Geofencing uses the location of a mobile user's device to check whether they are at the location where they are expected to be when they record a workday or job check-in or check-out.

A geofence is a virtual boundary around a location. The configured radius determines how far from that location a user can be and still count as being within the boundary. Geofencing can apply to Service Sites and to company locations such as an office, warehouse, or shop.

One Big Green does not track users' locations continuously. A location stamp is captured only when a mobile user starts their working day, finishes their working day, starts an individual job, or finishes an individual job.

This is a deliberate compromise: it provides location checks at important work events while helping conserve the battery life of the user's device. One Big Green does not need to track the user's location throughout the day to provide these checks.

When geofencing is enabled, mobile users are prompted to activate geolocation on their devices for these events. If the device cannot provide a sufficiently accurate location straight away, the app may ask the technician to press the start or finish button again so it can try to capture the location more precisely.

One Big Green uses underlying technology designed to obtain the most accurate location possible. However, GPS and other location signals can be affected by the environment. Thick walls and other structural elements in or around a building may interfere with precise location capture.

If this happens, follow the app's prompt and press the relevant start or finish button again. This gives the app another opportunity to capture a more precise location stamp.

Location verification marks appear in the Timesheets section of the Back Office.

A green mark means the captured location was within the configured geofence.

A red mark means the captured location was outside the configured boundary.

The marks are clickable. Select a geofencing mark to inspect the location recorded when the person started or finished their working day or an individual job. This helps you review the location stamp in context.

A red mark does not, by itself, explain why the user was outside the boundary. The person may have been at a different location, the radius may not suit the site's layout, or the location signal may have been affected by the surrounding environment. Review the record in context before drawing conclusions.

The radius controls how close a mobile user must be to a location for their position to be treated as within the geofence. A larger radius gives the user more room around the location; a smaller radius makes the boundary more precise.

Across our customer portfolio, a common setting is roughly one mile for customers who use miles or one kilometer for customers who use kilometers. This often allows for situations such as a technician parking in a lot and walking to the building. If you need a tighter boundary, you can use a smaller radius, such as half a mile or half a kilometer.

If you change the geofence radius, refresh the Timesheets page. The geofencing marks will then be recolored based on the updated radius and the location stamps already recorded.

Geofencing can be disabled for the organization as a whole. When it is disabled, mobile users are not prompted to activate geolocation for working-day or job check-ins and check-outs. Time records continue to work, but they do not include geolocation verification marks.

The Team locations section in the Back Office is also unavailable when geofencing is disabled, because it relies on the location stamps collected through geofencing.