Track And Trace System - Doorsentinels

By Author: James Shepherd
Total Articles: 1
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Test & Trace is in the news nearly every hour at the moment given the increase in Covid infections and the change in the law to make obtaining contact details mandatory in an increased number of situations. 
 
The government has taken a long time to release its own Track and Trace System and time will tell the extent to which it is adopted.  However, what we do know is that it differs from DoorSentinels in a couple of material ways – and it is worth understanding these to decide whether you want to use the government’s version of the contact tracing app or a commercial solution.
 
The main difference is that with the government app is that it doesn’t have a portal for you to manage how you want to use the system.  You have a QR code.  It is scanned by people visiting you.  The record of the visit stays on the visitors’ phones and they are contacted directly through the App if they need to do anything for contact tracing purposes.   The simplicity of this will be welcome ...
... for some.
 
Track and Trace System
 
However, it may not deliver on the needs of many – and for those many, it may still be sensible to retain a commercial solution for your Test & Trace needs.  The main benefits are of DoorSentinels for your contact tracing solution in comparison are:-
 

If you have more than one location to manage, you can retain central control of what is going on.  We have community football clubs with up to 40 teams each with their own QR code and with the ability for the Club administrators to make sure that the system is being used correctly.   You cannot do this with the government app and this may create the risk of liability for your Club/Business if you have lost sight of the fact that your people aren’t doing things properly!

The government app certainly isn’t very useful in an office setting or any setting where you want to be sure that you are signing people both in and  If, for example, you were using a QR Code app like DoorSentinels to keep a log of people in the building for, say, fire safety reasons – then you need a central list of people who are in your building – and the NHS Test & Trace App does not give you this.

If you are retaining the entry data for purposes other than contact tracing.   This should only ever be with the consent of those visiting your venue.   However, for example, we know of some churches that are using DoorSentinels as a register of attendance, with the knowledge and consent of those attending – so it meets both the Track and Trace System and their register requirements.

 
There is no doubt that contact tracing is going to be with us for some time and the government App will have lots to recommend it.  It will obviously have a lot of exposure through the press and so it is likely to become well known and well used.  However, QR Codes generally will become an accepted part of life – and for a small monthly payment, it may be that DoorSentinels will still be right for you – regardless of the launch of the NHS Test & Trace App.