How Presence Works

Presence simplifies attendance management using QR code scanning backed by real-time cloud updates. This guide explains how the system works across both web and mobile platforms.

Platform Overview

Presence is available as an Android mobile app and accessible on any modern web browser. No installation is required for web use.

Mobile: Android only (downloadable via official Presence website)
Web: Supported on all modern desktop and mobile browsers

Users interact with Presence in two roles: Admin and Attendee.

Core Workflow

1. Admin Creation

Presence team manually creates a primary admin account upon plan purchase.
Admins can then log in and create sub-accounts with admin or user roles.
There is no self-registration; only admins manage user creation.

2. Authentication Flow

Admins and users log in using email/password.
No OTP, no social logins.

Firebase Setup

Presence relies on Firebase Authentication. Admins must activate Firebase billing with a valid credit card. This cost is separate from the Presence subscription.

Event Lifecycle

1. Event Creation

Admins can create:

Instant Events (active immediately)
Scheduled Events (active on future dates/times)

Presence generates a unique QR code per event
Admin can download the QR as an image and distribute via any channel (print, social media, messaging apps)

3. Attendance Marking

Users scan the QR code from the mobile/web app. Once scanned:

Entry is logged in real-time to Firestore
Location and timestamp are stored
Duplicate scanning is blocked

4. Real-time Dashboard & Reports

Admins can:

View live attendance updates per event
Filter participants
Export attendance reports in Excel (download/share directly)

Announcements

Admins can send announcements to all users.

Delivered via in-app view (no push/email)
Available only to subscribed plans supporting this feature

Role Permissions

Admins

Create/manage events
Share QR codes
View/edit attendance data
Manage users
Send announcements

Users

Scan QR codes to mark attendance
View personal attendance history
Read announcements

Real-time Infrastructure

Data stored in Google Firestore
QR codes stored using Cloudinary
Updates propagate instantly across all connected clients