must consent to sharing their device's location data.
2. Employees can disable location services on their device at any time.
3. The feature collects location data only between the employees' check-in and check-out hours.
   
4. Data is collected and stored within Zoho People, which features a robust data privacy and security system.
   
5. The collected data cannot be shared or misused, and can be accessed only by authorized personnel within the organization.
   

How does it work?

1. An administrator enables the Location Tracking feature in Zoho People web application.
   
2. Employees allows location permission for the Zoho People mobile application on their devices.
3. Employees check in through the Zoho People mobile application during their work shift hours.
   
4. Zoho People mobile application uses the device's GPS (Global Positioning System) to capture and record employees' work locations at specified intervals.
5. Zoho People Mobile application captures the following data from an employees' device between their check-in and check-out time at the set time interval:
   - Check-in time and location 
   - Location capture time and location
   - Location capture failed time
   - Break time and location
   - Check-out time and location
   - Automatic check-out time and location (If enabled)
6. Location tracking ends when employee checks out.

Set Up Location Tracking in Zoho People

- Enable location tracking feature in Settings > Attendance > Configuration > Methods > Location Tracking. Learn more.
- This feature utilizes Zoho People mobile application to track and record employees work location.

You can enable and configure location tracking only for specific employees based on users, departments, employment types, designations in the specific attendance policy. Navigate to Settings > Attendance > Configuration > Specific Policies. Create a new policy or edit an existing one, enable and configure the location tracking as needed. Learn more.

1. To configure location tracking at organizational level, navigate to Settings > Attendance > Configuration > Location Tracking.
   
   
   
2. Set location capture interval.
   
   Specify the time interval for capturing location from your employee's device between their check-in and check-out time. For example, if you set it to 15 minutes, the device will capture location data for every 15 minutes.
   
3.  Enable Auto check out when location cannot be captured, and set the limit for the maximum allowed location capture failures to automatically check out the user after a specified number of failed attempts.
   
   For example, setting instances as 4 will automatically check-out the employee whose location capture failed for 4 consecutive times.

9. Enable Trigger notifications when location capture fails, and select the checkbox for Employees, Reporting managers, or Specific Users to notify them when location cannot be captured from an employee's device.
   
   To customize the email notification template to your preference, click Customize Email Template and set up your email template, and click Save.
   
   
10. Use the options within the 'Action to execute when captured location is not of the geo-restricted range' setting if you want to Automatically check-out employees and send automated notification to selected recipients when location captured is outside the geo-restricted range. 
    
    
11. Enable Display geo-restricted range in the location tracker to show the designated geo-restricted range of an employee in the location tracker. This helps you to determine whether the employee's location is captured within or outside the geo-restricted range.
    
12. Click Save.
    You have successfully set up the location tracking for a specific attendance policy, applicable to shifts or specific users.

View and Export Location Tracking Data in Zoho People

My Data

3. You can view the map on the right side, where the above mentioned location data are marked with icons of different colours. Hover over the icon to view the time and location of the specific location captures.
   
   If geo-restriction is set for you and Display geo-restricted range in the location tracker setting is enabled you can view  the designated geo range in the location tracker map.
   
   
4. Click the ellipsis icon to view the number of times you have checked in, instances of location captures, instances of no location, break counts and check-out counts for the selected date.
   
   
   

Organizational and Team Data

To view organization-wide location tracking data, go to Operations > Attendance > Location Tracker. The data displayed is the same as the Team view data for all users across the organization.

1. From your home page, go to Attendance > Team Data > Location Tracker.
   
   Location tracker data of your reportees are listed.
   
   
   
   
2. On the left side you can view the total employees who have checked in for the day and their latest location status.
   
   Use search option to find the specific employee location data.
3. You can view the map on the right side, where the latest location data of your checked in employees are displayed in the map. Click on an icon to view the detailed location tracker data of specific employee.
   
   You can also click on the timeline icon to view the detailed location capture details of an employee.
4. In the timeline of the specific employee you can view the following location data:
1. Check-in time and location
   
2. Location capture time and location
   
3. Location capture failed time
4. Break time and location
   
5. Check-out time and location
   
6. Automatic check-out time and location (If enabled)
   

If geo-restriction is set for you reportee and the Display geo-restricted range in the location tracker setting is enabled you can view the designated geo range of your reportee in the location tracker map.

To view the location data of past days of your reportees, click on the calendar and select the required date.

5. Click the ellipsis icon to view the number of times your reportee have checked in, instances of location captures, instances of no location, break counts and check-out counts for the selected date.
   
   

Export Location Tracking Data

Location tracking data can be exported for a specific day in Zoho People.  Users across roles can access and export relevant data based on their permissions.

- Data can be exported in XLS, XLSX, and CSV formats.
- Administrators and Reporting Managers have the option to include additional employee fields in the export file, such as Reporting To, Organizational structure fields (Legal Entity, Business Unit, Division), Department, Designation, and Work Location.

1. Administrators and Attendance Module/Data Admins can navigate to Operations > Attendance > Location Tracker and export location tracking data for all employees in the organization. This is ideal for organization-wide reporting and audits.
   
2. Reporting Managers can navigate to Attendance (left panel) > Team > Location Tracker and export location data for team members (reportees). This helps monitor and analyze team activity.
   
   
3. Employees (Self) can navigate to Attendance (left panel) > My Data > Location Tracker and export their location tracking data. This provides visibility into own records.

Employee Instructions - Allow Location Tracking in the Mobile App

2. Once you have set the necessary permissions for the Zoho People mobile application, enable location on your mobile device and ensure that your mobile internet or WiFi is on.
   
   
   
   
3. From the home page of your Zoho People mobile application, click the Check-in icon when you start your work shift. Once you have checked in, your location is captured and updated to your organization at regular defined intervals.
4. To stop your organization from tracking your location during your break or personal time, click Check-out or Break (If applicable).
   
   You must check in again to continue your work shift attendance and allow for the capturing of your location data.
5. Zoho People mobile application captures the following location data of yours at regular intervals:
   
1. Check-in time and location
2. Location capture time and location
3. Location capture failed time
4. Break time and location
5. Check-out time and location
6. Automatic check-out time and location (If enabled)
   

If you have been automatically checked out due to location capture failure, you must check in again to continue your work shift. Ensure your location services and mobile internet are always on during work shift hours to prevent location capture failures and automatic check-outs

View Location Tracker Data - Zoho People Mobile Application

1. From your home screen, click Services > Attendance > Location Tracker.
   
2. In the Timeline tab you can view your current day location capture data, click on the date dropdown to select and view the location tracking records of past days.
   
   
   

1. Click Map tab to view the latest location data of your checked in reportees.
   
2. Click Timeline tab to view the detailed location tracking data of each reportee.
   
   
   
3. In the timeline tab, your own location data is displayed by default, you can search for employees to find their location data.
   

   Click on the date dropdown to select and view the location tracking records of past days.