Evening batch, 6:30 pm. Eight people walk in within five minutes. Somebody has to know who they are and whether their fees are paid.

How you mark attendance decides if that takes a second or turns into a queue at the front desk. There are three common ways: the register, the fingerprint machine and the QR code. Let us look at each one honestly.

What attendance is really for

Attendance is not about catching anyone. It answers three questions that matter for your income.

  1. Can this member work out today, or has the membership expired?
  2. Who is coming regularly and who has stopped?
  3. How many people came today, this week and this month?

If your attendance does not answer the first question at the door, members with expired fees keep training. If it does not answer the second, you only notice a member has gone when it is too late.

1. The register

The register costs almost nothing and everybody understands it. Naam likho, sign karo, andar jao.

Its weakness is that it only collects names. It does not tell you that the name on line 14 has an expired membership. For that somebody has to check another book, and at 6:30 pm nobody does.

Also, be honest: on a busy evening half the members do not sign at all.

2. The fingerprint machine

A fingerprint machine feels professional, and it does stop one person from signing for another. That is its real strength.

But ask any owner who has had one for two years.

  • The machine itself costs money, and so does the person who installs it.
  • Sweaty or dusty fingers after a workout do not scan, and members try three or four times.
  • When it breaks, you wait for the technician, and until then there is no attendance at all.
  • Many machines only store who came in. Fees and expiry dates are still in another place.

A machine that knows the finger but not the fees solves only half of the problem.

3. The QR code

With a QR code, the member's own phone marks the attendance. There are two kinds, and the difference is important.

In the first kind, a code is printed and stuck on the wall. A member can take a photo of it and mark attendance from home, ya dost ko bhej de.

In the second kind, the code is shown on a screen at the front desk and changes every few seconds. A photo is useless after a moment, so the member really has to be standing there. This is the kind you want.

  • There is nothing to buy, repair or replace.
  • A new member can check in on the very first day.
  • Almost nobody forgets their phone at home.

The QR code has limits too, and you should know them. It needs internet at the front desk and on the member's phone. And a member whose battery is dead needs your staff to help that day.

So, which one?

  • You are still on a register: move to the QR code. It costs nothing extra and finally connects attendance with fees.
  • Your fingerprint machine works well today: you can keep it for the door, but make sure your fees and expiry dates are checked somewhere at entry.
  • Your machine is giving trouble again: do not buy a new one before you have tried a QR code for a month.

A short checklist before you decide

  1. Does the check-in show at once if the membership has expired?
  2. Can your staff read the answer from across the room?
  3. Can a photo of the code be misused?
  4. What do you have to buy, and who repairs it?
  5. Can you see from your phone who came today, even when you are not at the gym?

How attendance works with Tresenly

Tresenly uses the second kind of QR code. The phone, tablet or laptop at your front desk shows the code, and it changes every half minute. So a photo of it will not work.

Your staff send each member a link once, which connects their phone. After that the member only opens the camera and scans. Koi app install nahi karna hai.

The answer fills the whole screen at the front desk. Green means welcome, yellow means the membership expires within 7 days, and red means no access, with the reason right there. Your staff see it without tapping anything.

Tresenly does not connect to fingerprint or face machines, and you do not need one. If you already have a card reader, members can tap a card instead. And on your phone you see live who checked in today, wherever you are.