What is a clocking point?
A clocking point is a fixed tag or code mounted at a spot a security guard must visit on patrol. The guard scans it with a reader, phone or radio, and the system records which point was scanned and when. Together, the scans show that a round was done and which points were missed.
In South Africa, guards and clients usually say clocking points. Suppliers, including this site, often say checkpoints or patrol tags. They mean the same thing.
How does a guard clocking system work?
Every clocking point system, old or new, follows the same four steps.
1. Mount a tag at each clocking point
Each tag has its own ID, and the system knows which point that ID belongs to.
2. The guard scans each point on the round
The reader records the tag ID and the time. Phones and radios with GPS also record where the scan happened.
3. The scans reach the system
Live over the mobile network, or later, when the reader is downloaded.
4. The system checks the scans against the schedule
It shows which rounds were done, which points were missed and which rounds were late.
What can guards use to scan clocking points?
Clocking systems differ mainly in the reader the guard carries.
Offline wand or baton
A dedicated handheld reader in a rugged case. It stores each tag ID and time in its memory, and nothing leaves the wand until it is downloaded, usually at shift change. Wands are tough and simple, but a missed 02:00 round is only found the next morning, and a wand records no photos, notes or GPS position.
Phone with an NFC patrol app
The guard taps an NFC-enabled phone on the tag, and the patrol app records the tag, the time and the GPS position. With signal, the supervisor sees the scan at once. Without it, the app stores the scan and sends it later. The same phone can report an incident with photos or a voice note. Phones do need charging, a protective case and a plan for when one breaks.
Push-to-talk radio with a built-in tag reader
Some push-to-talk (PTT) radios have a built-in NFC reader, so the guard scans clocking points with the radio they already carry: one device instead of two. Radios on a mobile network can also show live GPS positions. Patrol features differ between models, so check the reports before you buy.
QR codes
A printed code at each point, scanned with the phone's camera. QR stickers are cheap and suit indoor or temporary points, but outdoors they fade, and a code can be photographed and scanned elsewhere. See NFC vs QR Code Patrol Systems for the full comparison.
| Feature | Offline wand or baton | Phone with NFC tags | PTT radio with tag reader | QR codes on a phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What the guard carries | A dedicated reader | A phone with NFC and an app | A PTT radio with an NFC reader | A phone with a camera and an app |
| What is at each point | A touch button or RFID tag | An NFC tag | An NFC tag | A printed code |
| When the office sees a scan | After the download, often at shift change | At once with signal, later without | At once with signal, if the radio sends scans live | At once with signal |
| GPS position with each scan | No | If the app records it | On radios with GPS | If the app records it |
| Photos and incident notes | No | Yes | Depends on the model | Yes |
| Voice to the control room | Separate radio | Separate radio or PTT app | Built in | Separate radio or PTT app |
| Main drawback | Missed rounds only show after the download | Phones need charging and care | Patrol reporting can be basic | Codes fade outdoors and can be photographed |
| Good fit | Low-risk sites where next-day reports are enough | Live rounds plus incident reports | Guards who need a radio anyway | Indoor or temporary points |
For the patrol systems sold in South Africa side by side, see the Guard Patrol Systems Comparison.
Which readers does Worxit support?
Worxit uses NFC patrol tags as clocking points, read in two ways.
- Phones. The Worxit app on NFC-enabled Android phones. Each scan is time-stamped with its GPS position, guards can report incidents with photos, video and voice notes, and scans made offline sync when the phone reconnects. Supervisors see missed or incomplete patrols as they happen. See Guard Patrol Solutions.
- Radios. The T700L and T710A GSM push-to-talk radios have a simple patrol mode for basic guard rounds: the guard scans the tag with the radio, hears an audible confirmation, and managers export Excel reports. See Two-Way Radios with Patrols.
How many clocking points does a site need?
There is no fixed number per hectare. Start from the risks: put a clocking point wherever you need proof that a guard looked, then check that the round fits in the time between rounds.
- Too few points leave fence lines or buildings that nobody can prove were checked.
- Too many points slow every round, and guards start to rush.
- If rounds are hourly and the walk takes 50 minutes, the guard has almost no time at the post.
- Walk the route with a stopwatch first, allowing time to actually check each door or fence, not just scan it.
Where should clocking points be placed?
| Area | Where to put clocking points |
|---|---|
| Perimeter | Fence corners and the middle of long runs, plus weak spots such as fencing next to open ground or a stormwater channel. |
| Gates and entrances | Vehicle and pedestrian gates, loading bays and the main door of each building. |
| High-risk doors | Storerooms, server rooms, cash offices and fire exits that should stay closed. |
| Plant rooms and equipment | Generator, distribution board, pump room, borehole, diesel tank and backup batteries. |
| Roof access and dark areas | Roof ladders, back alleys, parking areas and corners with poor lighting or no camera cover. |
| The guard post | One point to start and end each round, so every round has a clear start and finish time. |
Avoid:
- Points a guard can scan from the guardhouse.
- Points that can be reached from outside the fence.
- Clusters of points that add scans but not ground covered.
- Points behind doors the night shift has no key for.
How should patrol tags be mounted to stop tampering?
- Mount tags at one height that every guard can reach without climbing or bending, so guards know where to look.
- Avoid ground level, where tags get kicked, covered by grass or hit by vehicles.
- Outdoors and within public reach, use the screw hole as well as the adhesive backing.
- Scan each tag with the guard's own phone or radio after mounting, and photograph it in place for the site's list of points.
- When scans carry a GPS position, a tag that has been removed and carried around shows scans in the wrong place. Keep spare tags locked away.
How often should guards patrol, and should routes change?
The client contract or site instructions usually set how often rounds happen. Where they don't, base it on risk: more rounds at night, around shift changes, and when the site is empty, such as weekends and public holidays.
A fixed route at fixed times is easy for anyone watching the site to learn. To make rounds harder to predict:
- Vary the start time within an agreed window, such as the first 20 minutes of each hour.
- Change the direction or order of the route.
- Add an unscheduled round or a supervisor visit on some nights.
Agree this with the client, so a round starting at 01:15 is not reported as late. The report should confirm that every clocking point was scanned in each round.
Worked example: planning clocking points for a warehouse
These numbers are illustrative: a fenced warehouse with a yard, one main gate, a small office block and a standby generator.
| Area | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Guard post | 1 | Start and end of each round |
| Main and pedestrian gates | 2 | Both ways onto the site |
| Perimeter fence | 5 | Four corners, plus the middle of the back fence on open ground |
| Warehouse | 3 | Two roller doors and the fire exit |
| Plant | 2 | Generator and diesel tank; distribution board room |
| Roof ladder | 1 | Access to the roof and skylights |
| Office block | 1 | Front door |
| Total | 15 |
- Rounds. One round an hour from 18:00 to 06:00 is 12 rounds and 180 scans a night. A test walk takes about 25 minutes, which leaves time at the gate between rounds.
- Tags. 15 points plus 2 spares is 17 tags: R510 ex VAT at R30 per tag, bought once.
- First week. The report shows the roof ladder missed on most rounds. The supervisor walks the route and finds the yard gate to the ladder locked at night: a route problem, not a guard problem.
What should a patrol report show?
Clocking points only help if someone reads the reports. Look for these five things.
| Report item | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Missed points | A point not scanned in a round. Misses at the same point every night suggest a route problem, such as a locked gate or a damaged tag. Scattered misses point to the guard. |
| Late or incomplete rounds | A round that started late or did not finish. Check the OB for an incident that explains it. |
| Time between points | The gap between one scan and the next. Much shorter than the walking time can mean a tag has been moved. A long gap means the guard stopped, and the OB should say why. |
| Rounds per shift | Completed rounds against the schedule. A falling count is an early warning. |
| Scan position | Where the phone or radio was at each scan. It should match the point's location. |
In Worxit, supervisors see missed, failed or incomplete patrols as they happen, plus patrol counts per shift, and can export reports with counts and graphs for clients. What the guard found on a round still belongs in the occurrence book: see our guide to writing OB entries.
What do clocking points cost?
Each clocking point needs one tag. Zamatrack's NFC patrol tags cost R30 per tag ex VAT and are sold individually: 20 points cost R600 ex VAT, and 50 cost R1,500 ex VAT.
- Chip: NTAG213 at 13.56 MHz, an NFC Forum Type 2 Tag with a 7-byte serial number set at manufacture.
- Power: none. The chip draws its energy from the reader's field when scanned, so there is no battery.
- Casing: IP67, UV-stabilised ABS, with a screw hole and adhesive backing.
- Range: a few centimetres in practice. NXP gives up to 100 mm for the chip, depending on the reader and the antenna.
Chip details: NXP NTAG213/215/216 product data sheet, Rev. 3.2.
Software is billed monthly: the Worxit Admin Dashboard licence is R600 per month ex VAT, and additional user or guard mobile licences are R75 per user per month ex VAT.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a clocking point and a patrol tag?
The clocking point is the place a guard must visit. The patrol tag is what is mounted there to scan. In everyday use, clocking point, checkpoint and patrol tag mean the same thing.
Do clocking points need batteries?
NFC patrol tags do not: the chip is powered by the reader's field at the moment it is scanned. The phone, radio or wand is what needs charging.
Can guards scan clocking points without mobile signal?
Yes. In Worxit, scans made without signal are stored on the device and sync when a connection is available. An offline wand also works without signal, but nobody sees its scans until it is downloaded.
How close must the phone be to an NFC patrol tag?
Within a few centimetres in practice, so the guard has to be standing at the clocking point.
What happens when a guard misses a clocking point?
The round shows as missed or incomplete. In Worxit, supervisors are alerted during the shift, so they can check on the guard instead of finding out the next morning.
How much does a security clocking point cost?
Zamatrack's NFC patrol tags cost R30 per tag ex VAT and are sold individually. A site with 15 clocking points needs R450 ex VAT in tags, plus spares. Software licences are billed monthly.
See clocking points working
Book a demo to see how Worxit runs patrol rounds on phones and radios, with alerts for missed clocking points and reports you can send to clients.