What to do when the kiosk camera stops working#
For: Manager | Admin | Shift worker You’ll need: Physical access to the tablet to fix it.
A kiosk camera can fail for ordinary reasons: someone revoked the browser’s camera permission, the lens is covered, the tablet has no camera at all, or the hardware gave up. This article explains what Shiftavo does about it and how to clear it. Punching keeps working the whole time — that’s deliberate, because recording working time is the stronger obligation.
What you’ll see#
On the tablet — a persistent banner across the top: ‘Camera needs attention — punches are currently recorded without photos. Please inform a manager.’ It stays until a photo is stored again.
In your notifications — the managers of that tablet’s location get an alert through their normal channels. Shiftavo sends at most one alert per tablet per 24 hours, so a camera that’s been broken all week doesn’t flood your inbox.
On the timesheet — punches taken while the camera was down show up as ‘Photo missing’ rows in the ‘Punch photos’ section. See How to review punch photos.
Nobody at the tablet is at fault, and nothing about their hours changes.
Fix it#
Work through these at the tablet, in order:
Check the lens. A sticker, a case flap, or a smudge is the most common cause.
Check the camera permission. Open the browser’s site settings for the kiosk page and allow camera access, then reload the page.
Reload the tablet. The camera is opened fresh for each punch, so a passing glitch clears itself on the next one — but a reload rules out a stuck page.
Check the tablet has a camera at all. Kiosk pages on devices without one simply hide the photo pane and punch normally; if that’s your hardware, either replace the tablet or turn photos off for that location (see How to turn on punch photos at the kiosk).
If the tablet is out of action for a while — repair, renovation — take it out of service rather than leaving it half-working. See How to choose where your team can clock in.
Verify it worked#
Punch once at the tablet. The banner disappears as soon as a photo is stored successfully, and the punch confirmation shows the captured photo. On the timesheet, that punch shows a thumbnail instead of a ‘Photo missing’ row.