Work Alone Protection monitors mobile users’ wellbeing check-ins. If a check-in for an ongoing session is not completed by the deadline, the server triggers an alarm and starts contacting the designated contacts. During setup, you define the check-in interval, contacts, calling order and users. Each user must then start their own session in the mobile app.

Prepare for setup

The feature must be enabled for the organization. Creating and maintaining configurations requires administrator permissions. Permission to monitor or stop sessions alone does not grant permission to manage configurations.

Agree on the contacts’ responsibilities, availability and actions following an alarm. Check their phone numbers with them. Also agree on users’ check-in practices and the follow-up actions for backup email recipients. A successful call status alone does not confirm that the worker is safe.

Users to be added must be active and have a phone number in their user details. A user can belong to only one Work Alone Protection configuration, even if that configuration is disabled.

Open the configuration form

Select Service settings from the browser’s main menu. On the Service settings tab, open the Work Alone Protection Settings section and select the table row with the same name. In the configuration window that opens, select Add Configuration.

A new configuration is initially disabled. You can save an unfinished configuration in this state as long as its basic details are valid. Users cannot start sessions until the configuration is activated.

Complete Basic Settings

  • Name: enter a name of up to 512 characters that is not used by another configuration that has not been deleted. Description is optional.
  • Interval (minutes): enter a whole number from 10 to 480, meaning 10 minutes to eight hours. The default is 60 minutes. The field’s increase and decrease buttons change the value by five minutes.
  • Message Language: the default is Finnish. Selecting a language changes the preset alarm call message. Message body is a preview that cannot be edited in this form. The worker’s name and the phone number stored in their user details are added to the call message so they can be contacted.
  • Backup emails: activation requires at least one valid address. Separate multiple addresses with commas. A notification is queued for these addresses if all call attempts in the contact sequence being used fail.

The check-in interval is calculated from the start of the session and then from each successful check-in. For example, with a 60-minute interval, a session started at 08:00 requires the first check-in at 09:00. If the user checks in at 08:45, the next deadline is 09:45. The interval does not define when contacts are available.

Add contacts and set the calling order

In the Primary Contacts section, select Add contact. Enter a name, country and phone number on each row. Activation requires at least one primary contact. Add any backup contacts in the same way in the Emergency Contacts section. Emergency contacts must be available around the clock.

The supported countries are Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and France. You can enter a full international number with a + sign and country code, or a national number beginning with zero. A national number is converted according to the country selected on the row; an international number’s country code determines the country. The same number cannot appear twice in a configuration, even in different formats.

The order of the rows in each section determines the calling order. You can change the order by dragging contact rows. The trash icon on the right of a row removes the contact from the form. Additions, changes to the order and removals take effect only when the configuration is saved.

The schedule determines who receives the alarm

In the Primary Contacts section, set the days of the week, Start Time, End Time and time zone. The defaults are all days of the week, 00:00–23:59 and Helsinki. Check the time zone against the availability of users and contacts.

The schedule does not restrict when a session can be started. At the moment an alarm is triggered, it determines whether primary contacts are called first or emergency contacts are called directly. The selected start time is included in the time window; the end time is excluded. For example, 08:00–16:00 means that an alarm triggered at 16:00 skips the primary contacts.

The start time must be earlier than the end time, and at least one day of the week must be selected. A time window extending overnight cannot be defined with a single start–end pair. If there are no emergency contacts, the primary schedule must cover every day of the week and the entire day. With all days selected, 00:00–23:59 is saved as a schedule covering the entire day.

In the same section, select a Retry calling times value from 1 to 3. This value means complete rounds of calls to the primary contacts, including the first round. Select a valid value even if the initial value is 0.

If there are two primary contacts and two rounds, the order is first, second, first, second: a maximum of four primary call attempts. If all attempts fail, the emergency contacts are called in up to three complete rounds. Outside the schedule, calls start directly with the emergency contacts.

A call interpreted as successful ends the contact sequence. A busy, unanswered, failed or canceled call leads to the next attempt. If all attempts fail, the backup emails are queued; a record of sending does not confirm that the message reached the recipient.

Add users and activate the configuration

In the Work Alone Protection Mobile Users section, select Add user. Select the users and press Save in the selection dialog. The selection offers active regular user accounts that are not yet linked to a configuration. A missing phone number prevents a user from being added. This save adds the users to the form; it does not yet save the entire configuration.

Before activating, make sure the configuration has at least one user, primary contact and backup email address, along with a valid check-in interval, message, language and schedule.

Switch the status toggle next to the name in the Basic Settings section to active and press Save at the bottom of the form. In the Confirm enable – Contact information window that opens, check the contacts, numbers, sections, order, days of the week, times and time zone. Confirm by pressing Save in the window. Correct any errors and save again.

Verify setup in the mobile app

Reopen the saved configuration card and check its active status, users, check-in interval, schedule and numbers. Each user must sign in to the mobile app with their own account and start their own session. Simply adding a user to a configuration does not mean a session is running.

In the Android and iOS browse view, start a session using the OFF control in the Work alone protection area. Android displays this area based on the user’s configuration membership. On iOS, the area may also be visible based on the organization’s feature setting even without user membership, so visibility alone does not confirm readiness for use.

On Android 12 and later, the app requests the Alarms & reminders permission when needed. Allow opens the phone’s system settings, where the permission is granted. iOS also uses local notifications; make sure Spotilla notifications are allowed on the phone. Phone reminders and the server’s contact process are separate: a missing reminder does not stop a session running on the server.

Starting a session and checking in require a connection to the server. After starting, verify the active status and the time of the next check-in. Complete a wellbeing check-in and check that the new deadline updates. A user can have only one active session at a time. Do not treat a tap alone as a success if the app displays an error or the status does not update.

For daily actions, see the instructions for starting, checking in to and ending a session. Checking alarms and call attempts is described in the instructions for monitoring Work Alone Protection sessions and alarms.

Editing, disabling and deleting

Open an existing configuration from its card. An active session prevents the configuration from being edited, including status changes and user changes. End its associated sessions before making changes. The trash icon on the right of a user row removes the membership from the form; save the configuration for the change to take effect.

Once the sessions have ended, you can switch the status toggle next to the name to disabled and save. The configuration and user memberships are retained, but new sessions cannot be started. Moving a user to another configuration requires removing their old membership.

Delete is at the bottom of the configuration’s edit form. Before confirming deletion, check in the monitoring view that the configuration has no active sessions. It cannot be confirmed that an attempt to delete during an active session is safely blocked, so do not use deletion to end a session.

When there are no active sessions but session history exists, deletion retains the configuration as deleted for historical records, hides it from the configuration list and releases its user memberships. Without session history, the configuration is deleted along with its contacts and user memberships. The settings and contact snapshots stored with previous alarms reflect the information at the time the alarm was triggered; later configuration changes do not rewrite them.