Collaborative Work Systems (CWS), Inc

The Covid-19 pandemic has created a need for people to maintain a "social distance" (e.g. at least 6ft/2m) to avoid potential airborne contamination and to avoid unnecessarily touching objects that might been touched by a contagious person. This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of employees working at home (or more generally at a distance from each other), but this is not always practical for some types of work and there are other times when people need to go to common venues (such as stores and healthcare facilities). Contact tracing is one strategy to help combat the spread of the virus when people are together.

ScanKeeper is a web-based application developed by CWS that facilitates touch free, distance preserving, attendance taking to support contact tracing. It involves creating QR codes for each attendee and/or a QR code for a particular location, so that attendance can be recorded by simply scanning a QR code. Personal QR codes are printed on ID cards and distributed to regular attendees, and/or shared electronically via the Internet. Personal QR codes are scanned using a camera attached to a location managed computing device (e.g. laptop or clamped smartphone). Location QR codes are printed on a poster and these can be scanned by attendees with a smartphone to check-in. Either way, attendees do not have to touch a shared input device to confirm data entry and the data is automatically timestamped and recorded.

ScanKeeper was first used on July 19th 2020 to record attendance at the Wesley United Methodist Church, Lexington, KY. Most of the attendees were in the 65+ age group and did not own a smartphone, so the use of printed QR codes on identity cards was a good fit. Nationally, only 53% of the population in this age range has a smartphone, so the utility translates beyond this church and is particularly valuable given this age group is most at risk of serious consequences when the Covid-19 virus is contracted. The ability to create a QR code sign-in poster, similar to those required at certain venues in some countries (e.g. Australia, New Zealand , those in the United Kingdom, and Singapore), was added after this initial release, so that smartphone owners could utilize their phones and not need an ID card or to use a paper sign-in sheet.

For more information about ScanKeeper, or to register as a site administrator/visitor, go to https://scankeeper.com