I'm helping a seniors center replace its paper sign-in books. Attendance totals are needed for government funding and nonprofit reporting, and volunteers currently spend a lot of time counting the books and entering totals into Google Sheets.
The center already issues membership cards with barcodes, and the cards could use QR codes instead. The goal is for each visitor to scan their own card on an iPad or similar device, with the scan automatically recorded in a spreadsheet. Cost is not the main concern; reliability and simplicity are. It needs to work like an on/off appliance, because volunteers and attendees may struggle with navigating apps, selecting the right spreadsheet cell, restarting software, or using a touch keyboard. There is no permanent front-desk employee, so activity leaders would oversee the process.
A browser-based barcode-scanning app connected to Google Apps Script worked in testing, but the camera eventually froze or crashed and required force-closing the app. Google Sheets itself is too easy to disrupt, and typing names causes delays. Privacy concerns also rule out camera-based people-counting systems. What hardware and software setup would provide the most foolproof check-in experience?
4 Answers
Consider a low-code tool such as AppSheet or Airtable rather than having people interact directly with Google Sheets. You can make a single-purpose check-in screen with one scan field, automatically record the time, and send the data to a spreadsheet. The important part is using a physical USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner that sends keystrokes, instead of keeping an iPad browser camera open for hours.
A Google Form connected to a Google Sheet may be the simplest approach. The barcode or QR value can be entered into one form field, and each submission automatically becomes a new row. A dedicated scanner that acts like a keyboard would avoid relying on the iPad camera entirely: scan the card, let the scanner type the ID into the form, and submit it. The form should be locked down to a single-purpose device with as little navigation as possible.
That is probably the closest fit so far. The main challenge is finding a scanner or app that stays reliable and does not require volunteers to reset the interface.
A standalone attendance product may be worth evaluating, especially systems made for visitor or community-center check-in. Look for one that supports barcode or QR scanning, automatically timestamps entries, exports CSV or connects to Google Sheets, and can run in kiosk mode. A purpose-built kiosk is likely safer than asking volunteers to keep a spreadsheet open to a particular tab and cell.
A kiosk-style visitor system seems like a better match than an enterprise school platform. The must-have feature is automatic recovery after an error or reboot, since asking volunteers to troubleshoot is likely to recreate the original problem.
RFID or NFC membership cards with a fixed reader could be more dependable than optical scanning. Members would tap their card on a reader, and the reader could send the ID to a small computer or tablet that logs the visit. It costs more and requires replacing the cards, but there is no camera to freeze, no aiming at a barcode, and almost no user interaction.
The cards and readers are straightforward; the key is finding a check-in application that always starts in the correct state and records one visit per tap without requiring staff to manage it.
The low-code interface solves the spreadsheet problem, but the long-running browser camera is what caused the crashes in my test app. A dedicated scanner feeding a very small form would likely be more robust.